Archive for the ‘Rand Paul’ Category

Rand Paul on Mitch McConnell: I dont think we need …

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Sen. Rand Paulplayed a major role in forcing the Senate to adjourn without taking action on a controversial surveillance program. And he made it clear Monday: he's nowhere close to done.

Paul said Monday that he would continue to try to block the reauthorization of the Patriot Act, which the Senate will again take up May 31.

"What I'm looking for right now is to see if the other side will negotiate," Paul said on "CBS This Morning." The Kentucky senator said he wants to put two amendments onto a bill that would stop the government from collecting bulk phone records and leave those records with the phone companies.

"I would like to have a vote on ending the bulk collection," he said. "I think we can win that vote."

Paul said on "Fox and Friends" thatdata that has been collected should be thrown out.

"I think it should be purged," Paul said. "I think that information was collected illegally and should be purged."

Prospective presidential candidate Gov. Chris Christie (R-N.J.) slammed Paul this weekend, saying theinability of Congress to act on the legislation is the result of "misguided ideologues."

[Read:Senate NSA vote underscores rift in 2016 field]

The Kentucky Republican said Christie's take "just wasn't very nice," and painted himself as a defender of the Constitution.

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Rand Paul on Mitch McConnell: I dont think we need ...

Rand Paul 2016: I’m not being unreasonable on privacy …

Sen. Rand Paul says he does not think he is being unreasonable in his stand against government surveillance practices.

Im just asking for two amendments and a simple majority vote on ending the National Security Agencys bulk data collection, the Kentucky Republican said on CBS This Morning on Tuesday.

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I think sometimes my party gets all caught up in the Second Amendment, which is fine, but we dont protect the Fourth Amendment enough, he added. But actually I think neither party ends up protecting the Fourth Amendment enough, which is the right to privacy.

Paul downplayed any bad feelings between him and his fellow Kentucky senator, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who failed to secure a deal in the Senate regarding the surveillance programs before Congress left for recess, in large part due to Paul.

I dont think we need counseling yet, he laughed. On the NSA thing, we are on opposite sides. I do think we keep it very civil.

Arguing that giving the government too much power opens the door for systemic bias to enter the system, Paul noted historical examples where race and political motivations played a role in government surveillance.

President Barack Obama is disingenuous about this, as he could end the practice on his own, Paul said on CBS.

Paul echoed the remarks in a later interview with Fox & Friends.

We did it to the Japanese-Americans in World War II. We did it to civil rights protesters during the 60s and to Vietnam War protesters. We just started grabbing them up and started looking at behavior we didnt like. So the right to dissent in a free country is very important, and some would say this has a chilling effect on a right to dissent, he said.

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Rand Paul concludes 10-hour ‘filibuster’ in bid to derail …

Paul, the privacy hawk and GOP presidential candidate, wants the wholesale expiration of Section 215 of the 2001 Patriot Act, the controversial surveillance provision that the NSA uses to justify the ongoing bulk collection of Americans phone records. (A federal appeals court earlier this month ruled that the provision does not in fact authorize the NSA program.) If absolutely nothing happens, the whole Patriot Act provision expires on 1 June 1.

Functionally, however, the clock is even more severe than that. After Thursday at mid-day, lawmakers in the House of Representatives who last week voted overwhelmingly to junk the bulk phone metadata collection leave for a vacation through 1 June.

Pauls opposite on the surveillance debate and fellow Kentucky Senator, GOP leader Mitch McConnell, is trying to pass a wholesale reauthorization of Section 215. He may or may not have the votes for it in the Senate, and he has to get it through the House. A coalition of surveillance reformers are trying to pass an end to the bulk phone records collection, called the USA Freedom Act, that would re-up Section 215 for four more years. They may or may not have the votes for it in the Senate.

But instead, heres Rand Paul, on the court, dribbling the ball where he stands, as the game clock winds down. All Paul needs to do to win is keep talking, and perhaps to get some like-minded Senators to relieve him when he tires or needs to use the bathroom. He doesnt even necessarily have to keep talking all through the next day. He just needs to talk for as long as he can, thereby snarling the rest of the Senate calendar and leaving that much less time for any surveillance measure to wind its way through the Senate when, perhaps, an outright filibuster by Paul or others could begin as well.

Paul has been here before: his 13-hour filibuster of John Brennans nomination to head the CIA became a reputation-making disquisition on the downsides of drone strikes and endless war. Then, however, Brennans confirmation was assured, since the votes to entrench him in Langley awaited once Paul sat down. This time, Paul is making the clock work for him.

