[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 68 (Tuesday, April 20, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2051-S2057]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  COVID-19 HATE CRIMES ACT--Continued

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Minnesota.


                  Remembering Walter Frederick Mondale

  Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, as we await a very important moment for 
justice in my State today. Our work goes on.
  I am here today, first of all, to acknowledge the loss of my mentor, 
Vice President Walter Mondale. He caught the Nation's attention 
fighting for justice. So, it is such a moment. He worked on the 
forefront of the right to counsel in the landmark case Gideon v. 
Wainwright.
  He followed in the footsteps of Hubert Humphrey to arrive in the 
Senate. He did great things passing civil rights legislation.
  As Vice President, he defined the office of the modern-day Vice 
President.
  He was ``Fritz'' to us. He was our attorney general, our Senator, and 
our Vice President, and I know he is up there right now rooting for 
justice.
  I am going to speak more about Walter Mondale next week. Senator 
Smith,

[[Page S2052]]

Senator Grassley, and I have a resolution honoring him for his time in 
the Senate and for his time as Vice President, which we will be 
presenting next week.


             Nominations of Vanita Gupta and Lisa O. Monaco

  Mr. President, now, in the name of justice and the idea that justice 
must keep rolling along, I want to talk a little bit about some of the 
people we need in place as we look to the future, as we look to the 
future of police reform and the work that you have done as the lead on 
this bill, Mr. President, and the work we have to do.
  To do that, we need a functioning Justice Department. We have an 
Attorney General who is excellent in Merrick Garland. We congratulate 
Lisa Monaco, who is expected to be confirmed later today with a strong 
bipartisan vote.
  But we need more. We need the presence of true leaders in the Justice 
Department. We need to see Kristen Clarke and Vanita Gupta confirmed.
  Walter Mondale was someone who always raised the bar. He was someone 
who was ahead of his time. When he introduced housing legislation and 
childcare legislation, a lot of people said: Oh, why are you doing that 
right now?
  I think that is a little bit like the experience of these two women, 
ahead of their time, doing the right thing, speaking of raising the 
bar.
  We know that when many of the women of the Senate come to the floor, 
something important is going on. And given the challenges our States 
face today, the stakes are high.
  So today we make the case for Vanita Gupta and Kristen Clarke, and we 
address the unfair and unsubstantiated attacks we have heard from the 
other side of the aisle against these eminently qualified women. I have 
worked closely with Ms. Gupta and Ms. Clarke for many years, and I am 
confident they will lead the Department of Justice with honor and 
integrity.
  Their nominations also represent the historic opportunity to make 
progress toward the goal of ensuring that the government looks more 
like the people it represents, especially at the Department of Justice. 
When we confirm Ms. Gupta, she will be the first civil rights lawyer 
and the first woman of color to serve as the Associate Attorney 
General. And when we confirm Ms. Clarke, she will be the first Senate-
confirmed leader of the Civil Rights Division to be a woman of color.
  They will bring years of experience to bear to take on the challenges 
we have right now, like hate crimes, on which we are taking action this 
week in the Senate; like voting rights, on which we just had a hearing 
today in the Judiciary Committee, and in just a few weeks we will be 
marking up the For the People Act in the Rules Committee, which I 
chair.
  As my State and my country are reeling after the killing of Daunte 
Wright, and as we await the verdict in the murder of George Floyd, we 
need Ms. Gupta and Ms. Clarke at the Department of Justice to take on 
systemic police and criminal justice reform.
  They are also the leaders that Attorney General Garland wants at the 
Department, which I asked him about at his nomination hearing. He said 
Vanita Gupta and Kristen Clarke ``have skills that I do not have; they 
have experiences that I do not have.'' And he said: ``No human being 
can have all of the skills necessary to run the Justice Department and 
I need this leadership team if I'm going to be successful.''
  Attorney General Garland, who was confirmed by a bipartisan vote of 
76 to 23, needs his team to be successful. That is something all of us 
should want.
  After what we saw during the previous administration, it is essential 
that the leaders of the Justice Department are committed to its 
independence in order to restore trust in our justice system. This is a 
priority for the Attorney General, and it is a priority for Vanita 
Gupta and Kristen Clarke.
  Vanita Gupta has demonstrated her commitment to the pursuit of 
justice for her entire career. As an attorney for the NAACP Legal 
Defense and Educational Fund, she worked on the frontlines fighting in 
court to protect the civil rights of some of the most vulnerable 
people.
  Later, at the American Civil Liberties Union, she brought cases on 
behalf of immigrant children and worked to end mass incarceration while 
keeping communities safe.
  While serving as our country's chief civil rights prosecutor at the 
Department of Justice during the Obama administration, Ms. Gupta led 
critical work on criminal justice reform, prosecuting hate crimes and 
human trafficking, defending the right to vote, and protecting the 
rights of the LGBTQ community and those with disabilities.
  As president of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, 
the Nation's oldest, largest, and most diverse civil and human rights 
coalition, Ms. Gupta has a record of fighting for all Americans with 
dedication and a willingness to work across ideological lines to 
achieve results.
  Ms. Gupta's depth of experience at the Department of Justice and her 
years as a civil rights attorney make her eminently qualified to serve 
as Associate Attorney General.
  And I have seen--as I know you have, Mr. President--her work 
firsthand. I was one of the cosponsors of the FIRST STEP Act, which 
made much needed reforms, a bill that you spent so much leadership on. 
And Ms. Gupta worked with us, as she brought a broad range of 
organizations and experts in support of the bill, including both law 
enforcement and civil liberties groups.
  Grover Norquist, a Republican and president of Americans for Tax 
Reform, who supported the FIRST STEP Act, described Ms. Gupta as ``an 
honest broker; someone with an ability not only to understand, but also 
appreciate, different perspectives. She was someone who sought 
consensus.''
  As I look at what my State has been through for the last year and as 
we await this verdict at this moment, that is exactly the kind of 
person we need at the Department right now. And, if you have any 
lingering questions, I say to my colleagues, just take a look at the 
number of law enforcement groups that have come out in support of 
he nomination. Just look at them. She is the right person for the job 
at the right time.

