[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 65 (Thursday, April 15, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1959-S1960]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                       Nomination of Vanita Gupta

  Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I want to touch on two critically 
important subjects that the Senate is considering today. First, I want 
to rise in support of Vanita Gupta, President Biden's nominee to serve 
as the Associate Attorney General, the third highest ranking position 
in our Justice Department.
  I think my good friend, the Senator from Illinois, has already spoken 
about Ms. Gupta. I want to make a personal note. First, that Vanita is 
a fellow Virginian. I am proud to say that she and her husband, Chinh 
Le, are raising their two sons in the Commonwealth. They live in 
Arlington.
  Ms. Gupta is also an outstanding public servant. She served from 2014 
to 2017 as the Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Civil 
Rights Division at DOJ. She led the Division, as the Acting Assistant 
Attorney General, until 2015.
  Since 2017, she has led one of the country's preeminent civil rights 
organizations--the Leadership Conference for Civil and Human Rights. 
This means that, if confirmed, Ms. Gupta will be the first civil rights 
leader in any of the top three positions at Justice.
  The sheer depth and breadth of Ms. Gupta's legal and professional 
experience makes her an outstanding selection to serve as the Associate 
Attorney General. Perhaps that is why Ms. Gupta's supporters span the 
political spectrum.
  My understanding is that my friend, the Senator from Illinois, has 
already pointed out some of this broad-based bipartisan support. Let me 
elaborate on some of that support. Grover Norquist calls her an 
``honest broker'' in his endorsement letter.
  Let me just state for the record that I have had interactions with 
Grover Norquist since before I was Governor, over 20 years, and Grover 
Norquist has never called me anything close to as nice as he called 
Vanita Gupta as an ``honest broker.''
  Mark Holden, the former general counsel of Koch Industries, writes: 
``Ms. Gupta is an exceptional lawyer, and among the most talented 
lawyers I have worked with in my career.''
  Ms. Gupta has spent years and years collaborating with people from 
across the spectrum to promote a more fair and equal justice system.
  And let me note for the record, as well, that I have not always 
agreed with Ms. Gupta. I was very involved in

[[Page S1960]]

housing finance reform. Ms. Gupta, as chairman of the Conference on 
Civil Rights, had a different opinion, but I always respected her 
intellect and her willingness to listen to alternative views and her 
willingness to really dig into the facts.
  With that background as a civil rights leader in the thick of issues 
around policing, race, and criminal justice reform, she actually led 
the investigations of police departments in Ferguson, Chicago, and 
Baltimore.
  At the same time, I have a long list of law enforcement groups that 
are supporting Ms. Gupta's nomination, including the National Fraternal 
Order of Police. Again, in terms of the FOP, I think in all my career, 
one time they endorsed me. Again, her receiving that endorsement is 
different than myself and perhaps even the Senator from Illinois.
  Ms. Gupta has also led broad-ranging and robust enforcement and 
education efforts to combat hate crimes, including the first-ever 
prosecutions under the newly enacted Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, 
Jr., Hate Crimes Prevention Act.
  Under her leadership, the Civil Rights Division trained local and 
Federal law enforcement throughout the country in recognizing, 
investigating, and proving hate crimes; in educating communities and 
engaging them in a process of ensuring public safety; and in 
encouraging better hate crime reporting and data collection.
  I would like to close on one other timely credential. As chairman of 
the Intelligence Committee, I have meticulously chronicled the 
corrosive effects of disinformation and foreign interference into our 
elections--something the Presiding Officer is also a national leader 
on.
  Ms. Gupta has been a leading voice for election integrity, 
thoughtfully and firmly engaging social media platforms to address 
disinformation on their platforms, as well as voter suppression, hate, 
division, and violence.
  Among the many important roles the Department of Justice has right 
now, securing our democracy itself is surely near the top of the list.
  Vanita Gupta is a person of extraordinary ability. She has the right 
experience for this role, and I am honored to support her in her 
nomination today and hope that later today, we will get broad 
bipartisan support to move forward that nomination.