[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 87 (Friday, June 13, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7866-S7868]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
EXECUTIVE SESSION
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NOMINATION OF R. HEWITT PATE, OF VIRGINIA, TO BE AN ASSISTANT ATTORNEY
GENERAL
The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Under the previous order, the hour of 10
a.m. having arrived, the Senate will proceed to executive session to
consider the nomination of R. Hewitt Pate, of Virginia, to be an
Assistant Attorney General.
The legislative clerk read the nomination of R. Hewitt Pate, of
Virginia, to be an Assistant Attorney General.
Mr. ALLEN. Mr. President, I ask my fellow Senators to vote for R.
Hewitt Pate to be Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division
of the United States Department of Justice. I rise today to share with
my colleagues my views, familiarity and admiration for R. Hewitt Pate.
We all know, and the Presiding Officer recognizes, how important our
antitrust laws are and their beneficial influence in making sure we
have competition in our free market society. Competition is absolutely
essential because it forces us to always be innovative to ensure a good
market share for whatever the product or service. Our antitrust laws
are vital for free competition in our society and in our economy.
Mr. Pate, as Assistant Attorney General in the Antitrust Division of
the Justice Department, will be one of the key leaders, if not the key
leader, in making sure that monopolistic or anti-competitive practices
do not occur in this country. I can confidently say Mr. Pate is very
well qualified to decide antitrust matters effectively. He will lead
with impartiality, dignity and fairness in this important position.
When I was Governor of Virginia, I appointed Mr. Pate to the Virginia
Commission of Higher Education and the Governor's Commission on Self-
Determination and Federalism.
I have known Hew Pate since he was at the University of Virginia. I
was a relatively young delegate at the time, representing Mr.
Jefferson's seat in Albemarle and Nelson Counties, which surround the
University of Virginia. Ever since those years, Hew Pate has constantly
amazed me. Even then, as a very young man at the University of Virginia
School of Law, he was always very conscientious and knowledgeable, and
he has been a very good friend and ally ever since.
Hew Pate graduated first in his class from the University of Virginia
Law School in 1987 and went on to clerk for Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson
on the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. In addition, Mr. Pate clerked
for both Justice Louis Powell and Justice Anthony
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Kennedy on the United States Supreme Court.
After these impressive clerkships, Mr. Pate went on to practice
antitrust law for 10 years at Hunton & Williams, which is one of
Virginia's largest and most highly respected law firms. Hew Pate also
taught competition law at the University of Virginia.
Since 2001, Mr. Pate has performed with distinction, handling several
significant matters in a scholarly, reasoned, and admirable manner for
the Department of Justice's Antitrust Division. Since November 2002,
Hew Pate has been the Acting Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust.
In fact, on a case affecting a major company in the Commonwealth of
Virginia, my good colleague Senator Warner and I were on one side
advocating a certain result, and Mr. Pate was on the other side. Mr.
Pate briefed us on how our views were not necessarily in accordance
with the views of the Department of Justice, but he did it in a very
careful, considerate, and well-reasoned way. Afterward, we did not have
any reason to appeal because the conclusion was so well briefed and
researched.
It is my sincere pleasure to highly recommend this exceptional
nominee and outstanding Virginian this morning.
I respectfully urge all my colleagues to support the confirmation of
R. Hewitt Pate to this important position in the Department of Justice.
I think he will be an outstanding Assistant Attorney General, leading
the Antitrust Division.
Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, today, we confirm R. Hewitt Pate to be
Assistant Attorney General of the Antitrust Division at the Department
of Justice. The Antitrust Division is charged with a critically
important role in protecting our nation's consumers and their markets,
and I look forward to Mr. Pate fulfilling that role with diligence and
distinction.
As the boundaries of our marketplaces are expanding ever outward,
many of the competitive issues that were once only local have become
regional, national, or even global in their impact. That global economy
is also increasingly dominated by high tech and information industries.
In those arenas, technological change and innovation are taking place
at dizzying speed, and we are seeing new and creative products and
services developed every day. Fair and efficient policing of corporate
behavior in those swiftly evolving markets is particularly important to
ensure that the early entrants do not preclude competition from later
rivals, and that a rapid accumulation of market power cannot be used to
harm consumers.
Another hallmark of antitrust problems arising in recent years has
been the increasing number of situations in which suppliers and
distributors join forces, possibly to the detriment of consumers. Many
of us are accustomed to thinking of antitrust enforcement as focused on
mergers of competitors, but as more and more vertical arrangements are
entered into, we must be aware--and be wary--of such deals. While in
some cases they may permit consumers a greater range of choice than
they would otherwise enjoy, they can also facilitate grievously
anticompetitive behavior. As we all move more and more of our
acquisition of information, of goods, and of services, to the Internet,
the online businesses and markets will need the scrutiny of the
Antitrust Division to help guarantee that those marketplaces provide
digital-age consumers with the quality and quantity of offerings that
have long been the promise of the Internet.