  Then there is Kristen Clarke, nominated to be Assistant Attorney 
General to lead the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice. 
Ms. Clarke has spent her entire 20-year career fighting for civil 
rights and equal justice under the law.
  Early in her career, she worked as an attorney in the Criminal 
Section of the Civil Rights Division at the Justice Department, for the 
Bush Administration. She investigated and prosecuted hate crimes and 
human trafficking. She also worked in the Division's voting section.
  Since 2016, she has been the president and executive director of the 
Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, one of the country's 
largest and most important civil rights organizations, dedicated to the 
pursuit of equal justice for all. It is important to note the history 
of the Lawyers' Committee, which was created at the request of 
President John F. Kennedy in the summer of 1963, perhaps the defining 
year of the civil rights movement. This is an organization of attorneys 
founded to organize their peers to use their training to advance civil 
rights for all Americans. Isn't that just who we want leading the Civil 
Rights Division at the Department of Justice?
  I have worked with Ms. Clarke for many years on election issues. She 
testified before the Rules Committee and impressed everyone on both 
sides of the aisle.
  At that time, she said that following the direction of many, she is 
going to work to ensure ``that the Civil Rights Division . . . is using 
the tools in its arsenal''--and she said that now as she has been 
nominated for this position--``the Voting Rights Act, the National 
Voter Registration Act, the Uniformed and Overseas Absentee Citizens 
Voting Act--to ensure that eligible Americans have access to the ballot 
in our country.''
  She also mentioned that she was here in the Senate Chamber in 2006, 
when this body passed the reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act--on 
what vote?--98 to 0. That is why she has support from Republicans and 
Democrats who work on these issues.
  Trevor Potter, who previously chaired the FEC as a Republican 
Commissioner, called Ms. Clarke ``one of

[[Page S2053]]

the foremost legal experts in the country on voting rights'' and 
described her as ``smart, honest, and deeply committed to equal justice 
under law.''
  Tray Grayson, former Secretary of State from Kentucky, who is a 
Republican and served as chairperson of the Republican Association of 
Secretaries of State, sent a letter expressing his strong support of 
Ms. Clarke.
  And we have also heard from former Assistant Attorneys General of the 
Civil Rights Division who served in both Republican and Democratic 
administrations, who wrote:

       We found Ms. Clarke to be an excellent candidate from the 
     standpoint of experience, temperament and commitment to the 
     rule of law. She has the experience, the commitment and the 
     passion to do this job.

