[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 79 (Monday, May 14, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Page S6061]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself, Mr. Schumer, Mr. Baucus, and Mr. 
        Tester):
  S. 1379. A bill to amend chapter 35 of title 28, United States Code, 
to strike the exception to the residency requirements for United States 
attorneys; to the Committee on the Judiciary.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the U.S. 
Attorney Local Residency Restoration Act along with Senators Schumer, 
Baucus, and Tester.
  Simply put, this legislation would eliminate the other language that 
the Department of Justice had inserted into the PATRIOT Act 
reauthorization dealing with U.S. attorneys.
  The first provision added allowed the Attorney General to appoint 
interim U.S. attorneys to vacancies indefinitely without Senate 
confirmation, and I authored a bill to restore the law to require 
interim appointments by the Attorney General for only 120 days, and 
then the district courts can appoint the interim U.S. attorney if a 
permanent replacement has not been nominated and confirmed.
  This bill has passed this body, and I hope will be signed into law 
soon.
  Today, I am offering this legislation to restore the residency 
requirement for sitting U.S. attorneys.
  Before the change, the law required that U.S. attorneys live within 
his district while serving. It seems logical that the U.S. attorney 
should live in the district that he is heading.
  However, the Department of Justice added language in the PATRIOT Act 
reauthorization that allows a U.S. attorney to live outside of his 
district if the Attorney General assigns dual or additional 
responsibilities to him.
  While U.S. attorneys in both Democratic and Republican 
administrations have served dual roles in the past, this administration 
has once again abused its new authority--this time by placing numerous 
U.S. attorneys in full-time positions throughout the Department of 
Justice, at times in a manner that allows the Department to avoid 
Senate confirmation.
  In fact, Dennis Boyd, executive director of the National Association 
of Assistant U.S. Attorneys, which represents current Federal 
prosecutors, has said, ``I can't think of a time when there's been this 
many U.S. attorneys doing double duty at one time.''
  Currently, there are several U.S. attorneys, that we know about, who 
are serving in a second full-time position here in Washington, while 
still retaining their responsibilities back in their districts. For 
example, Michael J. Sullivan, the U.S. attorney in Boston, has been 
serving as the Acting Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, 
Firearms and Explosives in Washington for the past 6 months, a position 
that requires Senate confirmation;
  Mary Beth Buchanan, U.S. attorney in Pittsburgh, is also the acting 
director of the Office of Violence Against Women, a position that 
requires Senate confirmation, and prior to that she served as Director 
of the Executive Office of U.S. Attorneys; and Kevin O'Connor, U.S. 
attorney in Connecticut, is also serving as an Associate Deputy 
Attorney General coordinating antigang policies.
  Of course, the most well-known example is William Mercer, U.S. 
attorney in Montana. Mr. Mercer has been effectively absent for nearly 
2 years from his State. First, serving as Principal Associate Deputy 
Attorney General, and now working as Acting Associate Attorney General, 
another position that requires Senate confirmation. In fact, through 
staff interviews we have learned that he is only in his State 3 or 4 
days a month.
  Moreover, his consistent absenteeism was having such a negative 
effect on the district that it led to the point where U.S. District 
Chief Judge Donald Molloy of Billings, MT, felt compelled to write to 
the Attorney General on October 20, 2005, to complain. In that letter, 
Chief Judge Molloy wrote that Mr. Mercer's dual roles have led to ``a 
lack of leadership'' in the Montana office and created ``untoward 
difficulties for the court'' and for career prosecutors. Chief Judge 
Molloy also wrote that Mr. Mercer was violating Federal law because he 
``no longer resides in Montana'' and instead was living with his family 
in the Washington, DC, area.
  These facts on their own are cause for alarm.
  However, what is even more disconcerting is the way that Mr. Mercer 
and the Department of Justice have handled this situation.
  We know that the Attorney General responded to Chief Judge Molloy in 
a letter on November 10, 2005, stating that Mr. Mercer ``is in 
compliance with the residency requirement'' under Federal law because 
he ``is domiciled in Montana, returns there on a regular basis, and 
will live there full-time as soon as his temporary assignment is 
completed.''
  We also know through interviews of DOJ staff that Mr. Mercer worked 
with Will Moschella and Senate staff during November 2005 to insert the 
residency exemption language into the PATRIOT Act reauthorization.
  In fact, according to the Washington Post, the response from the 
Attorney General to Chief Judge Molloy occurred on the very same day 
that DOJ asked for the language to be inserted into the PATRIOT Act.
  All this resulted in a change in the law, thus eviscerating the 
conflict.
  However, even beyond this turn of events, what is truly breathtaking 
about this administration's actions with regard to Mr. Mercer is that 
in trying to defend its actions to force numerous U.S. attorneys to 
resign from office, this same Justice Department criticized David 
Iglesias for being ``an absentee landlord.''
  I firmly believe, what is sauce for the goose is sauce for the 
gander. You can't one day try to change the law to make it easier for 
U.S. attorneys to serve in 2 full-time jobs at the same time and then 
the next day fire someone for not being fully present in his job, 
especially when the absence is much more limited and based on service 
to the country in the naval reserves.
  While there are times when U.S. attorneys may be relied upon to fill 
in temporarily, changing the law to ensure that they can hold two full-
time jobs is unacceptable.
  Serving as U.S. attorney is a full-time job, and each district 
throughout this country deserves to have the best qualified person in 
the district focused on the tasks at hand.
  I am quite certain that there are many fine first assistant U.S. 
attorneys capable of stepping up to fill the shoes of an absent U.S. 
attorney; however, these are not the individuals the President has 
nominated and the Senate has confirmed to serve those positions.
  These districts deserve nothing less than the undivided attention of 
their Senate-confirmed U.S. attorneys.
  I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be 
printed in the Record, as follows:

                                S. 1379

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``United States Attorney Local 
     Residency Restoration Act of 2007''.

     SEC. 2. REPEAL OF RESIDENCY EXCEPTION.

       (a) In General.--Section 545(a) of title 28, United States 
     Code, is amended by striking the last sentence.
       (b) Effective Date and Applicability.--
       (1) In general.--The amendments made by this section 
     shall--
       (A) take effect on the date of enactment of this Act; and
       (B) apply to any person serving as a United States attorney 
     or an assistant United States attorney on or after such date 
     of enactment.
       (2) Orders.--Any order issued under section 545(a) of title 
     28, United States Code, as in effect on the day before the 
     date of enactment of this Act, shall terminate on such date 
     of enactment.
                                 ______