[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 19 (Tuesday, February 2, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S217-S218]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                              Nominations

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I rise this morning, of course, to support 
the nominations of Pete Buttigieg to be Secretary of Transportation and 
Alejandro Mayorkas to head the Department of Homeland Security. They 
are both exceptional choices by the administration to fill critical 
positions.
  This afternoon when we vote on Mr. Mayorkas, it will be the 
completion of three of the four national security elements of the 
Cabinet for President Biden, having previously voted for the Secretary 
of State and Secretary of Defense.
  The post remaining, of course, after today's actions--if they are 
favorable, and I believe they will be--is the office of Attorney 
General, and I would like to address that directly.
  First, let me say this. When you feel that you are the target of 
terrorists--a personal target of terrorists--you will never forget the 
moment. It has only happened twice in my life. On 9/11/2001, as a U.S. 
Senator, I was in a meeting in a room just several feet away from the 
Senate Chamber when the attack on the World Trade Center took place and 
the attack on the Pentagon. Those were terrorists at work, killing 
innocent people.
  There was one more plane in the air. We didn't know where it was 
headed. It was early in the morning on that day that we were told to 
evacuate the Capitol Building, the first time I had ever faced that as 
a Member of Congress.
  We quickly ran out the doors and down the stairs and stood on the 
lawn outside of the Capitol, wondering what was next, for fear that 
this building--this symbol of America and its greatness--was the next 
target of an attack. It could have been.
  We are not sure. We never will be. But thanks to the heroic efforts 
of passengers on an airplane--they attacked the attackers, went after 
the terrorists, personally, and brought that plane down in Pennsylvania 
at the cost of their own lives--in a way, many of us were spared of 
being targets of terrorism that day.
  When we reflect on those 3,000 innocent Americans who lost their 
lives in New York, Pennsylvania, and at the Pentagon, I will never 
forget the feeling that I was spared that act of terrorism and the hope 
that no one in America would ever have that fear again.
  Fast forward to January 6, 2021, fewer than 4 weeks ago, here in the 
U.S. Capitol. Again, I felt I was the target of terrorists. That was 
the day when an insurrectionist mob stormed the Capitol, broke through 
the doors, beat down the windows, and came marching toward the Senate 
Chamber. I will never forget that moment, and I don't think anyone who 
was here at the time could possibly forget it.
  It was 2:15 in the afternoon when the Vice President of the United 
States was removed from the chair that you are sitting in, Mr. 
President. He was whisked off the platform to a safe room so he could 
be spared from anything that might come from this mob.
  The rest of us were told to sit at our desk. We would make a safe 
Chamber--one safe room in the Capitol. We lined the walls with staffers 
to protect them against this insurrectionist mob, and we waited, but 
only for a few minutes.
  The order was reversed quickly: Leave the Chamber. What had happened, 
we came to learn, was that the same mob of terrorists continued to 
advance through the Capitol, despite the valiant efforts of the Capitol 
Police and other law enforcement.
  It was during that period of time when this mob of terrorists was 
attacking this building, the United States Capitol, when Officer Brian 
Sicknick of the Capitol Police lost his life.
  We honor him tomorrow by bringing his remains to the Capitol for him 
to lie in repose, a place of honor, for all of us to thank him and his 
family and to thank all of the men and women who risk their lives--and, 
certainly, one who gave his life--in the service of our Nation.
  These men and women who stand in silen service every single day are 
often overlooked by visitors, but they are literally risking their 
lives. In the time I have served in the House and the

[[Page S218]]

Senate, this is at least the third occasion when members of the Capitol 
Police have given their lives to protect me, and Brian Sicknick will 
not be forgotten.

