Political Quotes

“I stand here today on the floor of the United States House of Representatives, and I come to talk about matters of import to this country and what should be important to each and every one of us. I often look, as I'm sitting on the floor getting ready to cast votes, down here at the front. You see ``tolerance'' and ``justice.'' And you see the word ``liberty''--you may not be able to see it at home, but there they are carved into the wood here. Liberty is extremely important to this country, and liberty is a fragile creature which can easily be extinguished if we, as citizens of the United States--and particularly those of us who are Members of Congress--do not take the opportunity to defend liberty, even when it sometimes may seem to be unpopular. Now we have, of recent, heard in the press reports that certain agencies of the United States Government have been accessing all kinds of information--phone records, et cetera. I think this is wrong. I think that the approach that has been taken is an overreach under the PATRIOT Act--although I believe that, when written, there were gray areas of the PATRIOT Act which could have been anticipated that there would be an overreach by the government. But some have interpreted that it's okay that you gather information even if it's just in the megadata on millions and millions of American citizens. I do not take that position. I believe that it is wrong, And I believe it cuts to the core of liberty in this country. Let me explain.…”