Patriot Act debate highlights ‘stark’ differences between 2001, 2015 views

It was the fall of 2001 and John Cornyn was getting ready to run for the U.S. Senate when terrorists sent a jolt through the world and changed the politics of national security forever.

“I remember when my wife pointed . . . to the TV, when the second plane hit the tower,” the Texas Republican, now the Senate’s majority whip, recalled Tuesday afternoon.