Political Quotes

“I think my colleague has made an important point with respect to the Smith case. The Smith case was not made for the digital age. That is a big part of what we have sought to do throughout this debate, is to try to make sure that people really understand the implications in the digital age of what these policies, you know, mean for their privacy. I see my colleagues are on the floor and I want to give them some time. But since you mentioned this question of the court cases, I think there was really striking language recently by Judge Leon of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, talking about what the scooping up of all of these records really means. Judge Leon said, ``a few scattered tiles of information'' when collected in mass, can ``reveal an entire mosaic'' about a person including their religion, their sexual orientation, medical issues, and political affiliations. So you combine what the judge has described, I think correctly, as bulk collection, outdated court cases such as the Smith case, which really was not updated in terms of what we would be facing in the digital age, and I think this really combines to create policies that have a chilling effect on liberty and liberty for innocent law-abiding Americans. So I want to say it again to my colleague who is now approaching 10 hours on his feet. I very much appreciate his focusing on these issues.…”