Russ Feingold: “I understand and certainly appreciate the urgency of this bill. It is very important we give the Department of Justice…”

“I understand and certainly appreciate the urgency of this bill. It is very important we give the Department of Justice and our intelligence agencies the tools they need to combat and prevent terrorism, but it is also crucial that civil liberties in this country be preserved. Otherwise, I am afraid the terrorists win this battle without firing another shot. It is our constitutional duty in this body to preserve and protect the Constitution of the United States. Our freedoms in part are what the terrorists hate about us. We cannot be expected to limit those freedoms without careful study and debate, and I do know--and the majority leader, of course, is right--how hard the leaders, the chairman, and the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee have been working on this measure, and I appreciate all they have done. But there has not been an open process in the Judiciary Committee, much less the full Senate, for Senators to have an opportunity to raise concerns about how far this bill goes in giving powers to law enforcement to wiretap or investigate law-abiding U.S. citizens.”