On the recordMay 31, 2015
I was struck by what the Democratic leader said. He laid out the history of this. We are here in a manufactured, unnecessary crisis. It is a manufactured, unnecessary crisis Last year, by an overwhelming majority, the Senate voted to make improvements to the PATRIOT Act. The legislation made reforms to the provisions that have now been declared illegal. We did that but could not get past a filibuster. We had 58 votes. Normally, you think of 51 votes being enough to pass a bill. The Democratic leader will recall how hard he worked to try to get that bill through. The Republican leader said: No, we will wait until next year. Well, next year came. We have wasted so much time. There has not been a single public hearing. There has not been any action on an alternative to the USA FREEDOM Act. But, I say to my friend from Nevada, he is absolutely right when he says the House passed the USA FREEDOM Act by a 4 to 1 margin. It was an overwhelming vote, Republicans and Democrats together, to get rid of the illegal parts of the PATRIOT Act, to pass an improvement. We ought to just take up the USA FREEDOM Act and pass it. If we were allowed to have a straight up-or-down vote in this body, I guarantee you, a majority of Senators--both parties--would vote for it. So I just wanted to say that while the leader was on the floor. I now ask for recognition in my own right. The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Vermont.