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Rand Paul Amendment Would Increase Executive Branch Power

NATIONAL HARBOR, MD - MARCH 07: Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) addresses the Conservative Political Action Conference at the Gaylord International Hotel and Conference Center March 7, 2014 in National Harbor, Maryland. The CPAC annual meeting brings together conservative politicians, pundits and their supporters for speeches, panels and classes. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

NATIONAL HARBOR, MD - MARCH 07: Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) takes the stage before addressing the Conservative Political Action Conference at the Gaylord International Hotel and Conference Center March 7, 2014 in National Harbor, Maryland. The CPAC annual meeting brings together conservative politicians, pundits and their supporters for speeches, panels and classes. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 12: U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) (C), former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli (L) and and Matt Kibbe, president of FreedomWorks, departs a press conference in front of U.S. District Court to announce the filing of a class action lawsuit against the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, National Security Agency Director Keith Alexander and FBI Director James Comey. Paul said he filed the lawsuit to stop NSA surveillance of U.S. phone records because Obama has publicly refused to stop a clear and continuing violation of the 4th amendment. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 12: U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) (C) holds up a group of cell phones in front of U.S. District Court to announce the filing of a class action lawsuit against the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, National Security Agency Director Keith Alexander and FBI Director James Comey. Paul said he filed the lawsuit to stop NSA surveillance of U.S. phone records because Obama has publicly refused to stop a clear and continuing violation of the 4th amendment. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 12: U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) arrives in front of U.S. District Court to announce the filing of a class action lawsuit against the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, National Security Agency Director Keith Alexander and FBI Director James Comey. Paul said he filed the lawsuit to stop NSA surveillance of U.S. phone records because Obama has publicly refused to stop a clear and continuing violation of the 4th amendment. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

FILE - In this Nov. 6, 2013 file photo, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington. This is a year of auditioning, positioning, networking and just plain hard work for people who are considering running for president in 2016. You could see them stirring in 2013 as they plugged holes in resumes, took preliminary steps to build potential campaign organizations and made carefully calibrated moves to get better known by Americans generally and key constituencies in particular. Most _ but not all _ are ticking off items on what could be called the presidential prep checklist. And theyve got baggage to deal with. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., talks to media outside the White House in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2014, after an event hosted by President Barack Obama about the Promise Zones Initiative. The Promise Zone Initiative is part of a plan to create a better bargain for the middle-class by partnering with local communities and businesses to create jobs, increase economic security, expand educational opportunities, increase access to quality, affordable housing and improve public safety. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 07: U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) (2nd L) talks to reporters while walking to the Senate chamber to vote on unemployment insurance at the US Capitol January 7, 2014 in Washington, DC. The U.S. Senate voted 60-37 to move forward with a bill to extend federal unemployment benefits for three months. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 17: U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) (3rd R) talks to reporters after a vote December 17, 2013 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. The Senate has passed a cloture vote to clear the way for a final vote of the Ryan-Murray Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

U.S. Sen. Rand Paul speaks at the Detroit Economic Club held at the Motor City Casino, in Detroit, Dec. 6, 2013. Paul, spoke of economic freedom zones. (AP Photo/The Detroit News, Max Ortiz)

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Rand Paul Amendment Would Increase Executive Branch Power

Rand Paul speaks 11 hours against Patriot Act renewal …

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) took to the floor Wednesday afternoon to speak against a reauthorization of the Patriot Act. Paul claims it gives government too much access to citizens private cellphone records. (C-SPAN)

Sen. Rand Paul spent most of Wednesday talking.

Paul took to the Senate floor at 1:18 p.m. Wednesday, interrupting a debate on a trade bill, to speak against a reauthorization of the Patriot Act. With the exception of breaks to allow colleagues to speak, he talked, and stood, for nearly 11 hours before yielding the floor just before midnight.

The Kentucky Republicans marathon seizure of the Senate came after a week of repeatedly threatening to filibuster a reauthorization of the Patriot Act a fight he conceded Monday he cannot win, because he does not have the votes.

Are you really willing to give up your liberty for security? Paul asked.

Paul spoke for about 2 1/2 hours before he got help from Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), with whom Paul has crafted his planned opposition. The two went back and forth asking each other questions very, very long questions about surveillance and the collection of bulk records.

I think we accomplished something, Paul said after he was done.

Paul has been here before, rocketing to prominence in 2013 after speaking for 13 hours on the Senate floor and vowing in his new book to wear tennis shoes the next time he filibustered. Last time, he had help from a large group of Senate colleagues. This time, he had a much smaller group by his side.

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) took to the floor, as did Sens. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Steve Daines (R-Mont.). Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) joined Paul later in the evening. And four additional Democrats gave Paul a hand later Wednesday night: Sens. Richard Blumenthal (Conn.), Maria Cantwell (Wash.), Christopher A. Coons (Del.) and Jon Tester (Mont.)

Late Wednesday night Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), two of his competitors for the GOP presidential nomination, showed up in the chamber. Cruz presided over the body and, when done, spoke on the floor. Cruz urged colleagues to support the USA Freedom Act and said Paul should be allowed to introduce amendments to Patriot Act legislation. Rubio presided and appeared to be engrossed in a magazine. He and Cruz spoke at length during Pauls 2013 filibuster, with Rubio quoting rappers Wiz Khalifa and Jay Z on the Senate floor.

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Rand Paul speaks 11 hours against Patriot Act renewal ...