2006 Montana Senate Debate: on Homeland Security


Conrad Burns: Patriot Act merely gives tools like against organized crime

Q: What can ensure the safety of Americans, given that you don’t support the PATRIOT Act?

TESTER: The Patriot Act has very little to do with the War on Terrorism and a lot to do with why the terrorists attacked this country, which is to take away our freedoms.

BURNS: The Patriot Act gave the tools to our law enforcement people, the same tools that they had to go after organized crime and drug kingpins. That’s all it is. He wants to go soft on the war on terror -- but I think they’re as dangerous as organized crime. He wants to weaken that. I don’t want to weaken that. On monitoring phone calls -- I want to know what they’re doing. Mr. Tester doesn’t understand this enemy. It is global. How do you deal with someone that will kill themselves just to take the life of someone they don’t agree with? He wants to weaken the Patriot Act, and take away the tools from the people who work for our protection.

TESTER: I don’t want to weaken the Patriot Act, I want to repeal it. It takes away your freedoms.

Source: 2006 MT Senate debate, Tester vs. Burns in Butte Sep 24, 2006

Jon Tester: Patriot Act has very little to do with the War on Terrorism

Q: What can ensure the safety of Americans, given that you don’t support the PATRIOT Act?

TESTER: The Patriot Act has very little to do with the War on Terrorism and a lot to do with why the terrorists attacked this country, which is to take away our freedoms.

BURNS: The Patriot Act gave our law enforcement people the same tools that they had to go after organized crime and drug kingpins. That’s all it is. Mr. Tester doesn’t understand this enemy. It is global. He wants to weaken the Patriot Act, and take away the tools from the people who work for our protection.

TESTER: Let me be clear--I don’t want to weaken the Patriot Act, I want to repeal it. It’s two inches think, and it does far more than what Burns said--it takes away your freedoms. Hundreds of thousands of Americans have fought and died for our freedoms. If we lose our freedoms, the terrorists will have won. We need to be very forceful against the terrorists, and get ‘em. We’re taking away freedoms--first!--and that’s ridiculous.

Source: 2006 MT Senate debate, Tester vs. Burns in Butte Sep 24, 2006

  • The above quotations are from State Senator Jon Tester (D) debates US Senator Conrad Burns (R) in Butte, Sept. 24, 2006.
  • Click here for definitions & background information on Homeland Security.
  • Click here for other issues (main summary page).
  • Click here for more quotes by Jon Tester on Homeland Security.
  • Click here for more quotes by Conrad Burns on Homeland Security.
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)
Please consider a donation to OnTheIssues.org!
Click for details -- or send donations to:
1770 Mass Ave. #630, Cambridge MA 02140
E-mail: submit@OnTheIssues.org
(We rely on your support!)

Page last updated: Feb 19, 2019