Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this legislation to extend three provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act that are scheduled to expire on Sunday. The attacks of September 11, 2001, tragically affirmed the urgency of updating our laws to address the clear and present danger presented by international terrorism. Although the memories of this day may have faded in the minds of some Americans, including some of my colleagues, the danger we face from terrorists and terrorist organizations has not faded. We continue to face an imminent danger, made clear by the attempted Christmas Day attack. The three provisions scheduled to expire are, first, section 206, the roving wiretap provisions of the PATRIOT Act; second, section 215, the business record provisions of the PATRIOT Act; and, third, section 6001, the ``lone wolf'' provision of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act. Of particular importance is the lone wolf provision, which closes the gap in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that, if allowed to expire, could allow an individual terrorist to slip through the cracks and endanger thousands of innocent lives. When FISA was originally enacted in the 1970s, terrorists were believed to be members of an identified group. That's not the case today, and we need to respond accordingly. Many modern-day terrorists may subscribe to a movement or certain beliefs but do not belong to or identify themselves with a specific terrorist group.…”