[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 100 (Friday, June 29, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1184-E1185]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




RECOMMENDING THAT ATTORNEY GENERAL ERIC HOLDER BE FOUND IN CONTEMPT OF 
                                CONGRESS

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                         HON. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 28, 2012

  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise to oppose this misguided effort 
to inject the politics of a presidential election year into what should 
be a serious investigation. I oppose the resolutions to hold the 
Attorney General Eric Holder in criminal and civil contempt, because 
they are unwarranted and motivated by politics instead of facts. I 
voted for a resolution sponsored by Rep. John Dingell to require the 
Oversight and Government Committee to conduct a real investigation into 
the Fast and Furious operation. The American public deserves a 
legitimate investigation into the actions of the Bureau of Alcohol, 
Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) in Arizona. Members of Congress 
have a responsibility to ensure that the ATF was abiding by the law and 
ensure that the ``gun-walking'' programs that took place under the Bush 
and Obama Administrations do not take place again. The American people 
deserve answers and they deserve an investigation that is based on fact 
and the truth, not on political gamesmanship and finger-pointing. 
Unfortunately, these resolutions are not based on real investigations 
or the desire to prevent future ``gun-walking'' operations.
  This contempt resolution alleges that the Attorney General is not 
cooperating with the Oversight and Government Reform Committee's 
investigation. The Attorney General has testified before Congress nine 
times and the Department of Justice (DOJ) has produced 7,600 pages of 
documents to the Oversight and Government Reform Committee. 
Additionally, two dozen DOJ officials have testified before the 
Congress. Something lost in the political allegations on cable news is 
that the documents at issue in the Contempt Citation are not related to 
the Committee's investigation into how ``gun-walking'' was initiated 
and utilized in Operation Fast and Furious. Attorney General Holder has 
turned documents relating to Operation Fast and Furious over to the 
committee. This contempt citation is over the DOJ's internal 
deliberative documents unrelated to the actual Fast and Furious 
operation. This contempt resolution does not list any proof that the 
Attorney General had any knowledge of the Fast and Furious operation. 
In fact, when the Attorney General did discover the Fast and Furious 
program he took action to shut down the operation, held those 
responsible accountable, requested an investigation by the DOJ's IG 
office and cooperated with House and Senate investigations. To this 
day, no evidence has shown that he or the President had any knowledge 
of the Fast and Furious operation.

[[Page E1185]]

  What the American people also deserve to know is why the Majority is 
putting partisan politics above the public's right to a fair and 
balanced investigation. The Oversight and Government Reform Committee 
Republicans have not granted a single Democratic witness request in 16 
months. If this investigation was on the up and up, it seems that the 
Democrats should be allowed the opportunity to bring forward at least 
one witness. In fact, the Republicans refused ten requests by Democrats 
to hold a hearing with the former Acting Director of the ATF Kenneth 
Melson. He was in charge of the agency responsible for the Fast and 
Furious operation. The Majority also rejected requests to have William 
Hoover, the former Acting Deputy Director of the ATF during Operation 
Fast and Furious, testify before the committee. They also refused to 
allow former U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey to testify about 
gun-walking programs initiated under the previous administration. I 
hope that by opposing these resolutions we can have a real 
congressional investigation into the ATF's ``gun-walking'' operations 
and pass legislation to ensure that similar operations never happen 
again. The Dingell Resolution I voted for requires the Oversight and 
Government Reform Committee to hold bipartisan public hearings with the 
Kenneth Melson, William Hoover, Michael Mukasey, and others.
  The House of Representatives has never voted to hold a sitting 
Attorney General in contempt. I don't think Republicans and Chairman 
Issa have provided us a real reason to do so today. Instead, they have 
prevented a legitimate investigation from taking place and continue to 
move the goalpost again and again to demand documents unrelated to the 
Fast and Furious Operations. Their conduct has revealed they are far 
more interested in getting Attorney General Holder than getting the 
facts. This has been a total abuse of power and process. I believe that 
we should be voting on the President's jobs bill today instead of this 
misguided and partisan resolution.
  I urge my colleagues to join me in opposing this resolution.

                          ____________________