John Ashcroft Quotes & Sayings

Christianity is a faith in which God sent his Son to die for you. — John Ashcroft

Only God, no other kings! — John Ashcroft

Agents need to be free to pursue investigations in ways that they haven't. There have been restraints that a reformed FBI needs to make sure we don't impose. — John Ashcroft

The state's interest in effective crime-fighting should never vitiate the citizens' Bill of Rights. — John Ashcroft

How sad, that the group with the most access to the truth chose in several strategic instances to look the other way. — John Ashcroft

If America is to be great in the future, it will be if we understand that our source is not civic and temporal, but our source is godly and eternal. — John Ashcroft

There's nothing more rewarding or important than to be involved in God's work of redemption. — John Ashcroft

What we learned on September 11 is that the unthinkable is now thinkable in the world. — John Ashcroft

I think all we should legislate is morality. — John Ashcroft

We are a nation called to defend freedom - a tradition that is not a grant of any government or document, but is an endowment from God. — John Ashcroft

An FBI agent ought to be able to surf the net and look for sites that instruct people how to make bombs. — John Ashcroft

The objective of securing the safety of Americans from crime and terror has been achieved, — John Ashcroft

The new rule says that the FBI has the right to go to public places on the same terms and conditions as other members of the public for counter-terrorism purposes. — John Ashcroft

The Internet provides very serious challenges to our ability to keep from children the kinds of things that are destructive to them. — John Ashcroft

We must embrace the power of faith, but we must never confuse politics and piety. For me, may I say that it is against my religion to impose my religion. — John Ashcroft

We need to strengthen our analytic capacity in Washington, we need to centralize the anti-terrorism effort. — John Ashcroft

In this new war, our enemy's platoons infiltrate our borders, quietly blending in with visiting tourists, students, and workers. They move unnoticed through our cities, neighborhoods, and public spaces. They wear no uniforms. Their camouflage is not forest green, but rather it is the color of common street clothing. Their tactics rely on evading recognition at the border and escaping detection within the United States. Their terrorist mission is to defeat America, destroy our values and kill innocent people. — John Ashcroft

[Ashcroft vowed to] spare no effort to preserve the rights of all our citizens to pledge allegiance to the American flag. — John Ashcroft

The worst mistake a boss can make is not to say 'well done'. — John Ashcroft

A calculated, malignant, devastating evil has arisen in our world, ... Civilization cannot ignore the wrongs that have been done. America will not tolerate their being repeated. Justice has a new mission, a new calling against an old evil. — John Ashcroft

Nothing that we have authorized conflicts with any law regarding privacy or any provision of the constitution. — John Ashcroft

The FBI. is a massive culture. It's been a culture that served America well, and it's been focused on prosecution. But what we need in terms of terrorism is prevention. — John Ashcroft

The FBI has long been a part of the security for the nation's banks because bank robberies have been a priority. — John Ashcroft

Every medium by which people communicate can be subject to exploitation by those with illegal intentions. Nevertheless, this is no reason to hand Big Brother the keys to unlock our e-mail diaries, open our ATM records, read our medical records, or translate our international communications. — John Ashcroft

Nothing remains great without a capacity to change and to accommodate the conditions of a changing world. — John Ashcroft

We have to think outside the box, inside the Constitution, find ways to do things that will elevate our security, reduce the risk of the incidence of terrorist attack. — John Ashcroft

It doesn't help to wait until something happens and then prosecute the offenders, especially if it's the idea of the offender to extinguish himself in the commission of the crime. — John Ashcroft

Just as the First and Fourth Amendment secure individual rights of speech and security respectively, the Second Amendment protects an individual right to keep and bear arms. This view of the text comports with the all but unanimous understanding of the Founding Fathers. — John Ashcroft

Do not allow your sorrow or your rage to become hostility toward people on the basis of their ethnicity or their religious views. That is unacceptable; it is out of bounds, and if you break the law, we will prosecute you for it. — John Ashcroft

We're going to protect and honor the Constitution, and I don't have the authority to set it aside ... If I had the authority to set it aside, this would be a dangerous government, and I wouldn't respect it. — John Ashcroft

