[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 70 (Tuesday, April 25, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2500-S2501]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                      Days of Remembrance Ceremony

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I will yield the floor if the Democratic 
leader arrives, but until his arrival, I would like to do two things--
first, join in the comments made by the majority leader, Senator 
McConnell, relative to the Holocaust remembrance.
  This is the day on which we gather in the Rotunda each year to 
remember the atrocities of World War II, which includes remembering the 
Holocaust victims, so many who were Jewish people as well as Polish 
people--the list goes on and on--as well as those who were gay and 
gypsies. This was an ethnic cleansing--the worst ever seen in the 
history of this world. We remember it on this day, as we should.
  Mr. President, on a separate issue, before us now is the nomination 
of Rod Rosenstein to be the Deputy Attorney General of the United 
States.
  The Deputy Attorney General oversees the day-to-day operations of the 
Department of Justice. In any circumstance, this is an important 
position that requires a nominee with experience, independence, 
management skills, and good judgment, which is especially true today.
  Many of us questioned whether Attorney General Sessions was the right 
person to be the chief law enforcement officer of the United States of 
America at this moment in history. Unfortunately, many of the actions 
of the new Attorney General, since he was confirmed, have not erased 
these concerns. The Attorney General has already begun making dramatic 
changes at the Justice Department, including on critical issues like 
criminal justice, civil rights, immigration, and funding for crime 
prevention.
  Just last week, Attorney General Sessions disparaged a Federal judge 
from Hawaii who issued an order blocking the Trump administration's 
Muslim travel ban.
  Attorney General Sessions said: ``I really am amazed that a judge 
sitting on an island in the Pacific can issue an order that stops the 
President of the United States from what appears to be clearly his 
statutory and constitutional power.''
  Senator Mazie Hirono, my colleague on the Senate Judiciary Committee 
and the junior Senator from Hawaii, pointed out that Hawaii was granted 
statehood in 1959 and called the Attorney General's comments 
``insulting and prejudiced.''
  Also, last week, Attorney General Sessions called into question the 
status of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program, also 
known as DACA. When asked about DACA, Attorney General Sessions said: 
``We can't promise people who are here unlawfully that they're not 
going to be deported.''
  That is exactly what DACA is. It is a commitment to young people who 
were brought to the United States as children and grew up in our 
country that they will be protected from deportation on a temporary 
renewable basis. Attorney General Sessions' statement is contrary to 
his own administration's policy as established by President Trump and 
Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, who have primary responsibility 
for immigration enforcement.
  The last confirmed nominee for Deputy Attorney General was Sally 
Yates, a veteran prosecutor and U.S. attorney from Georgia. Ms. Yates 
displayed sound judgment as Deputy Attorney General, and she was 
unafraid to speak truth to power.
  Ms. Yates became the Acting Attorney General at the end of the Obama 
administration, and when President Trump signed his unconstitutional 
Muslim ban Executive order on January 27, Sally Yates told the White 
House she could not defend the order in court because she was not 
convinced it was lawful. Ms. Yates was then fired by President Trump 
for disagreeing with him. However, multiple Federal courts agreed with 
Ms. Yates' position and blocked this unconstitutional Executive order. 
Time and history have proven Ms. Yates correct.
  We need a Deputy Attorney General like Sally Yates, who is highly 
competent and has the independence to say no to the President and to 
the Attorney General when necessary.
  Rod Rosenstein has served as the U.S. Attorney for the District of 
Maryland since 2005 under both Democratic and Republican Presidents. I 
do not question his experience or his competence. As a member of the 
Senate Judiciary Committee, I looked closely at his nomination. I asked 
him many questions in the hearing. I sent some followup letters, and I 
appreciate that he has been forthcoming in his responses.
  Mr. Rosenstein has pledged to be an independent voice and has 
committed that he will not recommend any changes in Justice Department 
policies until he evaluates them, discusses them with appropriate 
officials, and determines that changes are warranted.
  I expect he will be confirmed. Upon confirmation, Mr. Rosenstein will 
immediately be tasked with responsibility over critically important 
issues over which he will need to display both sound judgment and 
independence. Four come to mind.
  First is the ongoing investigation into Russia's efforts to interfere 
with the 2016 Presidential election to help the Trump campaign. What 
Russia did in our election last year was a cyber act of war against our 
democracy. It is imperative that we get to the bottom of what happened 
and make sure it never happens again. I have called for an independent, 
bipartisan investigation into Russia's election interference. The 
Republican majority of the House and Senate have resisted this call.
  Instead, Republicans in Congress have referred this matter to the 
Intelligence Committees of both Houses, perhaps hoping it will fade 
away behind closed doors. I hope the Intelligence Committees will step 
up and conduct an investigation that is worthy of the importance of 
this issue, but when it comes to potential criminal acts involving 
Russia's election interference, the responsibility to investigate falls 
solely on the Justice Department.
  Attorney General Sessions has had to recuse himself from the 
investigation because of his work for the Trump campaign and his 
failure to disclose his contacts with Russian officials last year. That 
means the Deputy Attorney General now has the responsibility over this 
investigation.
  It will be incumbent on Mr. Rosenstein to ensure this investigation 
is conducted with independence, diligence, and integrity. I believe 
that appointing a special counsel is the best way to ensure this. I 
hope he will make that appointment. If Mr. Rosenstein does not appoint 
a special counsel, the spotlight will be on him personally to make sure 
the investigation is conducted properly, no matter where it leads. I 
hope he exercises good judgment. This investigation is too important to 
get wrong.
  The second issue that will require independence and good judgment 
from the Deputy Attorney General is the Justice Department's threat to 
withhold Federal funding to prevent violence across America, including 
in the city of Chicago.
  The Trump administration's message has been confusing, to say the 
least, when it comes to Federal efforts to prevent violence. On the one 
hand, President Trump, in the middle of the night, tweets ``Chicago 
needs help,'' and ``Send in the Feds,'' but then the administration 
threatens to cut off critical funding for violence prevention under 
programs like Byrne JAG unless cities agree to turn their local police 
departments into deportation forces.
  It is pretty obvious that cutting off Federal violence prevention 
funding will hurt the cause of violence prevention. Do not take my word 
for it. Ask any law enforcement leader.
  Listen to what the International Association of Chiefs of Police 
said: ``Penalizing communities by withholding assistance funding to law 
enforcement

