Pete Sessions: “I remain baffled by the failure today to move forward with the PATRIOT Act. That piece of legislation is exceedingly…”

“I remain baffled by the failure today to move forward with the PATRIOT Act. That piece of legislation is exceedingly important. We know for an absolute fact, as Senator Kyl and others have pointed out, that terrorist organizations and their movements and activities were not properly discovered by law enforcement because of a failure to share information and other restrictions that fell on those investigators. That has been demonstrated with clarity. In fact, some say had we not had the wall between the CIA and the FBI and they could actually have shared information, we may have even prevented 9/11. I say this to my friends in this country. Federal agents follow the law. The law said the CIA, which is out dealing with international terrorist groups and others who want to harm the United States, and the FBI, which is given the responsibility of homeland protection and crime enforcement in this country, were not allowed to share information. And they did not do so. It was part of a governmental reform. I think the Frank Church committee thought they were doing something good, but they ended up creating a wall that prohibited the sharing of information that made it far more difficult for Federal investigators to do the job we pay them to do. This afternoon, I saw a lady from New York who was touched by 9/11. She wants this bill passed. As a matter of fact, she was shocked that it was not. Why is she shocked?…”