The way the terrorist is trained to operate, especially the suicide terrorists, makes punishment and the threat of punishment far less valuable to those who would prevent the crime. — John Ashcroft

We must not descend to the level of those who perpetrated Tuesday's violence by targeting individuals based on their race, their religion, or their national origin. Such reports of violence and threats are in direct opposition to the very principles and laws of the United States and will not be tolerated. — John Ashcroft

Prior to September 11, we thought the world beyond our shores was one world of risk and the world in our continent was another world of risk. — John Ashcroft

Civilized people - Muslims, Christians and Jews - all understand that the source of freedom and human dignity is the Creator. — John Ashcroft

Sometimes the act of walking in the face of the elements helps us come to grips with reality. Or it simply exhausts us to the point of seeing the futility of resisting reality and the futility of denial. — John Ashcroft

I don't play full court anymore. I just play half-court. — John Ashcroft

There is no priority higher than the prevention of terrorism. — John Ashcroft

People want to see other people who have 'non-negotiables,' things for which they're willing to say, 'This is it' we take our stand right here.' That's a leadership quality which people respect. — John Ashcroft

I decided this early on at Justice: if the traditional way was the most effective way of doing something, then we'd maintain it. But if it was not functioning at optimum levels, we would be doing the country a disservice by continuing to do things "like we've always done them." — John Ashcroft

Leaders select noble objectives and pursue them with such intensity that others join them. ... The greatest of all leaders from this perspective was Jesus Christ. ... May your choices be so powerful and magnetic that you'll draw people toward life (Duet. 30:19, ... therefore choose life.-) rather than death, blessing rather than cursing. — John Ashcroft

To those who scare peace loving people with phantoms of lost liberty, my message is this: your tactics aid terrorists for they erode our national unity and diminish our resolve. They give ammunition to America's enemies and pause to America's friends. — John Ashcroft

We've got to understand that the whole nature of the way American democracy guards its freedom has been changed. — John Ashcroft

What did John Ashcroft say about moderates, he said, quote, there are two things you find in the middle of the road, a moderate and a dead skunk and I don't want to be either, — John Ashcroft

Doing what is right in the face of adversity is not always easy or popular. Critics may assail you, but the critics don't always realize what they don't know or don't understand, because they don't have access to all the information. — John Ashcroft

Unique among the nations, America recognized the source of our character as being godly and eternal, not being civic and temporal. And because we have understood that our source is eternal, America has been different. We have no king but Jesus. — John Ashcroft

The Patriot Act allows and provides a basis for an exchange of information. — John Ashcroft

For the first time in a long time, our leaders in Washington understand what Americans of all religious backgrounds have long held to be true: through faith, all things are possible. — John Ashcroft

Reasonable regulations regarding the ownership of weapons are appropriate. — John Ashcroft

A trustee has a responsibility to guard the assets of others with a higher degree of care than he does his own. — John Ashcroft

By tearing down the wall between law enforcement and the intelligence community, we have been able to share information in a way that was virtually impossible before the Patriot Act. — John Ashcroft

The liberties and freedoms which we hold dear and we recognize and cherish and respect guide the way we gather information in the United States. — John Ashcroft

People who commit crimes should be responsible for those crimes. It doesn't matter whether they're priests or ministers or atheists. — John Ashcroft

The transmission of values from one generation to the next is the single most important task of the society. ... What am I doing to shape the values of the society? — John Ashcroft

To me, failure is not fatal unless you quit; getting knocked down is not embarrassing unless you allow it to keep you down. — John Ashcroft

All of us want to have meaning in our lives and want to feel like we're doing something that makes a difference. I believe we're doing that in the Justice Department. — John Ashcroft

[The war on terrorism isn't a religious war, but] a defense of our right to make moral choices, to seek fellowship with God that is chosen and not commanded. — John Ashcroft

I feel the best way to ensure Americans' freedom is to tighten restrictions on that freedom in any way possible. Only through wiretaps, illegal searches and seizures, unfettered government intrusion, a controlled media and a complete crackdown on free speech can we ensure the liberties of all people. — John Ashcroft

The path we have chosen is constitutional. — John Ashcroft