Political Quotes

“I thank the Senator from Kentucky. I would point out that the questions of imminence, I don't think, are difficult as has been suggested. Indeed, I would like to thank the senior Senator from Illinois for braving this long evening and for expressing his equal and heartfelt concerns about the limitations on the power of the executive to take the lives of U.S. citizens on U.S. soil. I would point out that at the hearing we had yesterday with the Attorney General there was a series of questions exploring in further depth what the position of this administration was because, in response to the inquiry of the Senator from Kentucky, Attorney General Holder put in writing that he could imagine circumstances in which it would be permissible to take the lives of U.S. citizens on U.S. soil. The two examples he gave were Pearl Harbor and 9/11. As the Senator for Kentucky responded, and I think everyone here agrees, those examples are unobjectionable. Both of those instances were instances of grievous military attacks. I think nobody doubts that if Kamikazi planes are coming down on our ships in Pearl Harbor, the United States can use lethal force to take out those planes and to save the lives of our service men and women. There is no question about that, legal or otherwise.…”