Political Quotes

“I am disappointed that we have not been able to work out an agreement that will allow consideration of my amendment to the pending USA PATRIOT Act sunset extension legislation. I think that a bipartisan majority of the Senate would have supported our improvements. We have missed an opportunity to move forward to help keep our Nation secure while also strengthening our commitment to our core constitutional principles of individual liberty and privacy. The amendment I sought to offer represented a commonsense and reasonable package of reforms that would have improved the law, expanded civil liberties and privacy protections, and better ensured proper oversight and accountability. This amendment earned the cosponsorship of Senator Paul and a dozen others since we began debate on Monday, including Senators Cardin, Bingaman, Coons, Shaheen, Wyden, Franken, Gillibrand, Harkin, Durbin, Merkley, Boxer, and Akaka. I thank these Senators for recognizing that the Senate should do better than merely extend the expiring provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act for another 4 to 6 years without a single improvement or reform. Over the past 2 years, the Senate Judiciary Committee has diligently considered how to make improvements to current law. The language in our amendment was the product of more than a year and a half of extensive negotiations with Republicans and Democrats, the intelligence community, and the Department of Justice.…”