[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 52 (Monday, April 13, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2104-S2105]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            LYNCH NOMINATION

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, while the Senate was in recess, Loretta 
Lynch, the nominee to be our next Attorney General, announced that her 
office brought charges against two residents of Queens, NY, for 
conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction and plotting a terrorist 
attack on American soil. U.S. Attorney Lynch continues to work 
tirelessly to protect our Nation, but the Senate Republican leadership 
continues to play politics with our law enforcement and has prevented 
the Senate from fulfilling one of our most essential constitutional 
duties--the duty to provide advice and consent on Presidential 
nominations. The same baseless political obstructionism that has 
stalled Ms. Lynch's nomination has also led to the Senate's failure to 
confirm a single Federal judge so far this year.
  As one of the country's top Federal prosecutors, Loretta Lynch has an 
unparalleled record of keeping Americans safe from dangerous criminals 
and terrorists. This includes the successful prosecution of six 
individuals for their roles in a 2009 Al Qaeda plot to attack the New 
York subway system, the convictions of four terrorists who plotted an 
attack on John F. Kennedy Airport, and the conviction of a terrorist 
who sought to detonate an explosive device at the New York Federal 
Reserve. Despite her distinguished record of service, the Republican 
leadership is trying to use Ms. Lynch's nomination for political gain. 
This is not how the Senate should be treating a nomination of such 
importance to law enforcement and our national security.
  It has now been more than 5 months since President Obama announced 
the nomination of Ms. Lynch to be Attorney General. Her nomination was 
reported out of the Judiciary Committee with bipartisan support in 
February, yet it has been pending before the full Senate for 46 days. 
That is nearly twice as long as all of the past seven Attorneys General 
combined: Richard Thornburgh, 1 day; William Barr, 5 days; Janet Reno, 
1 day; John Ashcroft, 2 days, Alberto Gonzales, 8 days; Michael 
Mukasey, 2 days; and Eric Holder, 5 days. This historic delay is an 
embarrassment for the Senate.
  In January, Ms. Lynch testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee 
for nearly 8 hours and she responded to nearly 900 written questions. 
Not a single witness invited by Republicans opposed her nomination. 
When Republicans stalled consideration of Ms. Lynch's nomination in 
committee, Democrats noted the unnecessary delay and raised concerns 
about filling this vital position. The assistant Republican leader 
dismissed this as ``faux outrage.'' But in November 2007, that same 
Senator complained that a 7-week process on the Mukasey nomination 
threatened our national security. He issued a press release stating:

       It is imperative that the president has his national 
     security team at full strength and the unnecessary delay of 
     Judge Mukasey's nomination has prevented that. He deserves an 
     immediate up-or-down vote by the full Senate.

  Similarly, in early October 2007--just 3 weeks after Mr. Mukasey's 
nomination was announced, the Republican leader criticized me for not 
yet having set a hearing date, saying that Democrats should ``not hold 
Judge Mukasey hostage while they play partisan games.'' This is the 
same Republican leader who is now holding Ms. Lynch's nomination 
hostage and who has kept her nomination languishing on the floor for 
nearly twice as long as the past seven Attorneys General combined.
  No one can deny that Ms. Lynch is eminently qualified for the job. 
The Republican leader should schedule a vote on Ms. Lynch's nomination 
today. She has the votes to be confirmed, and a vote on this highly 
qualified nominee is long overdue. The Majority must stop playing 
political games with our law enforcement.
  We should also be voting on all 10 judicial nominees who have been 
pending in the Senate since last year, two of whom just passed the 1-
year mark since they were first nominated. Tonight, we will consider 
just one of those nominees. Once confirmed, Alfred Bennett will fill a 
``judicial emergency'' vacancy in the Southern District of Texas that 
has been empty for more than 2 years. There is no good explanation why 
it has taken us nearly 7 months to vote on his nomination, nor is there 
a good reason for why we are not voting on the other two pending 
nominees to district court vacancies in Texas. There are still two 
Fifth Circuit vacancies and seven other Federal district court 
vacancies in Texas for which there are no nominees. Texas has two times 
the number of Federal court vacancies of any other State, and these 
vacancies account for one-third of the judicial emergency vacancies on 
our Nation's courts. I urge the Texas Senators to work with the 
President so that we can receive nominees for those vacancies as soon 
as possible.
  Despite promises to govern responsibly, the Republican majority has 
continued to obstruct when it comes to judicial vacancies. When Senate 
Democrats were in the majority, we confirmed 15 of President Bush's 
district and circuit court nominees by April 2007. We confirmed 68 
judges during the last 2 years of the Bush administration, building on 
a record I established at the very beginning of the Bush Presidency 
when 100 judges were confirmed in the 17 months that I served as 
chairman of the Judiciary Committee. The fact that it has taken more 
than 3 months into the 114th Congress for the Republican majority to 
schedule a vote on a single judicial nominee is disconcerting, 
especially because all four

[[Page S2105]]

of the district court nominees who have been languishing on the Senate 
floor were recommended to President Obama by their two Republican home 
State Senators.
  Judge Alfred Bennett, whom we are voting to confirm today, is 
currently the presiding judge on the 61st Civil District Court in 
Houston, TX. From 2010 to 2011, he served as the administrative judge 
of the Harris County Civil District Courts. Judge Bennett has presided 
over 8,400 cases, 640 jury trials, and 550 bench trials. Prior to 
becoming a judge, he was in private practice for a decade and litigated 
a range of civil matters. Judge Bennett has the support of both his 
Republican home State senators, Senator Cornyn and Senator Cruz. He was 
voted out of the Judiciary Committee unanimously by voice vote on 
February 26. He has strong qualifications and should be confirmed.
  I urge the Republican majority to schedule votes to confirm the 
remaining judicial nominees pending on the Executive Calendar. None of 
the nominees are controversial. We should do our jobs and vote on their 
nominations so that they can start doing their jobs working for the 
American people.

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