  I am joined by a number of our colleagues today. Senator Stabenow was 
here earlier. Senator Hirono is with us on the floor to stand up for 
Ms. Gupta and Ms. Clarke and to reject the falsehoods we have heard 
from our colleagues on the other side. But we are also here to make the 
case for why we must seize this historic opportunity to send two women 
of color to lead the Justice Department.
  So at this pivotal moment we live in, at this very moment, my message 
to my friends, Vanita and Kristen, today, is this: We have your backs, 
just as you have the backs of the people of this country.
  Those jurors in Minnesota, they are not talking to each other about 
if they are Democrats or Republicans. They have a job to do. The 
witnesses that came forward in that case, people who just happened to 
be there--a store clerk doing his job, a man who just happened to walk 
by, the police officers who testified--they didn't ask people what 
political party they were in. They just came forward. That is why I ask 
my colleagues to step back and think about what justice really means 
today and what it will mean tomorrow, and ask them to support Ms. Gupta 
and Ms. Clarke to serve with Merrick Garland and Lisa Monaco to run the 
Department of Justice.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Hawaii.
  Ms. HIRONO. Mr. President, I echo the sentiments expressed by my 
colleague from Minnesota, and I rise today in support of the nomination 
of Vanita Gupta to be Associate Attorney General of the United States. 
Today, I am focusing my remarks on Ms. Gupta, but I will have some 
words of support for Kristen Clarke later.
  For 4 years, Donald Trump treated the Justice Department like his 
personal law firm. He ordered that the Department's attorneys drop 
charges or reduce sentencing recommendations against his friends and 
cronies. He ordered investigations and prosecutions against his 
political enemies. He even had the Department step in to defend him 
against the defamation claim relating to an allegation of rape.
  By the end of the Trump administration, the Justice Department's 
reputation was tarnished and the morale of its employees was lower than 
at any point since Watergate.
  Thankfully, President Biden has named a professional, highly 
qualified team to lead the Justice Department and to restore its place 
of prominence and moral authority in following the rule of law.
  It is significant that the Senate confirmed Merrick Garland as 
Attorney General and will shortly confirm Lisa Monaco as Deputy 
Attorney General with strong bipartisan support.
  I am disappointed that Vanita Gupta, a similarly well-qualified 
nominee, is not receiving the same bipartisan support.
  A few weeks ago, I sat in the Judiciary Committee for nearly 2 hours, 
listening to my Republican colleagues smear Ms. Gupta with lies about 
her record--lies like that she wants to decriminalize all drugs, that 
she wants to defund the police, that she is somehow responsible for the 
production of crystal meth in Mexico.
  When Chair Durbin finally called for a vote, not a single Republican 
supported Ms. Gupta's nomination. As I sat there listening to these 
lies and smears, I asked myself a question, and I am still pondering 
that question today: What exactly are Republicans afraid of?
  Unlike many of President Trump's nominees, Vanita Gupta is actually 
qualified to help lead the Justice Department. Throughout her career, 
Ms. Gupta has shown the strategic acumen, dogged determination, and 
coalition-building skills necessary to navigate the challenges facing 
our country.
  As a young attorney with the ACLU, she worked to exonerate 38 
wrongfully convicted men and women in Tulia, TX. Mostly people of 
color, these individuals had been convicted of drug crimes based on the 
testimony of a single undercover police officer and sentenced to prison 
for periods of up to 434 years.
  Ms. Gupta was able to show that the officer was racially biased and 
had a reputation for dishonesty. She demonstrated that he falsified 
reports and misidentified defendants. In light of this evidence, the 
court found that the officer ``may be the most devious, non-responsive 
law enforcement witness this Court has witnessed in 25 years on the 
bench in Texas.''
  The case was so compelling that then-Texas Governor Rick Perry 
pardoned 35 of the defendants. It was such a miscarriage of justice 
that those pardoned individuals ultimately received a $6 million 
settlement.
  Ms. Gupta later went on to lead the Justice Department Civil Rights 
Division. In this role, she stood up to the rights of transgender 
students and prisoners, fought discrimination against servicemembers, 
and defended the right to vote.
  From there, Ms. Gupta served as President and CEO of the Leadership 
Conference on Civil and Human Rights where, among other things, she 
played a key role in passing the most significant criminal justice 
reform package in years.
  Ms. Gupta's qualifications are borne out in this experience and in 
the widespread support that she has received. Conservative leaders and 
longtime Republicans like Michael Chertoff, Grover Norquist, and 
Michael Steele have praised Ms. Gupta as a consensus builder on 
critical issues like voting rights and criminal justice reform.
  Every major law enforcement organization, including the Fraternal 
Order of Police and National Sheriffs' Association, has endorsed Ms. 
Gupta's nomination.
  In light of this widespread support, it is tough to take the 
criticisms I hear from my colleagues on the other side seriously. If 
Ms. Gupta supported defunding the police or decriminalizing all drugs, 
how did she manage to get universal support from the law enforcement 
community? If she is such a radical progressive, why are people like 
Grover Norquist and the former general counsel and senior vice 
president of Koch Industries endorsing her nomination?
  Republican criticism of Ms. Gupta is also hard to take seriously 
after they spent the past 4 years--4 years, and I was there--pushing 
through some DOJ and judicial nominees who were either wholly 
unqualified, openly supported disenfranchisement of Black Americans, or 
were even credibly accused of sexual assault.
  After 4 years of permissive deference to Donald Trump, it is rich to 
hear my Republican colleagues attacking and demeaning a strong, smart, 
and highly qualified woman of color like Vanita Gupta to serve in the 
Justice Department. Their attacks aren't an exercise of the Senate's 
constitutional duty to provide advice and consent. It is pure partisan 
politics at its worst.
  President Biden nominated Vanita Gupta to serve as Associate Attorney 
General because she is the best person for the job, and the Senate 
should confirm her without further delay.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll
  Ms. DUCKWORTH. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Ms. DUCKWORTH. Mr. President, from police reform to anti-Asian hate 
crimes, Americans across the Nation are pushing, pulling, and tugging 
with all their might to make sure that the United States lives up to 
our founding ideals of equality and justice for all. At the same time, 
the Biden administration is charged with the immense responsibility of 
restoring confidence and integrity to the U.S. Department of Justice.

