Political Quotes

“I note that my amendment on the Judiciary Committee bill does not preclude a debate on the question of immunity for the telecommunications carriers. It speaks to what the FISA Court can or should do with this new surveillance authority. If my amendment is voted down, several parts of it will be debated again. Many parts of this amendment will be germane after cloture, and we will be debating those as separate amendments. On the immunity issue, there will be an amendment by the distinguished Senator from Pennsylvania and the distinguished Senator from Rhode Island on the issue of substitution. We will vote either up or down on that amendment. My amendment is about the oversight of the FISA Court and Congress. I understand the position of the Senator from Pennsylvania, but I hope he will look carefully at a number of the provisions in this bill. If he is unable to vote for the overall amendment, I hope he will support many of its provisions in separate amendments. I have taken the time of the Senator from Connecticut who has worked with me and has been one of the leading voices on the important issue of oversight for electronic surveillance. We all want to be able to collect as much intelligence as we can against those who would act against the United States of America, but we have also lived long enough to see the danger when there are not enough checks on the government.”