Sen. Cotton on Modified PATRIOT Act: Not a Good Time to Enter an ‘Untested Environment’

COTTON: "Well, Jake, as you heard in published reports, it's increasingly hard to track what the terrorists are doing because they're using encryption devices. Also, we are unfortunately tying hands of our intelligence professionals. Earlier this year we made changes to the PATRIOT Act that I believe were very unwise. That's why I introduced today legislation called Liberty Trough Strength Act that would extend tradition of the PATRIOT Act and national security agency from untested and unproven system that's going to happen any day now until beginning of next year, so the president can certify we're not going down a road without defenses we need to obtain terrorist information to the best extent possible." 
TAPPER: "What are you specifically referring to the ban on techniques commonly referred to as torture, or something refereed to as enhanced interrogation techniques?"
COTTON: "No, Jake. Earlier this year Congress unwisely, in my opinion, modified the PATRIOT Act to prohibit the national security agency from collecting so called metadata." 
TAPPER: "Oh, the so called NSA wiretaps, OK." [crosstalk] 
COTTON: "That's not the content of calls, it's not even personally identifiable information. It's only the duration and the number of calls and the number doing the calling and data and time. Any day now, we'll make transition to untested, unproven system. I don't think it's the time to go into that kind of the untested environment. We should be extending that transition until we know for sure our intelligence professionals have the very best tools they can to intercept as much terrorist communications as possible."