[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 73 (Thursday, May 24, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5602-S5603]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   NOMINATION OF MICHAEL CHERTOFF TO BE AN ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the clerk will 
report the nomination.
  The assistant legislative clerk read the nomination of Michael 
Chertoff, of New Jersey, to be an Assistant Attorney General.
  Mr. CORZINE. Mr. President, I am pleased to support the nomination of 
Michael Chertoff to be Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal 
Division. Mr. Chertoff has ably served the citizens of New Jersey in 
numerous capacities, as well as the Department of Justice and indeed 
the Nation. We will all be fortunate to have his tremendous skills at 
the helm of the Criminal Division.
  Mr. Chertoff has impeccable credentials, not the least of which is 
being a native New Jerseyan. He attended Harvard College, then Harvard 
Law

[[Page S5603]]

School, where he was Editor of the Harvard Law Review. He then served 
as a Supreme Court law clerk. In both private practice and public 
service since then he has developed a reputation as a brilliant, tough, 
fair, and truly world class litigator, and earned the respect of his 
peers and adversaries. Indeed, one New Jersey paper has even suggested 
he might be New Jersey's ``Lawyer Laureate.'' While I should 
acknowledge that we might not agree on every issue, I consider Mr. 
Chertoff to be one of the finest lawyers my State has to offer.
  From 1990 to 1994, Mr. Chertoff served New Jersey exceptionally well 
as our U.S. Attorney, where he tackled organized crime, public 
corruption, health care fraud and bank fraud. Unlike his predecessors, 
as U.S. Attorney he continued to try cases himself, and his long hours 
and unending commitment to the job and the citizens of New Jersey were 
legendary. He tackled the highest-profile cases in a serious and 
thoughtful manner, and, despite being one of the youngest U.S. 
Attorneys in the Nation, raised the profile and reputation for 
excellence of the U.S. Attorney's Office in Newark.
  More recently, Mr. Chertoff has played a critical role in helping the 
New Jersey State legislature investigate racial profiling. As Special 
Counsel to the State Senate Judiciary Committee, he helped the 
committee probe how top state officials handled racial profiling by the 
State Police. His work was bipartisan and thoroughly professional, and 
helped expose the fact that for too long, state authorities were aware 
that statistics showed minority motorists were being treated unfairly 
by some law enforcement officials, and yet ignored the problem.
  Mr. Chertoff is one of our Nation's most competent and respected 
lawyers, with a very distinguished record of public and private 
service. I urge my colleagues to join me in support of his nomination.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I am voting in favor of Mr. Chertoff's 
nomination to be the Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal 
Division at the Department of Justice.
  I have been concerned that Mr. Chertoff, like several of the 
President's other nominees for top positions in the Department of 
Justice, has a history of partisan political activities. Mr. Chertoff 
was special counsel to the Republicans in the Senate Whitewater 
investigation of President Clinton, which hardly provided a model for 
the apolitical and unbiased search for justice that ought to 
characterize the operations of the United States Department of Justice.
  Fortunately, however, Mr. Chertoff also has an established track 
record as a Federal prosecutor apart from his involvement with the 
Whitewater Committee. More importantly, he has answered the committee's 
questions about his political activities and has given appropriate 
assurances that he will not allow partisanship to influence the 
exercise of his judgment on the legal merits of questions he will 
address as the Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division. I 
credit his assurances, and for that reason I am voting for his 
nomination.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is, Will the Senate advise and 
consent to the nomination of Michael Chertoff, of New Jersey, to be an 
Assistant Attorney General? On this question the yeas and nays have 
been ordered. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. NICKLES. I announce that the Senator from Vermont (Mr. Jeffords) 
and the Senator from Tennessee (Mr. Frist) are necessarily absent.
  Mr. REID. I announce that the Senator from Wisconsin (Mr. Kohl) and 
the Senator from West Virginia (Mr. Rockefeller) are necessarily 
absent.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber 
desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 95, nays 1, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 169 Ex.]

                                YEAS--95

     Akaka
     Allard
     Allen
     Baucus
     Bayh
     Bennett
     Biden
     Bingaman
     Bond
     Boxer
     Breaux
     Brownback
     Bunning
     Burns
     Byrd
     Campbell
     Cantwell
     Carnahan
     Carper
     Chafee
     Cleland
     Cochran
     Collins
     Conrad
     Corzine
     Craig
     Crapo
     Daschle
     Dayton
     DeWine
     Dodd
     Domenici
     Dorgan
     Durbin
     Edwards
     Ensign
     Enzi
     Feingold
     Feinstein
     Fitzgerald
     Graham
     Gramm
     Grassley
     Gregg
     Hagel
     Harkin
     Hatch
     Helms
     Hollings
     Hutchinson
     Hutchison
     Inhofe
     Inouye
     Johnson
     Kennedy
     Kerry
     Kyl
     Landrieu
     Leahy
     Levin
     Lieberman
     Lincoln
     Lott
     Lugar
     McCain
     McConnell
     Mikulski
     Miller
     Murkowski
     Murray
     Nelson (FL)
     Nelson (NE)
     Nickles
     Reed
     Reid
     Roberts
     Santorum
     Sarbanes
     Schumer
     Sessions
     Shelby
     Smith (NH)
     Smith (OR)
     Snowe
     Specter
     Stabenow
     Stevens
     Thomas
     Thompson
     Thurmond
     Torricelli
     Voinovich
     Warner
     Wellstone
     Wyden

                                NAYS--1

       
     Clinton
       

                             NOT VOTING--4

     Frist
     Jeffords
     Kohl
     Rockefeller
  The nomination was confirmed.
 Mr. ROCKEFELLER. Mr. President, I was absent from this 
afternoon's three confirmation votes on Justice Department officials 
because of a family funeral. I regret that I was absent for these 
unanticipated rollcall votes.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The President shall be immediately notified of 
the Senate's action.

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