Patriot Act

Floor Speech

Mr. MASSIE. Madam Speaker, I rise today to implore my fellow Congressmen to wake up. Can't we see what's happening?

In just the past month, we discovered that the NSA is snooping on millions of innocent Americans using the PATRIOT Act. Congress wrote the PATRIOT Act. The IRS is targeting conservative organizations using the Tax Code. Congress created the Tax Code. And the DHS has stockpiled 200 million hollow-point bullets. Congress just funded DHS last week. Do you want me to be surprised? I'm not surprised. I'm outraged. But what's happening here? In each case of executive overreach, Congress gave an inch and the executive branch took a mile.

When our civil liberties are stolen, Congress investigates and expresses righteous indignation, but all too often Congress then turns around and funds and enables this unconstitutional behavior. If we don't reverse this trend, we can kiss our civil liberties good-bye.

The Constitution embodies American principles that men and women fought and died to protect. We swore an oath to protect it. Madam Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to reflect on the damage that CISPA, the PATRIOT Act, and the NDAA have wrought on our civil liberties and implore my fellow Members to uphold the constitutional rights they swore to protect. Don't yield one inch.

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