[[Page S2054]]

  Donald Trump's political appointees undermined the Department's 
mission and demoralized its dedicated career civil servants through 
years of gross mismanagement and improper politicization. We 
desperately need leaders with integrity, honor, and just basic 
competence to restore morale at the Department of Justice and empower 
the Agency to meet the moment.
  Fortunately, I am confident that both Vanita Gupta and Kristen Clarke 
are among the most qualified and prepared public servants to take on 
the daunting challenges that lie ahead.
  For far too many people in this country, equal protection under the 
law is not a reality. All across this country, there are communities 
that believe--and for good reason--that the law is not on their side. 
Individuals fear coming forward to report that they have been a victim 
of a hate crime, or, even worse, law enforcement fails to identify and 
report racist violence and discrimination.
  And the senseless killing of unarmed Black and Brown Americans at the 
hands of law enforcement has become an all-too-common occurrence. Just 
a few days ago, the country was shocked by video footage documenting 
local law enforcement officers brazenly threatening and assaulting an 
Army second lieutenant who was in his military uniform and simply 
asking to know why he had been pulled over.
  If this is how the Windsor Police Department, while knowing it is 
being videotaped, treats an Army officer in uniform--a man who swore an 
oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States with 
his own life, if necessary--one wonders if such misconduct represents a 
systemic pattern or practice of abuse. This incident simply reinforces 
why our Nation must have a strong and proactive DOJ Civil Rights 
Division.
  Additionally, the promise of the ADA is still not a reality for far 
too many Americans with disabilities. After years of disability rights 
being neglected or, at worst, undermined by partisan efforts, it is 
time for the DOJ to step up and ensure that the rights of Americans 
with disabilities are fully recognized, enforced, and protected.
  I look forward to working with Kristen Clarke and Vanita Gupta to 
fulfill the promise that America made to people with disabilities, 
including myself, over 30 years ago.
  We need Ms. Gupta and Ms. Clarke's leadership at DOJ to energize and 
inspire the Department as it refocuses on its mission of ensuring the 
fair and impartial administration of justice for all Americans.
  As a former head of the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights 
Division and leader of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human 
Rights, which is one of the largest civil rights organizations in the 
Nation, Ms. Gupta's record shows that she is committed to advancing the 
rights of all Americans.
  Her decades of effective leadership and advocacy are why her 
nomination has garnered widespread support not only from civil rights 
groups but also from prominent law enforcement organizations like the 
Fraternal Order of Police.
  Likewise, Ms. Clarke is widely respected and admired as one of our 
country's leading legal experts on civil rights. She has proven her 
effectiveness in defending the civil rights of all Americans as a 
Federal and State official, as well as a leader of the NAACP, and, most 
recently, as the president of the national Lawyers' Committee for Civil 
Rights Under Law.
  Representation matters. Confirming these barrier-breaking women, who 
would both be the first women of color to formally occupy the positions 
to which they have been nominated, sends a clear message we are 
committed to having our Federal Government's leadership look like the 
country that it serves.
  There should be no doubts about these nominees' qualifications for 
these critical DOJ leadership positions, and I urge my Senate 
colleagues in joining me to confirm Vanita Gupta and Kristen Clarke.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Ms. STABENOW. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Ms. STABENOW. Mr. President, I rise today alongside my colleagues to 
