[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 130 (Friday, October 7, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11297-S11298]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        NOMINATION OF WAN J. KIM

  Mr. CORZINE. Mr. President, it is with great pleasure and admiration 
that I support the nomination of Wan J. Kim, of my home State of New 
Jersey, to be the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights at the 
Department of Justice.
  Wan Kim's life is a testament to the American dream. Mr. Kim's father 
came to New York from South Korea in 1971, with only a few hundred 
dollars in his pocket and the dream of building a better life for his 
family. He spoke no English and he took a job washing dishes. His wife 
joined him several months later, and worked in a garment factory. In 
1973, Wan Kim and his sister left South Korea, where they had been 
staying with their grandmother, to reunite with their parents on U.S. 
soil. Wan Kim was 5 years old at the time.
  The family soon moved to New Jersey, where Mr. Kim's parents 
purchased a luncheonette in Jersey City, and later a home in Union 
Township. Mr. Kim's parents worked 7 days a week to provide an 
education and a life of opportunity for their children. Mr. Kim 
excelled in school, graduating as valedictorian of his high school 
class and serving this country in the Army Reserves. He received his 
bachelor's degree from Johns Hopkins University and his law degree from 
the University of Chicago Law School.
  Following law school, Mr. Kim clerked for Federal Judge James L. 
Buckley on the DC Circuit Court. He then worked as a trial attorney in 
the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice, where he 
participated in the prosecution of the Oklahoma City bombing case. Mr. 
Kim later served as an assistant U.S. attorney for the District of 
Columbia, as counsel on the Senate Judiciary committee, and as a lawyer 
in private practice. Since August 2003, Mr. Kim has served as a deputy 
assistant attorney general of the Civil Rights Division at the 
Department of Justice, where he is charged with oversight of the 
criminal, educational opportunities, and housing and civil enforcement 
sections.
  If confirmed as assistant attorney general, Mr. Kim will be the 
Nation's top civil rights law enforcement officer. In that capacity, he 
will be responsible for overseeing more than 300 attorneys nationwide 
and with ensuring the vigorous enforcement of this nation's civil 
rights laws--including those relating to voting rights, employment 
discrimination, human trafficking, and police misconduct. Mr. Kim will 
enjoy the distinction of being the first Korean-American and the first 
naturalized citizen to assume that post.
  The position to which Mr. Kim is nominated is one of vital importance 
to our Nation. There are those who

[[Page S11298]]

would weaken or narrow the authority of the Civil Rights Division, or 
remove it from Congressional oversight altogether. I disagree. The 
Department of Justice, and the Civil Rights Division in particular, 
must continue to carry out its indispensable role in safeguarding the 
civil rights of all Americans. The Department must hold firm in 
ensuring that no person, big or small, strong or weak, Black or White, 
Latino or Asian, is treated with anything less than fairness, equality, 
and justice under our laws. To this end, it is essential that the 
powers of the Civil Rights Division and the oversight authority of this 
body be vigorous, and that the Division hire only the very best 
attorneys possible to carry out its mission.
  There is no doubt that the Civil Rights Division will face many 
challenges in the years ahead. The office will require a leader with a 
firm commitment to civil rights and the resolve to place the 
considerable resources of the Federal Government behind the protection 
of those fundamental rights. Mr. Kim has an impressive record of public 
service and has earned the strong respect of his colleagues and the 
legal community. I am confident that Mr. Kim will do all he can to 
preserve and strengthen our civil rights protections, and that in so 
doing, he will continue to make his family, his home State of New 
Jersey, and his country proud.

                          ____________________