On the recordJune 2, 2015
In conclusion, I want to thank the minority, Ms. Lofgren, and all the cosponsors on this, as well as the chairman of the subcommittee, for their support. On the issue of privacy, in this time where we have threats to this country, we can have security and we can certainly have privacy, and we can have the Constitution be followed as well. The Fourth Amendment has always required that if the government wants to search, the government must follow certain rules. And those rules are that you must get a warrant from a judge based on probable cause. That is still the law of the land, even in 2015. All this amendment does is ensure the fact that the government--the FBI--follows the Constitution. The idea that the Federal Government wants to have encryption in American cell phones so they can have access to the information is repulsive. So all this does is keep the Federal Government out of our business without appropriate constitutional protections. I ask for support of this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.