urge the Senate to quickly confirm Vanita Gupta as Associate Attorney 
General. Ms. Gupta is eminently qualified, with an impressive 
background in public service and broad support from civil rights 
organizations and law enforcement organizations. It is pretty 
impressive when you look at everyone who is supporting her because of 
her competency and her work.
  She will be effective on day one, and we don't have a good day to 
lose right now. Right now, Americans are at risk of losing their 
fundamental rights--our right to vote, our right to be treated fairly 
in a court of law, and even our right to safely walk down the street 
and not be targeted based on what we look like, who we are. It is the 
job of the Department of Justice to protect these rights and so much 
more.
  Take voting rights. Across our Nation, this right, called ``sacred'' 
by our beloved late Congressman John Lewis, is under attack. It is 
under attack in Michigan, as well as other States, as well as the 
entire country. Republicans in the Michigan Legislature are trying to 
push through a package of bills that would take away people's freedom 
to vote. Our secretary of state has said that in some ways, it is worse 
than what they passed in Georgia.
  Let me remind everyone that last November, in the middle of a 
pandemic, more people in Michigan voted than ever voted in the history 
of our State. When audits were done, time after time after time, it was 
clear there was no fraud--no fraud that they found in this election.
  Mr. President, 5.5 million people in Michigan voted. Michigan 
counties verified it. Our State certified it. That should be something 
we should all celebrate. But because they didn't like who folks voted 
for, they didn't like the results, Michigan Republicans are coming 
after Michigan voters to take away their freedom to vote.
  Michigan voters need Vanita Gupta in their corner because it is a 
corner that she has been in before. During her time at the Department 
of Justice, she oversaw a number of high-profile voting rights cases, 
including challenges to voter suppression laws in North Carolina and 
Texas.
  She has also been a leader in fighting discrimination. Across the 
country, we have seen increasing instances of hate crimes, particularly 
those targeting Asian Americans. According to the group Stop AAPI Hate, 
there have been about 3,800 incidents of Asian Americans being targeted 
in the past year. Twenty-five of those incidents happened in Michigan. 
I know that Asian Americans across our country are living in fear right 
now, wondering if it is safe to go to the grocery store or if they need 
to tell their elderly mom or dad not to walk alone outside.
  We have an important hate crimes bill on the floor of the U.S. Senate 
right now. It has bipartisan support. It is terrific, and we need to 
get that passed. But in order to make sure we fully implement that and 
have the leadership in the Department to do that, we need to make sure 
Vanita Gupta is confirmed. Under Ms. Gupta, hate crimes and 
discrimination will be taken seriously at the Department of Justice. We 
know this because it is what she has done her entire career.
  Vanita Gupta would be the first civil rights lawyer and the first 
woman of color to serve as Associate Attorney General. That is 
important because when agencies' leaders have diverse experiences and 
backgrounds, agencies are better able to make more informed decisions. 
They make sense. And when our Nation's leaders look like the diverse 
communities they serve, our communities are more likely to have 
confidence in their leadership.
  Vanita Gupta is the right person at the right time for the Department 
of Justice. I urge my colleagues to support her nomination and to 
confirm her together on the floor of the U.S. Senate.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority whip.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I understand a couple of my colleagues are 
on the way. I will defer to them when they arrive. But I want to thank, 
first, Senator Stabenow for her statement about Vanita Gupta.