As Mr. Pate confronts these issues, with the help of the many
seasoned career lawyers and economists in the Antitrust Division, I am
confident that he will be able to protect and promote the competitive
health of the American economy. We all stand to benefit if he does his
job well. I stand by ready to help him ensure that consumers and
producers alike enjoy the benefits of a properly functioning
marketplace.
Mr. KOHL. I rise today in support of the confirmation of Hew Pate to
the important post of Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust. I am
confident that Mr. Pate's talents and dedication will serve the Justice
Department and the American people very well in this vital position.
The responsibilities of the Justice Department's Antitrust Division
have never been more important. In our challenging economic times, we
all depend on the dynamism of competition to provide economic growth
and jobs necessary to propel our economy forward. And I am convinced
that only the aggressive enforcement of our Nation's antitrust laws--
our fundamental charter of economic liberty proven for over 110 years--
will ensure that competition will flourish and ensure that consumers
will obtain the highest quality products and services at the lowest
possible prices. The Antitrust Division must be a vigilant watchdog to
ensure that the antitrust laws are properly enforced to prevent
companies from stifling competition and harming consumers.
Moreover, Mr. Pate will assume his post at a time when the Antitrust
Division will have to serve as our last line of defense against
excessive media consolidation. Now that the FCC has substantially
relaxed media ownership restrictions, many expect a new wave of media
mergers and acquisitions. These acquisitions will come before the
Justice Department for review. We will expect that Mr. Pate will be
careful to review these transactions to ensure that they do not unduly
diminish competition in the marketplace of ideas nor unduly harm the
diversity of news and information so essential to our democracy.
It is essential, then, that the next head of the Antitrust Division
be committed to the Justice Department's tradition of vigorous
antitrust enforcement. The performance of the Antitrust Division over
the last 2 years under Mr. Pate's predecessor's leadership gave me
considerable cause for concern. From the defects in the Microsoft
settlement--which many believe was unnecessarily weak and riddled with
loopholes--to the general decline in the division's enforcement
activities, we were left to wonder if the division was truly committed
to its crucial mission of protecting competition. We will expect the
next Antitrust Division Chief to return to the tradition of strong and
energetic antitrust enforcement.
I believe that Mr. Pate is well qualified to restore our confidence
and lead the Antitrust Division in the years ahead. He has compiled an
impressive record of achievement at a relatively young age as an
attorney in private practice, and we have heard a great deal of praise
for his talents and legal acumen. Since joining the Justice Department
as a Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Antitrust Division more
than 2 years ago, Mr. Pate has proven to be an effective enforcer of
our Nation's antitrust laws. As a Deputy, he was responsible for many
of the division's most important matters, including its successful
challenge last year to the Echostar/DirectTV merger in the satellite
television industry. And I have been particularly impressed with his
dedication and hard work since he assumed the leadership of the
Antitrust Division on an acting basis last fall.
My favorable impression of Mr. Pate has been enhanced by my own
dealings with the nominee. He demonstrated his knowledge and expertise
in antitrust law at our confirmation hearing several weeks ago. And I
was particularly pleased with his forthrightness and candor in our
private meeting in advance of the hearing, where he impressed me with
the sincerity and seriousness with which he would take his new
responsibilities.
I will therefore vote in favor of confirming Mr. Pate. I will look
forward to working with Mr. Pate in the months and years ahead.
Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I rise in support of R. Hewitt Pate's
nomination for Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division.
I would note that Mr. Pate's nomination was unanimously approved by
the Judiciary Committee. I fully expect that the Senate will follow
suit and quickly approve his nomination to this important position.
Over the last decade, the position of the Assistant Attorney General
for Antitrust has grown in importance. The rapid transformation of our
country's economy, particularly in new technologies and international
markets, has raised public attention and policy focus on a variety of
important antitrust issues. The Assistant Attorney General plays a
crucial role in formulating competition policy and enforcing existing
antitrust laws to make
[[Page S7868]]
sure that our free-market economy operates efficiently and serves the
public.
Mr. Pate comes before the United States Senate with an impressive
track record of public service in the Antitrust Division. In June 2001,
he was appointed as the Deputy Assistant Attorney General responsible
for Regulatory Matters, and served ably under then Assistant Attorney
General Charles James. In November 2002, after Mr. James' departure,
Mr. Pate was appointed as Acting Assistant Attorney general for the
Antitrust Division. During that time, he has demonstrated his talent
and ability to lead the Antitrust Division.
