Montana 2006 3-way Senate Debate: on Homeland Security


Conrad Burns: Patriot Act only affects your freedoms if you’re a terrorist

JONES: Pres. Bush pushed and pushed to get the Patriot Act approved. Not a single member of Congress, including this one [Burns], read the Patriot Act before it was signed. It was laid out in front of them, ad with a great deal of pressure from corrupt party leaders, they signed that bill. Pres. Bush demanded it, and demanded other bills that have been just as threatening to our freedom, and put great pressures on members of Congress to pass those bills.

BURNS: Pres. Bush took an oath to protect this country. Let’s talk about the Patriot Act. You have not given up one freedom, not ONE freedom that you didn’t have before, unless you’re a terrorist, or a suspected terrorist, or affiliated with the Mafia, or affiliated with drug kingpins. If you repeal the Patriot Act, the wall goes back up between the FBI and the CIA and the DIA, Defense Intelligence, and they cannot connect the dots. And the Meth Control Act is within the Patriot Act. There are consequences; it is a tool to protect this country.

Source: 2006 Montana 3-way Senate Debate at MSU (x-ref Jones) Oct 9, 2006

Jon Tester: Build forces to fight terror cells; not take away our rights

Q: What do you think about Executive Authority with regards to warrantless wiretapping?

TESTER: It deals with the freedoms that so many people have fought and died for. If we want to get serious about the War on Terror, we need to make the investments to fight the war on terror. We ought not be taking rights away from honest citizens. If we’ve got terror cells around the world, then let’s invest in human intelligence. Let’s invest in our Special Forces. Let’s go after ‘em, and let’s be serious, and not get sidetracked by Iraq. Right now, we’re taking rights away from honest people. If they think you fall into their list, you’re a target. By the time they figure out there’s a terror cell, they can get a warrant. The Senator wants to let them have Carte Blanche. The government ought not be taking away our freedoms.

JONES: We’ve lost our Fourth Amendment rights; now there’s no protection to our privacy.

BURNS: The Patriot Act is a tool that is in place now for drug kingpins and organized crime.

Source: 2006 Montana 3-way Senate Debate at MSU Oct 9, 2006

Stan Jones: Patriot Act is terrorism of the worst kind

Our nation is entering a very dark period in our history. We once were a string nation built on a foundation of individual freedom & free enterprise. But now we have lost our way. Pres. Bush & the Republicans AND Democrats in Congress have taken us into an illegal, contrived, and hopeless war on terrorism. None of the laws they have passed will help us fight terrorism.

Under Patriot Act 1 & 2, if you are suspected of being an enemy combatant, you can be tried in secret by a military tribunal. You cannot see the evidence against you, have no right to a jury, and cannot appeal. The president also has authority to impose martial law and suspend habeas corpus, where you can be jailed for life without a trial and without a lawyer.

All of this is terrorism of the worst kind. We the people no longer have the protection of Bill of Rights. This is no longer the America I know. You cannot save America by destroying America. You cannot no longer rely on Democrats or Republicans to preserve your rights

Source: 2006 Montana 3-way Senate Debate at MSU Oct 9, 2006

Stan Jones: Nobody read the Patriot Act before it was corruptly passed

JONES: Pres. Bush pushed and pushed to get the Patriot Act approved. Not a single member of Congress, including this one [Burns], read the Patriot Act before it was signed. It was laid out in front of them, ad with a great deal of pressure from corrupt party leaders, they signed that bill. Pres. Bush demanded it, and demanded other bills that have been just as threatening to our freedom, and put great pressures on members of Congress to pass those bills.

BURNS: Pres. Bush took an oath to protect this country. Let’s talk about the Patriot Act. You have not given up one freedom, not ONE freedom that you didn’t have before, unless you’re a terrorist, or a suspected terrorist, or affiliated with the Mafia, or affiliated with drug kingpins. If you repeal the Patriot Act, the wall goes back up between the FBI and the CIA and the DIA, Defense Intelligence, and they cannot connect the dots. And the Meth Control Act is within the Patriot Act. There are consequences; it is a tool to protect this country.

Source: 2006 Montana 3-way Senate Debate at MSU Oct 9, 2006

  • The above quotations are from Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT) Jon Tester (D) & Stan Jones (Libertarian) debate at Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana. Sponsored by Montana PBS, Oct. 9, 2006..
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Candidates and political leaders on Homeland Security:

Retired Senate as of Jan. 2015:
GA:Chambliss(R)
IA:Harkin(D)
MI:Levin(D)
MT:Baucus(D)
NE:Johanns(R)
OK:Coburn(R)
SD:Johnson(D)
WV:Rockefeller(D)

Resigned from 113th House:
AL-1:Jo Bonner(R)
FL-19:Trey Radel(R)
LA-5:Rod Alexander(R)
MA-5:Ed Markey(D)
MO-9:Jo Ann Emerson(R)
NC-12:Melvin Watt(D)
SC-1:Tim Scott(R)
Retired House to run for Senate or Governor:
AR-4:Tom Cotton(R)
GA-1:Jack Kingston(R)
GA-10:Paul Broun(R)
GA-11:Phil Gingrey(R)
HI-1:Colleen Hanabusa(D)
IA-1:Bruce Braley(D)
LA-6:Bill Cassidy(R)
ME-2:Mike Michaud(D)
MI-14:Gary Peters(D)
MT-0:Steve Daines(R)
OK-5:James Lankford(R)
PA-13:Allyson Schwartz(D)
TX-36:Steve Stockman(R)
WV-2:Shelley Capito(R)
Retired House as of Jan. 2015:
AL-6:Spencer Bachus(R)
AR-2:Tim Griffin(R)
CA-11:George Miller(D)
CA-25:Howard McKeon(R)
CA-33:Henry Waxman(D)
CA-45:John Campbell(R)
IA-3:Tom Latham(R)
MN-6:Michele Bachmann(R)
NC-6:Howard Coble(R)
NC-7:Mike McIntyre(D)
NJ-3:Jon Runyan(R)
NY-4:Carolyn McCarthy(D)
NY-21:Bill Owens(D)
PA-6:Jim Gerlach(R)
UT-4:Jim Matheson(D)
VA-8:Jim Moran(D)
VA-10:Frank Wolf(R)
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Page last updated: Feb 19, 2019