Political Quotes

“the Senate is taking up a matter that I think is very important to the American people and our national security, and that is to pass the compromise reached by the House and the administration regarding the FISA program. I want to briefly lay out my view of how the law works in this area. The initial approach by the Bush administration that there was no requirement to comply with the FISA statute, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, because of inherent authority of the Executive in a time of war I didn't agree with, quite frankly. The idea that an American would be travailed by an agency of our Government if that American citizen was suspected of being involved with the enemy--a fifth column movement, for lack of a better term--and there would be no court review was unacceptable to me. If an American citizen is suspected of collaborating with the enemy, I think there is a requirement for the Government to have its homework checked, have a judge authorize further surveillance in a kind of balanced approach. Once there is a reasonable belief that an American citizen may be involved with enemy forces, that becomes a crime of treason, potentially. I do think it is appropriate for Congress to pass a statute that would say when an American citizen is suspected of being involved with an enemy force, taking up arms against the United States--uniformed or not--the FISA statute applies.”