Political Quotes

“I again must oppose the final version of the bill. I do so for two basic reasons. First, the conference did nothing to change those provisions of the bill which drastically curtail the Federal judicial protections afforded those given the death penalty in State courts. This is a departure from a longstanding tradition in English and American jurisprudence and, as an opponent of the death penalty, I feel I cannot in good conscience support it. Second, the conference removed several of the most effective antiterrorism measures that were included in the Senate version of the bill. These include giving the FBI the ability to employ court-approved multipoint wiretaps, adding terrorism crimes to the list of those for which wiretaps can be approved, including terrorism crimes under RICO statutes, and permitting the use of military expertise to cope with either chemical or biological weapons of mass destruction. Without these provisions, I believe that the bill has been severely compromised and, in the process, the chance to do something truly meaningful about domestic and international terrorism in this bill has been lost.”