[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 163 (Wednesday, October 4, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Page S4946]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





                      REMEMBERING DIANNE FEINSTEIN

  Mr. PAUL. Mr. President, Senator Dianne Feinstein served the State of 
California in the Senate for over three decades. During that time, she 
emerged as a leading figure in the fight against America's use of 
torture on terrorist suspects and exposed the CIA's inappropriate 
spying on Congress.
  One of her legacies will be her investigation into the torture of 
suspected terrorists after 9/11. She did what Congress is supposed to 
do: hold the executive branch accountable to the Constitution, to our 
laws, and to the American people. Her efforts culminated in a report 
over 6,000 pages long documenting a plethora of disturbing 
interrogation practices. When the report was released, Senator 
Feinstein stated, ``I came to the conclusion that America's greatness 
is being able to say we made a mistake, and we are going to correct it 
and go from there.''
  Although Senator Feinstein was generally an ally of the intelligence 
community and the surveillance state, she declared war on the CIA and 
accused the Agency of improperly accessing a Senate computer network to 
tamper with her inquiry into the detention and interrogation program.
  An investigation proved Senator Feinstein correct. The CIA's 
Inspector General concluded that employees improperly accessed--spied--
on the Senate Intelligence Committee's network. Then-CIA Director John 
Brennan, who initially declared that the CIA ``wouldn't do that'' and 
called the accusation ``beyond the scope of reason,'' apologized to 
Senator Feinstein for infiltrating her committee's computer network.
  My colleagues would do well to emulate Senator Feinstein by demanding 
an end to unconstitutional surveillance, defending the separation of 
powers, and learning to adopt a healthy suspicion of the intelligence 
community.

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