Rand Paul and Jeb Bush disagree on Patriot Act
Rand Paul may have angered Senate colleagues by seizing the floor for a 10-and-a-half-hour filibuster style speech on Wednesday as he forced attention to the fact that civil liberties remain at stake as Congress debates the renewal of the Patriot Act. In stark contrast, Jeb Bush supports the Patriot Act and contradicted Paul at every turn.
“Are you really willing to give up your liberty for security?” Senator Paul asked as he linked his floor speech to his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, where he is determined to make more of a public issue of government intrusion into the private lives of Americans after the 9/11 attacks.
“I will not let the Patriot Act, the most unpatriotic of acts, go unchallenged,” Paul declared.
“I think he’s wrong in saying that this is unconstitutional or saying that people’s freedoms have been violated by the Patriot Act,” Bush said in New Hampshire. “I think we need to reauthorize the Patriot Act, and put aside who’s speaking where. The simple fact is that it’s been an effective tool to keep us free and to keep us from being attacked by Islamic terrorists.”
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Paul conceded he might not have the votes to prevail, but said he would keep reminding the public of abuses like the government’s secret phone-data sweeps of American households that were finally declared illegal this month in federal court.
Ted Cruz and Mike Lee joined Paul to denounce the renewal of the Patriot Act.
“Standing here with the senator from Kentucky, with the senator from Utah at 11:40 p.m., I’m reminded of the movie the Blues Brothers, saying ‘Jake we gotta get the band back together again,’” said Cruz.
“I’m reminded of previous evenings standing here with this same band of brothers in the wee hours of the morning.”
The Patriot Act expires on June 1.
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