Prior to joining the Justice Department in 2001, Mr. Pate practiced
at the distinguished law firm of Hunton & Williams in Richmond,
Virginia, where he had a distinguished record in representing both
plaintiffs and defendants in a variety of antitrust and business law
cases. After graduating first in his class at the University of
Virginia Law School in 1987, Mr. Pate went on to clerk for the
honorable J. Harvie Wilkinson, at the United States Court of Appeals
for the Fourth Circuit, Supreme Court Justice Lewis Powell, and Supreme
Court Justice Anthony Kennedy. During his tenure at the firm of Hunton
& Williams, Mr. Pate found time to teach at the University of Richmond
and University of Virginia Law Schools.
With such an impressive background, both in private practice and in
antitrust enforcement, particularly given his proven track record, I am
confident that Mr. Pate will be an excellent Assistant Attorney General
for the Antitrust Division. I am hopeful that this Senate will act
quickly to confirm Mr. Pate's nomination.
Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Chafee). Is there a sufficient second?
There is a sufficient second.
The question is, Will the Senate advise and consent to the nomination
of R. Hewitt Pate, of Virginia, to be an Assistant Attorney General?
The clerk will call the roll.
The assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
Mr. McCONNELL. I announce that the Senator from Mississippi (Mr.
Cochran), the Senator from Wyoming (Mr. Enzi), the Senator from North
Carolina (Mrs. Dole), the Senator from Illinois (Mr. Fitzgerald), the
Senator from South Carolina (Mr. Graham), the Senator from Oklahoma
(Mr. Inhofe), the Senator from Oklahoma (Mr. Nickles), the Senator from
Kansas (Mr. Roberts), the Senator from Oregon (Mr. Smith), the Senator
from Wyoming (Mr. Thomas), the Senator from Ohio (Mr. Voinovich), and
the Senator from Virginia (Mr. Warner) are necessarily absent.
Mr. REID. I announce that the Senator from Louisiana (Mr. Breaux),
the Senator from Delaware (Mr. Carper), the Senator from North Dakota
(Mr. Dorgan), the Senator from North Carolina (Mr. Edwards), the
Senator from Florida (Mr. Graham), the Senator from Iowa (Mr. Harkin),
the Senator from South Carolina (Mr. Hollings), the Senator from
Vermont (Mr. Jeffords), the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Kerry), the
Senator from New Jersey (Mr. Lautenberg), the Senator from Connecticut
(Mr. Lieberman), the Senator from Maryland (Ms. Mikulski), the Senator
from Georgia (Mr. Miller), the Senator from Washington (Mrs. Murray),
the Senator from Florida (Mr. Nelson), and the Senator from Nebraska
(Mr. Nelson) are necessarily absent.
I also announce that the Senator from Rhode Island (Mr. Reed) is
absent attending a funeral.
I further announce that, if present and voting, the Senator from
Massachusetts (Mr. Kerry) would vote ``yea''.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber
desiring a vote?
The result was announced--yeas 71, nays 0, as follows:
[Rollcall Vote No. 226 Ex.]
YEAS--71
Akaka
Alexander
Allard
Allen
Baucus
Bayh
Bennett
Biden
Bingaman
Bond
Boxer
Brownback
Bunning
Burns
Byrd
Campbell
Cantwell
Chafee
Chambliss
Clinton
Coleman
Collins
Conrad
Cornyn
Corzine
Craig
Crapo
Daschle
Dayton
DeWine
Dodd
Domenici
Durbin
Ensign
Feingold
Feinstein
Frist
Grassley
Gregg
Hagel
Hatch
Hutchison
Inouye
Johnson
Kennedy
Kohl
Kyl
Landrieu
Leahy
Levin
Lincoln
Lott
Lugar
McCain
McConnell
Murkowski
Pryor
Reid
Rockefeller
Santorum
Sarbanes
Schumer
Sessions
Shelby
Snowe
Specter
Stabenow
Stevens
Sununu
Talent
Wyden
NOT VOTING--29
Breaux
Carper
Cochran
Dole
Dorgan
Edwards
Enzi
Fitzgerald
Graham (FL)
Graham (SC)
Harkin
Hollings
Inhofe
Jeffords
Kerry
Lautenberg
Lieberman
Mikulski
Miller
Murray
Nelson (FL)
Nelson (NE)
Nickles
Reed
Roberts
Smith
Thomas
Voinovich
Warner
The nomination was confirmed.
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