[[Page S2055]]

  This is an extraordinary person. The Presiding Officer, as a member 
of the Senate Judiciary Committee, was there for her testimony and 
knows her personally, and I have come to know her. When you read and 
learn of her personal story, it is amazing, nothing short of amazing.
  She was 6 months graduated from law school when she was sent down to 
Texas, a town called Tulia, TX, to tackle an assignment that a veteran 
civil rights lawyer would have thought twice about tackling. There was 
a group of over 30 African Americans who had been falsely accused of 
drug dealing and convicted and were imprisoned when she was sent down 
there to try to do something after their conviction. It is an 
incredible story, the courage she showed 6 months out of law school, 
and she ultimately was successful. Those African Americans and others 
were pardoned by the Republican Governor of Texas, Governor Perry. They 
were given a cash award for damages they had suffered as a result of 
it.
  Her commitment to civil rights is more than just a cerebral 
commitment; it is a commitment where she has risked many times her 
personal safety to show how much she cared for the rights of others.
  Thank you for saying those kind words about her. I am hoping that the 
Senate will give her a chance to continue to serve our Nation.


                      Nomination of Lisa O. Monaco

  Mr. President, I would like to speak now, if I can, to a vote that is 
coming up momentarily, and that is the vote for Lisa Monaco to be the 
next Deputy Attorney General.
  The Deputy Attorney General--commonly known as the DAG--is the second 
highest ranking official in the Justice Department. The DAG is 
effectively the DOJ's chief operating officer, overseeing the 
Department's day-to-day operations.
  Lisa Monaco may be the most qualified individual ever nominated to be 
Deputy Attorney General. That is saying something, but I think we can 
back it up. Her credentials include a wealth of experience, her 
commitment to restoring independence and integrity at the Justice 
Department, and the broad, broad range of support she has garnered.
  Let me begin with her experience. She has served at nearly every 
level of the Justice Department. She knows that Agency, and she knows 
what it can do. She was an assistant U.S. attorney, counselor and chief 
of staff to the Director of the FBI, Associate Deputy Attorney General, 
Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General, and the Assistant Attorney 
General for the National Security Division.
  She is also one of the Nation's foremost national security experts. 
That is when I first met her, working in the Obama White House. As 
President Obama's Deputy National Security Advisor, Ms. Monaco 
coordinated the Federal Government's response to major security 
threats, including pandemics, terrorism, mass shootings, and cyber 
attacks.
  Our Nation is facing serious challenges today: the COVID-19 pandemic; 
a gun violence pandemic; a surge in hate crimes; domestic violence 
extremism, which culminated in an assault on the U.S. Capitol and this 
very Chamber just a few short weeks ago; and global threats and 
challenges from Russia, China, and elsewhere. Ms. Monaco's experience 
responding to security threats has prepared her to oversee DOJ's 
operations at this critical moment in history.
  But it is not only Ms. Monaco's national security expertise that 
makes her the right person for this role. After President Trump used 
the Justice Department to serve his own personal and political agenda, 
we need to restore a well-functioning, independent Department, 
committed to the principle of equal justice under the law. It is just 
that basic.

  Ms. Monaco understands the importance of protecting DOJ's 
independence. She has praised two of her mentors, Attorney General 
Janet Reno and FBI Director Bob Mueller, for their ``reverence for the 
institution, for upholding the norms and traditions of independence and 
of doing justice without fear or fervor, and never, ever letting 
politics or partisanship influence an investigation or prosecution 
decision.''
  She committed to me that she would have the same reverence. That is 
precisely the attitude we need to restore the Justice Department's 
integrity.
  It is no surprise, then, that individuals from across the political 
spectrum support Ms. Monaco's nomination. The Judiciary Committee 
received scores of letters from a broad range of advocacy groups: the 
Alliance for Justice, gun safety organizations, law enforcement groups, 
environmental organizations, victims and survivors of crime, and so 
many more.
  We also received a letter supporting Ms. Monaco's nomination from 29 
former senior DOJ officials who have served under Presidents of both 
parties, including Attorneys General Loretta Lynch and Eric Holder, who 
served in the Obama administration, and Attorneys General Michael 
Mukasey and Alberto Gonzales, who served in the George W. Bush 
administration. She has that kind of bipartisan support.
  Those DOJ officials wrote of Ms. Monaco: ``She has the values, 
temperament and strength to perform at the highest level of the 
Department.''
  They went on to say: ``Each of us knows how demanding this job is, 
with its extraordinary span of control and the need for strong 
principled leadership. We believe that Ms. Monaco is highly qualified 
for this role. She knows the Department from every angle. She 
understands the job. And she has prepared well for it. We urge her 
confirmation.''
  Attorney General Garland has praised Ms. Monaco's selection as the 
next Deputy Attorney General. He told us in the Judiciary Committee 
that he needed her on his leadership team at the Department, and so 
does the Nation. I look forward to voting for Ms. Monaco and urge all 
of my colleagues to do the same.


