Marco Rubio: Paris Attacks Show US Shouldn't Stop Intelligence Gathering

By    |   Tuesday, 13 January 2015 06:33 PM EST ET

Sen. Marco Rubio says the attacks in Paris last week that left 17 people dead demonstrate the reason not to slack up on America's ability to keep tabs on potential terrorists.

"We should not be degrading our intelligence-gathering capability," the Florida Republican said in an interview aired Tuesday on CNN's "The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer." 

"Every time the debate comes before Congress about putting restrictions on our intelligence program, I argue about the issue of homegrown extremism and the threat they pose."

Though many in his own party have expressed privacy concerns after the Edward Snowden leaks of National Security Agency activities, Rubio stressed the importance of stopping an attack on U.S. soil.

"If any of those incidents should happen in the U.S., God forbid, the first question people are going to have is, 'Why didn't we know about it so we could have stopped it?'" Rubio said.

He said there is no certain number on how many Americans have traveled overseas to receive terror training, but added that there are likely even more who have been radicalized online and have never left the country.

"You don't have to travel to the Middle East anymore to become radicalized or gain access to this information and ultimately carry out an attack," he said.

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Sen. Marco Rubio says the attacks in Paris last week that left 17 people dead demonstrate the reason not to slack up on America's ability to keep tabs on potential terrorists. We should not be degrading our intelligence-gathering capability, the Florida Republican said in...
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