  For those who want to take this insurrectionist mob and the 
incitement of this mob as just another political protest, I ask them to 
reflect for a moment, please, on the graphic video evidence of what 
happened on that day, as people who were part of this mob took baseball 
bats, sticks, everything they could get their hands on, and beat up 
against those law enforcement agents. It was a sad moment.
  Yesterday's New York Times spelled out what led up to it: a big lie 
that the former President of the United States actually won the 
November 3 election.
  He did not. The votes were counted and he lost, but he has never been 
able to accept that reality, and what he has done in the meantime is to 
foment a revolt against our government at the grassroots level across 
America.
  That is the reason why a new Attorney General brought to the position 
of leadership as quickly as possible is so important. I regret that, 
once again, I need to come to the floor to call on the Senate 
Republicans to stop blocking Merrick Garland from receiving a hearing 
before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
  We all remember the way Merrick Garland, a judge in the Circuit Court 
of the DC Circuit, was treated by Senate Republicans in 2016 when he 
was nominated by President Obama to the Supreme Court. I am not going 
to recount the entire history today, but I will tell you, it was not a 
proud moment for the U.S. Senate when Senate leaders on the other side 
of the aisle announced they would not give him a hearing. They 
literally would not even meet with him to give him the dignity of such 
an opportunity to discuss his nomination for the Supreme Court.
  But I do want to talk about the urgency of putting President Biden's 
national security team in place, including Merrick Garland, the 
President's nominee for Attorney General. Our country faces, as we 
learned on January 6, challenges of great importance at this moment in 
our history.
  As we faced that mob assault on the Capitol Building for the first 
time since the War of 1812, our Capitol was breached by attackers, 
domestic terrorists. Domestic terrorists were part of a coordinated, 
comprehensive effort to stop the Government of the United States. That 
situation needs to be carefully reviewed and examined by the Department 
of Justice and the Attorney General as quickly as possible.
  There is no person better qualified to lead this investigation, to 
bring these perpetrators to justice, and to prevent future domestic 
terror attacks than Merrick Garland. When he previously served at the 
Justice Department, Judge Garland oversaw the investigation and 
prosecution of the largest domestic terrorism attack in recent 
history--the Oklahoma City bombing. His qualifications and experience 
are well suited for the moment we face.
  As our Nation's top law enforcement officer, the Attorney General is 
a key part of the President's national security team. The Attorney 
General oversees our Nation's law enforcement response to threats both 
foreign and domestic.
  My Republican colleagues frequently talked about letting the new 
President get his national security team in place at the start of his 
administration. Despite the unresolved nature of the Senate's 
organizing resolution, other subcommittees have come together on a 
bipartisan basis to schedule prompt hearings and votes for nominees, 
including the Secretary of Defense, Director of National Intelligence, 
Secretary of Homeland Security, and Secretary of State. We need to do 
the same when it comes to the nomination of Merrick Garland to serve as 
Attorney General.
  Why would we allow partisanship to get in the way of national 
security?
  I have urged my Republican colleagues on the Judiciary Committee--
current Chairman Graham and incoming Ranking Member Grassley--to 
consent to start the hearing for Merrick Garland as soon as possible.
  I proposed February 8, next Monday, as a hearing date, in part to 
accommodate Senator Graham's request to avoid holding a hearing during 
the impeachment trial. A February 8 hearing date gives the committee 
sufficient time to review Judge Garland's record. It would follow the 
same timeline--the very same timeline--that Senator Graham used for 
Judge Amy Coney Barrett's nomination to the Supreme Court last year.

  Remember, the committee has already received the vast majority of 
Judge Garland's record, including his speeches, interviews, and 
publications, that less than 5 years ago was presented when he was 
nominated to the Supreme Court. We have had this material in the 
committee for years. Senator Graham claims that important paperwork for 
Judge Garland is still missing. The only thing that has not been filed 
is Judge Garland's FBI background investigation. As important as it is, 
the Judiciary Committee has scheduled hearings for previous Attorney 
General nominees before the FBI background investigations had been 
submitted. For example, the committee received then-Senator Jeff 
Sessions' FBI background investigation just 5 days before his hearing, 
and we are still 6 days away from a proposed hearing date. So what we 
are asking is not unprecedented or unrealistic.
  Senator Graham points out that Attorney General nominees typically 
have 2-day hearings--1 day to question the nominee and the other day to 
question outside witnesses. This isn't always the case. For example, 
the Republicans held a 1-day hearing to consider Alberto Gonzales's 
nomination to be Attorney General. Yet, if the goal is to ensure there 
is sufficient time to question the nominee and to hear from outside 
witnesses, I am willing to do just that--allow for two rounds of 
questions of the nominee and an outside witness panel.
  I also find it surprising that Senator Graham objects to committee 
business on the eve of an impeachment trial. Just remember the history. 
On January 16, 2020--the same day that the previous impeachment trial 
of this President started--Senator Graham held a committee markup 
during which the committee considered 11 judicial nominees. There was 
nothing sacred about the day before or day of an impeachment trial 
then, when Senator Graham was chairman.
  Judge Garland is a consensus pick. As even Senator Graham has 
acknowledged, the Senate should generally be deferential to a 
President's Cabinet nominees, and that is particularly true for 
national security positions. There is an even greater urgency to move 
swiftly to confirm Judge Garland, given the events of January 6 and the 
Justice Department's role in investigating and responding to those 
events and other national security threats.
  I hope Republicans will consent now to notice a hearing for February 
8. It would show real bipartisanship and fairness. Under our committee 
rules, we can still notice the hearing with less than 7 days if my 
Republican colleagues on the Senate Judiciary Committee agree to do so. 
We need to get the Attorney General confirmed, and there is no 
justification for any further delay.