Political Quotes

“we have an ongoing debate on the whole question of FISA, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Since the beginning of this debate, I have opposed legislation that does not provide some kind of accountability for the 6 years of illegal warrantless wiretapping that was started and, in fact, approved by this administration. The bill that has been presented to the Senate, as it stands now, absent any amendments, seems intended to result in the dismissal of ongoing cases against the telecommunication carriers that participated in the warrantless wiretapping program. It would lead to the dismissal of the cases without allowing a court ever to review whether the program itself was legal. So the bill would have the effect of ensuring that this administration, the administration that decided to carry out the illegal wiretapping, is never called to answer for its actions, and never held accountable in a court of law. I cannot support that result. It is now almost 7 years since the President began an effort to circumvent the law in violation of the provisions of the governing statute, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. I have said I believe that the conduct was illegal. In running its program of warrantless surveillance, the administration relied on result-oriented legal opinions. These opinions were prepared in secret. They were shown only to a tiny group of like-minded officials.…”