I certainly respect and understand the need for the American people to understand what their government is doing. And, obviously, we respect that and we try to make information available to the American people, but we also have a corresponding duty to ensure that national security is protected. |
The message we want to send is that if you engage in fraud, if you participate in providing false statements, you're going to be prosecuted. We want to be very, very clear: there is no company that is too big or too important an industry that will escape prosecution if they in fact engage in wrongdoing. |
These provisions of the USA Patriot Act are essential to our efforts in the war on terrorism, and their loss will damage our ability to prevent terrorist attacks. Our nation cannot afford to let these important counter-terrorism tools lapse. |