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Rand Paul

Rand Paul49 posts

Randal Howard “Rand” Paul (born January 7, 1963) is the junior United States Senator for Kentucky. He describes himself as a “constitutional conservative” and a libertarian. He is the son of Congressman and 2012 Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul of Texas. Paul first received national attention in 2008 when making political speeches on behalf of his father. Rand Paul is the first United States Senator in history to serve simultaneously with a parent in the United States House of Representatives.

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6 Aug, 2015

GOP debate: Christie, Paul spar on NSA, hug

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Paul and Christie spar over the NSA’s use of phone records to catch terrorists:

PAUL: I want to collect more records from terrorists, but less records from innocent Americans. The Fourth Amendment was what we fought the Revolution over. I will continue to stand for the Bill of Rights.

CHRISTIE: That’s a completely ridiculous answer. How are you supposed to know [the difference]?

PAUL: Get a warrant!

CHRISTIE: Senator, when you’re sitting in a subcommittee just blowing hot air about this, you can say things like that. When you’re responsible for protecting the lives of American people, then what you need to do is make sure..

PAUL: Here’s the problem, governor. You fundamentally misunderstand the Bill of Rights…I don’t trust President Obama with our [phone] records. I know you gave him a big hug, and if you want to give him a big hug again, go right ahead.

CHRISTIE: And you know — you know, Senator Paul? Senator Paul, you know, the hugs that I remember are the hugs that I gave to the families who lost their people on September 11th. Those are the hugs I remember, and those had nothing to do — and those had nothing to do with politics, unlike what you’re doing by cutting speeches on the floor of the Senate, then putting them on the Internet within half an hour to raise money for your campaign…

Chris Christie, Rand Paul spar over NSA | Fox News Republican Debate

20 May, 2015

Patriot Act filibuster

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Paul speaks for more than 10 hours on the Senate floor to filibuster a Patriot Act provision used to legally justify the bulk collection of telephone data. Congress must reauthorize or change the law by June 1, and its Memorial Day recess starting at week’s end.

I will not let the Patriot Act, the most unpatriotic of acts, go unchallenged. At the very least, we should debate. We should debate whether or not we are going to relinquish our rights, or whether or not we are going to have a full and able debate over whether or not we can live within the Constitution, or whether or not we have to go around the Constitution.

I think we’ve made the [collection] haystack so big, no one’s ever getting through the haystack to find the needle. What we really need to do is isolate the haystack into a group of suspicious people and spend enormous resources looking at suspicious people, people who we have probable cause.

You don’t know who the next group is that’s unpopular. The Bill of Rights isn’t for the prom queen. The Bill of Rights isn’t for the high school quarterback. The Bill of Rights is for the least among us. The bill of rights is for minorities. The bill of rights is for those who have minority opinions

 

18 Apr, 2015

Favors Iran negotiations over war

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Paul says he is skeptical about Iran deal, but would favor negotiating with them over war.

I’m going to keep an open mind and look at the agreement — I do believe that negotiation is better than war. I’ve been a big proponent of negotiation…I think we should do everything we can to stop them. I’ve voted for sanctions to try to stop them. I’m somewhat skeptical of the president’s agreement; however, I am in favor [of] negotiations over war, and I think I’ve been one of the reasonable people in our party who has not been beating the drums for war.

7 Apr, 2015

Welcomes Paul to 2016 Race

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Cruz welcomes fellow Republican Paul to 2016 presidential race.

I am glad to welcome my friend Rand Paul into the 2016 GOP primary. Rand is a good friend, and we have worked side by side on many issues. I respect his talent, his passion, and the work he has done for Kentuckians and Americans in the U.S. Senate. His entry into the race will no doubt raise the bar of competition, help make us all stronger, and ultimately ensure that the GOP nominee is equipped to beat Hillary Clinton and to take back the White House for Republicans in 2016.

27 Aug, 2014

‘Interventionism created ISIS’

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Paul criticizes Clinton’s foreign policy in a Wall Street Journal op-ed, saying that interventionism led to the rise of ISIS:

To interventionists like former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, we would caution that arming the Islamic rebels in Syria created a haven for the Islamic State. We are lucky Mrs. Clinton didn’t get her way and the Obama administration did not bring about regime change in Syria. That new regime might well be ISIS.

He adds:

[…] Those who say we should have done more to arm the Syrian rebel groups have it backward. This is not to say the U.S. should ally with Assad. But we should recognize how regime change in Syria could have helped and emboldened the Islamic State, and recognize that those now calling for war against ISIS are still calling for arms to factions allied with ISIS in the Syrian civil war.

20 Jan, 2013

GOP must ‘evolve and adapt’

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Paul says that GOP must evolve and adapt to ensure that the party has a bright future. He also says that he would make a decision on running for president within 2 years.

Whether or not I am going to run for president, that decision will come probably in two years, and [we] will in the meantime try to be part of the national debate…We think the Republican Party needs to evolve and adapt, or we are going to become a permanent minority party.