Republican Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky ended his filibuster very early Thursday after nearly 13 hours. Paul was blocking the Senate confirmation vote of John Brennan, President Obama’s pick to head the CIA, due to his concerns about unmanned drones.
Paul staged a talking filibuster to block voting on the nomination of John O. Brennan as the Director of the CIA. He scrutinized President Barack Obama and his administration’s use of drones, and the stated legal justification for hypothetical lethal use within the United States. Paul held the floor for over 12 hours, at times ceding to several other Republican and one Democratic senator who joined in questioning the use of drones and related topics.
”Does the President have the right to kill Americans on American soil and does the President have the right to say when the Bill of Rights no longer applies.”
~ Senator Rand Paul
Senator Paul mentioned he wasn’t particularly fond of Jane Fonda, but that he didn’t want to see the government kill dissidents like her. Senate adjourned at about 12:40 a.m. Thursday.
Kentucky Senator Rand Paul at The Cotillion in Palatine the day before his filibuster.
Monday night Senator Rand Paul was in Palatine at the Cotillion warming up for the filibuster — speaking at the Northwest Suburban Republican Lincoln Day Dinner. He spoke to the crowd of more than 650 on many of the same points. “I hate terrorists as much as anyone, and they should be killed on the battlefield,” Paul said. “But we can’t let drones fly around threatening U.S. citizens. What you need to understand in this controversy over drones is we’re not talking about someone with a grenade launcher on their shoulder. Some of these people being killed by drones are in their house or in a cafeteria.”
“You see,” Paul said, “It’s about the Fourth, the Fifth, the Sixth in the Bill of Rights – it’s not all about the Second Amendment.” He referred to the strong alignment on the Second Amendment, but weaker agreement or awareness of other amendments of the Bill of Rights.
“I said to Senator McCain, ‘We’re going to send an American citizen to Guatanamo Bay based on an accusation, with no trial by jury?’ And he said ‘Yes, they’re dangerous.'”
— Senator Rand Paul
“The problem is, that’s what juries are for, to determine if the accused is guilty,” Paul said. “We fought a Revolutionary War over general warrants, where no names were put on those warrants.
“You may not realize this, but they gave up on the Fourth Amendment when they stopped issuing warrants before examining your bank records,” Paul said. “I don’t know about you, but everything’s on my Visa card. You can tell if I go to a doctor, you can tell if I drink, if I gamble. For goodness sake, shouldn’t you have to issue a warrant before you look at my Visa bill?”
“I’ve said a lot of bad things about the government,” Paul said. I don’t want them coming to my house with a drone.” Paul said, while emphasizing the Obama Administration’s plan to use drones, even within the boundaries of the United States, and over other vague geographic boundaries.
“Can’t we have a little more assurance from the president that he won’t attack American citizens without a trial?” Paul asked.
Senator Paul also told the audience Secretary Clinton should have resigned immediately after Libyan Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three others were killed in Benghazi.
Before the Lincoln Dinner, Senator Paul met privately with local Republican donors such as Jack Roeser (Chairman and founder of Otto Engineering Inc. in Carpentersville) and Bruce Rauner (Chairman of R8 Capital Partners) before the dinner. After meeting with Roeser and Rauner, Paul visited with local Republican officials, including Cook County GOP Chairman Aaron Del Mar, Lyons Township Committeeman Jim Falvey, Palos Township Committeeman Sean Morrison, Schaumburg Township GOP Committeeman Ryan Higgins, and Wheeling Township GOP Committeeman Ruth O’Connell.
Senator Rand Paul is the junior United States Senator for Kentucky. He is a member of the Republican Party. He is also a member of the Tea Party movement, and describes himself as a “constitutional conservative” and a libertarian. He is the son of former Congressman and 2012 Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul of Texas.