“I want to commend President Obama for his forthright and important commitment to the rule of law and to open government. He reiterated his commitment to ending torture, closing Guantanamo, ending the use of state secrets to conceal evidence of wrongdoing, and respecting the coequal branches of government. After eight years of a reckless and lawless administration that acted as if it was above the law, we are fortunate to have a President who recognizes that the President must remain accountable.

“The President made a very convincing case that our courts are perfectly capable of convicting terrorists and our prisons are perfectly capable of imprisoning them. As he pointed out, some of the world’s worst terrorists are already incarcerated in our prisons today.

“I look forward to working with the President. As the Chairman of the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties, I have investigated many of these abuses, and I have introduced legislation to put an end to them, including H.R. 893, the "American Anti-Torture Act," H.R. 984, the "State Secret Protection Act," H.R. 1800, the "National Security Letters Reform Act," as well as legislation to reform the Military Commissions Act.

“I believe the time has come to ensure that the damage done to this nation by the prior administration can never happen again. For that reason, legislation will be necessary to ensure that we will be able to place into law the important principles enunciated today by the President.”