Jay Rockefeller: “I rise to oppose the vote to invoke cloture on the FISA bill. I have no choice but to vote against cloture in order to…”

“I rise to oppose the vote to invoke cloture on the FISA bill. I have no choice but to vote against cloture in order to preserve the rights of my colleagues to have their amendments to this landmark legislation considered. It has been a very weird process. The FISA legislation before the Senate has been taken, in effect, hostage. In a transparent attempt to score political points off of national security issues, the White House has decided, once again, that scaring the American people with unfounded and manipulative claims is in order. The President's decision to use the FISA bill in a game of chicken represents a new low, even by Washington standards. The administration's practice of placing politics above national security when it serves the poll-driven agenda of its advisers has become an addiction in this White House. Even when the Senate is on the verge of producing much needed national security legislation that the President supports and wants, the addictive political cravings that have coursed through the administration's body for the past 7 years kick in once again. As is often the case, addictions produce behavior that is both irrational, and in this case more, unfortunately, self-destructive. In this case, the White House has misguidedly calculated that it is worth jeopardizing passage of a bill which they support, which strengthens the collection of foreign intelligence, in order to obtain a short-term political objective.”