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Scott Brown on Homeland Security
Republican Jr Senator
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Strip US citizenship from terrorists who fight overseas
Brown said Shaheen missed a chance to strip US citizenship from homegrown terrorists who have gone to fight overseas. "She says now that she wants to take away their passports, but she's had many opportunities.
A bill that Sen. Lieberman and I filed almost three years ago, another bill that was filed recently," Brown said.
Shaheen pointed out hearings Brown missed on the same issue while he was a senator from Massachusetts. "We need to fix our broken immigration system,
and the way to do it is not to refuse to go to a hearing on border security," Shaheen said. With the rise of ISIS in the Middle East, foreign affairs have become a central issue in the race.
Source: WMUR ABC-9 Manchester on 2014 New Hampshire Senate debate
, Oct 7, 2014
Spend to defeat terrorists, not to protect them
Americans were shocked on Christmas Day to learn of the attempted bombing of a flight to Detroit. This foreign terror suspect was given the same legal rights as a
U.S. citizen, and immediately stopped providing critical intelligence. As Senator-elect Scott Brown says, we should be spending taxpayer dollars to defeat terrorists, not to protect them.
Source: Cited in Gov. McDonnell's 2010 State of the Union response
, Jan 27, 2010
Supports enhanced interrogation techniques
Backs "enhanced interrogation techniques"--called "torture" by others--feeling they lead to useful information, and opposes giving suspected terrorists constitutional rights. He has said that
U.S. laws are intended to "protect this nation, not our enemies."Citing his experience as a lieutenant colonel in the National Guard, Brown has attempted to position himself as the candidate with the strongest stance against terrorism.
Source: Nancy Reardon, Quincy Patriot-Ledger: 2010 MA Senate debate
, Jan 14, 2010
No constitutional rights for enemy combatants
Brown took issue with Coakley on how terrorist suspects should be tried. He said alleged 9/11 mastermind Khaled Sheikh Mohammed should be treated as an enemy combatant and not tried in New York. "To think that we would give people who want to kill us
constitutional rights and lawyer them up at our expense instead of treating them as enemy combatants to get as much information as we can under legal means--it just makes no sense to me," Brown said.
Source: WBUR article on 2010 MA Senate debate
, Jan 12, 2010
Culture of patriotism; vigorous homeland defense
Scott Brown is a free-market advocate who believes our strength as a nation flows from its people. He believes in a culture of family, patriotism and freedom. At his September 12 announcement of candidacy for the U.S. Senate, Senator Brown articulate
a core set of beliefs that guide his thinking.- Government is too big; the federal stimulus bill made government bigger instead of creating jobs
- Taxes are too high and are going higher if Congress continues with its out-of-control spending
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The historic amount of debt we are passing on to our children and grandchildren is immoral
- Power concentrated in the hands of one political party, as it is here in Massachusetts, leads to bad government and poor decisions
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A strong military and vigorous homeland defense will protect our interests and security around the world and at home
- All Americans deserve health care, but we shouldn't have to create a new government insurance program to provide it.
Source: 2010 Senate campaign website, brownforussenate.com, "About"
, Sep 30, 2009
Member of Massachusetts National Guard JAG Corps
Senator Brown is a proud member of the Massachusetts National Guard, where he has served for nearly three decades and currently holds the rank of Lt. Colonel in the Judge Advocate Generals (JAG) Corps.
Brown was awarded the Army Commendation Medal for meritorious service in homeland security following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
Source: 2010 Senate campaign website, brownforussenate.com, "About"
, Sep 30, 2009
Voted YES on extending the PATRIOT Act's roving wiretaps.
Congressional Summary: A bill to extend expiring provisions of the USA PATRIOT Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2005 and Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 relating to access to business records, individual terrorists as agents of foreign powers, and roving wiretaps until December 8, 2011. Proponent's Argument for voting Yes:
[Rep. Smith, R-TX]: America is safe today not because terrorists and spies have given up their goal to destroy our freedoms and our way of life. We are safe today because the men and women of our Armed Forces, our intelligence community, and our law enforcement agencies work every single day to protect us. And Congress must ensure that they are equipped with the resources they need to counteract continuing terrorist threats. On Feb. 28, three important provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act will expire. These provisions give investigators in national security cases the authority to conduct "roving"
wiretaps, to seek certain business records, and to gather intelligence on lone terrorists who are not affiliated with a known terrorist group. The Patriot Act works. It has proved effective in preventing terrorist attacks and protecting Americans. To let these provisions expire would leave every American less safe.
Opponent's Argument for voting No:
[Rep. Conyers, D-MI]: Section 215 of the Patriot Act allows a secret FISA court to authorize our government to collect business records or anything else, requiring that a person or business produce virtually any type record. We didn't think that that was right then. We don't think it's right now. This provision is contrary to traditional notions of search and seizure which require the government to show reasonable suspicion or probable cause before undertaking an investigation that infringes upon a person's privacy. And so I urge a "no" vote on the extension of these expiring provisions.
Status: Passed 86-12
Reference: FISA Sunsets Extension Act;
Bill H.514
; vote number 11-SV019
on Feb 17, 2011
Page last updated: Sep 05, 2017