Blake Farenthold: “I thank the gentleman from Florida; he has definitely been a leader on this issue. I have got to tell you that I, too…”

“I thank the gentleman from Florida; he has definitely been a leader on this issue. I have got to tell you that I, too, am happy the Intelligence Committee has agreed to release the memo. When I was back home in Texas last week, it was the number one issue people were talking to me about. I want to take a minute and step back and do a little bit of a history lesson. The Fourth Amendment to our Constitution arose from some of the abusive practices that were going on in the Colonies. The King of England would send his troops to rifle through people's effects without a warrant. Our Fourth Amendment said we are not going to let that happen in these new United States of America. We are going to require the government to get a warrant before they go through people's papers. We are protected from illegal searches. I have been worried since the first day I got here in Congress, but in our effort to protect ourselves--and perhaps out of fear, some of it, perhaps, warranted--we are eroding those rights. So, as this memo comes out, regardless of what is in it, we need to be looking at the process: how we went to a secret court to get permission to get this information, how that information was gathered, what that information was, who vetted it, how thoroughly it was vetted, how the judges reacted, and, eventually, what came out and determined whether we need to reform that process to protect Americans' rights.…”