[[Page S2501]]

agencies and other critical programs is counterproductive to our shared 
mission of reducing violent crime and keeping communities safe.''
  It is no secret that the Attorney General is fixated on immigration, 
but we need the Deputy Attorney General to ensure that this fixation 
does not undermine the important ways that the Justice Department and 
local law enforcement cooperate to reduce violent crime.
  This administration cannot call itself a law-and-order administration 
and then do something like cut the funds for violence prevention when 
police chiefs across America say that is just wrong.
  The third area of critical importance is criminal justice policy. 
Today, our Federal prisons are 30 percent over capacity, and runaway 
prison expenditures are undermining important public safety priorities 
like crime prevention, drug courts, and addiction treatment.
  The largest increase in the Federal prison population has been 
nonviolent drug offenders who are then separated from their families 
for years on end as a result of inflexible mandatory minimum sentences. 
This has a destructive effect on communities and erodes faith in 
America in our criminal justice system.
  Congress needs to pass legislation to reform our Federal drug 
sentencing laws, but the Justice Department's policies for nonviolent 
drug offenses also can help.
  Under the Obama administration, the Smart on Crime Initiative 
directed Federal prosecutors to reserve stiff mandatory minimum 
sentences for individuals convicted of serious offenses. This 
initiative has been very effective in focusing the Department's limited 
resources on the worst offenders and ensuring that people convicted of 
low-level, nonviolent offenses are not subjected to these same 
mandatory minimum penalties.
  Attorney General Sessions has signaled that he wants to eliminate the 
Smart on Crime Initiative, and certainly those of us who listened to 
his opposition to criminal sentencing reform are not surprised. But, as 
Deputy Attorney General, Mr. Rosenstein will chair the Task Force on 
Crime Reduction and Public Safety that has been established by the 
President. This gives him an important voice. I hope he will work to 
ensure that the Department's charging policy reserves stiff mandatory 
sentences for only serious violent offenders.
  Mr. Rosenstein would also be responsible for determining the fate of 
the Justice Department's efforts to work constructively with State and 
local law enforcement to protect civil rights and improve community and 
police relations. In particular, Mr. Rosenstein should continue 
negotiations to pursue police reform in Chicago, backed up by an 
enforceable consent decree. The former U.S. attorney in Chicago, Zach 
Fardon, felt strongly that a consent decree was needed to correct the 
systemic problems we face. Mr. Rosenstein has shown more openness to 
using consent decrees than Attorney General Sessions, who has an 
ideological personal hostility toward them. I hope Mr. Rosenstein will 
look carefully at this issue in Chicago and respect the judgment of Mr. 
Fardon and the career DOJ professionals who spent over a year 
investigating this matter.
  Mr. Rosenstein also will be responsible for reining in the Attorney 
General's worst instincts on immigration. It is no surprise to any 
Member of this Chamber that when the issue of immigration came to the 
floor, the leading opponent on immigration reform was Senator Sessions 
of Alabama. I believe he offered 100 amendments to the immigration 
reform bill that passed the U.S. Senate. He has spoken out over and 
over again about his opposition to immigration reform.
  The Attorney General has already directed Federal prosecutors across 
the country to make immigration cases a higher priority and look for 
opportunities to bring serious felony charges against those who cross 
the border without authorization. Federal prosecutors understand this 
is not the right approach. Listen to Paul Charlton, the U.S. attorney 
for Arizona under the Bush administration. According to him, this new 
directive will overburden the Federal courts already struggling to 
handle the volume of immigration cases. He said: ``Prosecution and 
incarceration do not adequately address the real need, which is a 
reform of the immigration laws.''
  Let me conclude. I see the Democratic leader on the floor.
  There are a number of critical issues that will require sound 
judgment and leadership from the next Deputy Attorney General. I hope 
Mr. Rosenstein will approach these issues with the professionalism and 
integrity that have earned him bipartisan praise as U.S. Attorney in 
Maryland. I hope he will be willing to speak truth to power and to 
stand up to the President and the Attorney General if necessary.
  I will support Mr. Rosenstein's nomination. I hope we can work 
together constructively on the important matters facing the Department 
of Justice.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.