I can tell people throughout this land, because of the fiscal state of affairs we have, there will be less police officers, not more.

I do know and I do believe in the bottom of my heart I am not an unreasonable person for saying that in some circumstances the 15-round magazine makes perfect sense and in some circumstances the AR-15 makes perfect sense.

I do not look at it from some academic debate.

I think I am speaking for a lot of people when they say we are heartbroken when a family member is taken through an act of gun violence, whether it be a child or anyone else, but particularly children.

I have an AR-15 at home, and I have not hurt anybody, and I do not intend to do it.

Gun control by executive order could be a power grab that won't go down well with Congress or the American people.

Well, I thank Senator McCain. My first view is it is better not to go over the cliff than to go over the cliff. But it is also important, as my colleague just said, to understand what we have accomplished. Let's assume for a moment--let's…

Don't create one disaster in trying to solve another. Please vote no. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maryland.

I would like to respond and to inform my colleagues about what would happen if this amendment were adopted by the body. No. 1, the foreign aid budget is less than 1 percent of the total Federal budget. It is about $52 to $53 billion. It…

It makes no sense, I say to the Senator. He would be entitled to a habeas hearing if he were caught in the United States, but he would be held under the law of war because the allegation is not that he was committing a crime but that he…

Good decision, Mr. President. Mr. McCAIN. But if al-Awlaki had been in the United States of America, a citizen engaged in the same activities that justified him being killed, then Mr. al-Awlaki would have been entitled to his Miranda…

Sure. Mr. McCAIN. Under the scenario as envisioned by the argument made by the Senator from Kentucky that if an American citizen is overseas, as al-Awlaki was in Yemen, and we took a drone and killed him, which was a decision made by the…

I want to congratulate the authors and managers of the bill in the House with coming up with a very good bill for our military which will have pay raises and trying to increase our defenses. I don't mind saying that I think we are at war…

I wanted to be recognized for 10 minutes to talk about the decision by Senator DeMint to leave the Senate next year. But I wish to say to my friend from North Dakota, all of us have in our prayers the loss of our soldiers there and all of…

I don't think they're serious.

I think we're going over the cliff.

And our military can fire the shots because of the use of force to defend the homeland and to defend themselves here at home. And the Supreme Court says that once you authorize the ability to use force, it just follows, as night follows…

I will read another quote from Hamdi. There is no bar to this Nation's holding one of its own citizens as an enemy combatant. Hamdi's detention could last for the rest of his life because the law of war detention can last for the duration…

So if our military is authorized to use force, they do not have to call the FBI or the Virginia State Police to shoot. They can shoot against an enemy themselves coming at them in America.

We thought there was 20 minutes on each side. Apparently, it is close enough. Just a few minutes? But I want Senator Ayotte to wrap this up.

Right. Because we are not fighting a crime. We don't have to disarm our military and call the local cops and say: Would you please shoot these people before they get here? No. Our guys are going to shoot you. If you are an American citizen…

I want to build on that just to make sure we understand about a potential attack on a Navy base here at home. No one is suggesting the military could not use force against an al-Qaida attack here at home. The Hamdi case was an American…

I would like to inform the body that I think Senator Levin's understanding and reasoning is incredibly sound. We have actually been talking about this for a couple of days. And in light of the Hamdi decision and just plain old common…

I appreciate the opportunity. This is a good debate. It is a fascinating discussion. I guess the way I look at this issue--and we will talk with Senator Levin in a bit--I have been a military lawyer for about 30 years, and the first thing…

long story short, the American people believe that the military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, isolated from the American population, that is being well run by our military and monitored by all kinds of organizations, is a satisfactory…