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 Quote

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

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 Quote

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

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

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 Quote

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

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 Quote

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 Quote

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 Quote

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 Quote

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

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 Quote

We've got a major problem in our culture, as it relates to the Internet and pornography and child pornography.
- John Ashcroft Quote

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