Political Quotes

“I thank the chairman for the opportunity to present this amendment, very similar, Mr. Chairman, to the amendment that I presented yesterday that was approved by a majority of both Republicans and Democrats. It is a 7-year sunset provision to the bill. Here again, today, we are dealing with two very real and very serious concerns, security of our people and the freedoms and liberties of our people. We are called upon to do that very often here in Congress. Sometimes, we get those balances exactly right, and sometimes, we don't. Sometimes, we err too much on the side of safety and protection and security to the expense of our individual liberties. Other times, we err on the other side and do not provide the requisite level of safety and security that the citizens rightly demand of Congress. All this bill does is force us to make sure that we keep an eye on this piece of legislation to make sure that we got the balance exactly right. I know that many folks will say: Well, you know, Mr. Mulvaney, we have the opportunity at any time to go back in and fix the bill. I know that, and we have done that from time to time, but, by the same token, this is a very busy place, and a lot of bills tend to fall between the cracks. Putting in a hardwired 7-year sunset into this piece of legislation will force us not only to keep an eye on this on an ongoing basis, but to come here 7 years from now and make sure that we have done it precisely correctly.…”