Senator Inhofe: Patriot Act Critics Forget That North Korea, Iraq on Path to “Kill Everyone”

Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., says his office is getting deluged with phone calls in support of his colleague Sen. Rand Paul’s, R-Ky., campaign to end dragnet surveillance enabled by the Patriot Act. But in an interview on Friday with radio station KTOK in Oklahoma City, Inhofe dismissed his constituents, claiming that privacy advocates don’t understand […]

WASHINGTON - FEBRUARY 9:  Sen. James M. Inhofe (R-OK) listens during a hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Committee's Energy and Power Subcommittee on Capitol Hill February 9, 2011 in Washington, DC.  The committee held the hearing to discuss The Energy Tax Prevention Act of 2011 and its effect on the Clean Air Act's regulation of greenhouse gases. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images)

Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., says his office is getting deluged with phone calls in support of his colleague Sen. Rand Paul’s, R-Ky., campaign to end dragnet surveillance enabled by the Patriot Act.

But in an interview on Friday with radio station KTOK in Oklahoma City, Inhofe dismissed his constituents, claiming that privacy advocates don’t understand that “we’re in the most threatened position in the history of this country.”

The senator argued “countries like North Korea, Iran, Iraq, Syria, all of them are on the path to getting bombs and delivery systems that would reach the United States of America and could have the effect of killing everyone who is listening now.”

Inhofe went on to say that “everyone in the leadership except the president of the United States” recognizes the threat he was describing, adding, “when you stop and think and make a choice between having a complete city bombed out and privacy, my choice is easy.”

Listen to the Inhofe’s remarks here:

The future of the Patriot Act is in flux as the House of Representatives leaves Washington for a Memorial Day recess week. Several important sections of the Patriot Act expire at the end of the month. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has called for a series of votes this weekend on separate proposals, including a full reauthorization of the Patriot Act and the USA Freedom Act, which would codify the bulk collection of metadata while adding privacy reforms to the process.

Inhofe later moved on from the NSA and privacy during the interview, telling KTOK that he is focused on working to “stop the EPA over-regulation that’s killing our farmers and a lot of our businesspeople.” Notably, the Environmental Protection Agency has not killed any farmers or business people.

(This post is from our blog: Unofficial Sources.)

Photo: Senator Jim Inhofe, (Brendan Smialowski/Getty) 

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