                  Anniversary of Oklahoma City Bombing

  Mr. President, it was an idyllic spring morning in Oklahoma City 26 
years ago. Downtown, the Alfred P. Murrah Building was bustling with 
activity as people went about their morning routines. Parents dropped 
off their children at the daycare center on the second floor, office 
workers sat at their desks, with fresh mugs of coffee in hand--and 
parked under the building was a truck containing nearly 7,000 pounds of 
explosive materials.
  At 9:02, the truck exploded, killing more than 165 people and 
injuring hundreds more. Oklahoma City and America would be forever 
scarred by the bombing. It was the deadliest act of homegrown terrorism 
in modern American history. For most people, that day--April 19, 1995--
is a somber day in our history, but for some, it was an opening salvo 
in a war against America.
  More than a quarter century after the Oklahoma City bombing, the 
threat of violent extremism looms larger than ever before. Recently, 
the Department of Homeland Security warned that violent, White 
supremacy is now the ``most persistent and lethal threat in the 
homeland.''
  Among the hundreds of Americans arrested for suspected ties to 
violent White supremacy in recent years, a common theme has emerged: 
The FBI has uncovered references to Timothy McVeigh and his attack on 
Oklahoma City in ``several'' of these investigations. In the eyes of 
far-right extremists, McVeigh's attack on Oklahoma City is a lodestar, 
and like McVeigh, many of the violent extremists active today are 
motivated by baseless, anti-government conspiracy theories, conspiracy 
theories like the ``Big Lie,'' which inspired a mob of extremists to 
storm the Capitol on January 6.
  More than 400 people are facing Federal charges for their involvement 
in the January 6 insurrection. Last week, we received word of the first 
guilty plea in that case. The defendant, who has agreed to fully 
cooperate with the Federal Government, is a founding member of the Oath 
Keepers, a far-right extremist group that helped plot the insurrection.
  The defendant's affiliation with the Oath Keepers highlights an 
important distinction between the extremists of yesterday, like Timothy 
McVeigh, and the extremists of today. Today, violent White supremacists 
are not only peddling debunked conspiracy theories or disproven race 
science; they are organizing online, on radical platforms like 8chan 
and Parler, and coordinating attacks under the cover of anonymity.

[[Page S2056]]

Worse yet, these radicals have easy access to high-grade military 
weapons designed for one purpose: human slaughter.
  The extremists of today are galvanized. They are organized. And they 
are deadly. We must equip our law enforcement officials and 
intelligence agencies with new, modernized resources to combat the 
growing threat of violent White supremacy.
  There are a number of steps we can take to weed out the threat of 
domestic terrorism. This week, the Senate is considering one such step: 
the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act. It would direct Federal resources toward 
addressing the rise in hate crimes against members of the Asian-
American and Pacific Islander, AAPI, community. This legislation must 
be passed immediately. Nearly 3,800 hate incidents against members of 
the AAPI community have been reported between March of last year and 
February of this year.
  We also will consider Senator Blumenthal and Senator Moran's NO HATE 
Act, which has been added as an amendment to the bill to improve hate 
crimes reporting. In addition to that legislation, there are more 
comprehensive steps we can take to address the broader threat of 
domestic terrorism. In March, I reintroduced the Domestic Terrorism 
Prevention Act. It will enhance the Federal Government's ability to 
prevent acts of extremist violence. By establishing dedicated offices 
to combat domestic terrorism at the Department of Justice, the FBI, and 
the Department of Homeland Security, the Domestic Terrorism Prevention 
Act will bring the Federal Government's efforts to weed out violent 
White supremacy into the 21st century.
  Congress must also take steps to limit access to the weapons of war 
favored by violent extremists. This is a no-brainer. The House recently 
passed a bipartisan bill to close existing gaps in the background 
checks system. I certainly hope we can find 10 Republican votes to 
overcome a filibuster and get that signed into law. Let me be clear: 
Background checks are table stakes for combatting the public health 
crisis that is gun violence in America. We are just 4 months into 2021, 
and already there have been more than 150 mass shootings in our 
country. It is time to put politics aside and save American lives.
  As chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, I was honored to gavel in 
the confirmation hearing for the man who led the government's 
investigation into the Oklahoma City bombing: Attorney General Merrick 
Garland. Yesterday, with a slightly greyer head of hair and the full 
authority of the Justice Department behind him, Attorney General 
Garland returned to the site of the bombing. He promised the residents 
of Oklahoma City that ``the Department of Justice is pouring its 
resources into stopping domestic violent extremists before they can 
attack . . . prosecuting those who do . . . and battling the spread of 
the kind of hate that leads to tragedies like the one we mark here 
today.''
  The question for us here in the Senate is, Will we help Attorney 
General Garland lead the charge against the largest threat we face 
today? Will we work together to save future lives against attacks like 
the Oklahoma City bombing?
  In Attorney General Garland, we have a leader who is committed to 
weeding out the threat of domestic terrorism. Are there enough leaders 
in the Senate who are willing to do the same? I sure hope so. I hope 
they will join me in taking immediate, meaningful action to combat the 
crisis of violent extremism.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. DURBIN. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Ms. CANTWELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered


