Elizabeth Warren: "I’m very troubled... We need to have a public debate about this."

[MannyGoldstein]

Capuano, Warren: Surveillance program info points to need for debate

Both Warren and Tierney indicated a belief that questions of civil liberties had been glossed during previous debates over the legislation, which was initially enacted in the weeks after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

“I’m very troubled, but I think the congressman is exactly right. We need to have a public debate about this. There’s a balance that has to be struck between our security and our freedom,” Warren said. She said, “Now it’s going to be a public conversation. It’s a conversation we’ve needed to have for 12 years now.”

(Mass) Congressman Capuano also had a few words:

In an email to supporters Friday, Congressman Michael Capuano said he was “outraged” at the news of the monitoring programs, which he called an “incredible overreach.”

“It is time for those of us who support President Obama to speak up. I believe he is a good man and has been a good President. However, I think his Administration has allowed their concern for our safety to lead them down the wrong path,” Capuano wrote. “If we remain silent, those who have always wished him to fail on every point stand a better chance of winning the hearts and minds of America and we will all be worse off for it. It is possible to support President Obama and yet disagree with him on certain issues – this is one of those times.”