             nominations of vanita gupta and kristen clarke

  Ms. CANTWELL. Mr. President, I come to the floor this afternoon to 
support the nominations of Vanita Gupta and Kristen Clarke to serve in 
the leadership of the U.S. Department of Justice, and I am here, Mr. 
President, to say that just because you are pro-civil rights does not 
mean that you are somehow anti-police. To be for a Department of 
Justice that will help us make the right decisions in enforcing civil 
rights laws around the United States is what is at stake with these 
nominations. I personally am tired of the challenges that we have faced 
at home when we do not have people being held accountable and we have 
incident after incident. And the last administration said, instead of 
playing our role on consent decrees and making sure federal civil 
rights laws are enforced, instead they said, ``We're going to stop 
playing that role.''
  So it is so important that we get a Department of Justice that will 
fight for the civil rights and civil liberties of all Americans. Both 
these women are highly qualified. They have defended our constitution. 
They have defended the civil rights of all Americans, and they will 
ensure that everyone, including the police, are held accountable. We 
have probably heard this afternoon my colleagues praising Vanita Gupta 
and supporting her to serve as Associate Attorney General, the third 
highest position in the U.S. Department of Justice. She is very 
qualified for the position. She will be the first civil rights lawyer 
and woman of color to serve in this role. She led the Civil Rights 
Division during the Obama administration and previously served as an 
attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union. When it came to 
enforcing consent decrees, she made sure the Obama administration did 
the job.
  Now, why is this so important? I can tell you, in Seattle, we had a 
Native-American carver who happened to stop carving on one corner to 
walk to another corner and was shot and killed by a police officer 
because he didn't respond immediately to ``Drop your knife.'' I am so 
glad the Federal Government was there to say what is going on in 
Seattle with the police department and overseeing on a consent decree. 
We had a tragic situation in Spokane where a disabled man just went in 
to buy a soft drink and snacks, but because somebody thought he was 
fooling around with the ATM machine, they called the police. And when 
the police arrived and he didn't respond immediately, he was brutally 
beaten in the head with a baton, tasered, improperly hogtied to the 
ground, and stopped breathing shortly after first responders improperly 
strapping a non-rebreather mask to his face. That was Otto Zehm's 
afternoon activity, to just go to the store. As he lay there dying, he 
said, ``All I wanted was a Snickers.''
  And thank God we had a Civil Rights Division at the U.S. Department 
of Justice that said, yes, we are going to intervene and make sure that 
there is oversight of the Seattle Police Department and an 
investigation, and we are going to make sure that the civil liberties 
of all Americans--all Americans, whether you are White, Black, or 
disabled, or Native American--your civil rights are going to be upheld. 
But instead of discussing what is the proper role of the Federal 
Government in making sure that civil liberties and civil rights of all 
Americans are upheld when their rights are violated--instead, people 
have said, Well, Ms. Gupta supports decriminalization of all drugs.
  Well, from a State that has actually passed legislation legalizing 
the recreational use of marijuana, I guarantee you, my State views some 
of these issues very differently. But I can say, emphatically, Ms. 
Gupta has stated consistently she does not support the 
decriminalization of all drugs--nor do the people of Washington, just 
because they voted to legal marijuana.
  Ms. Gupta does not claim that all drugs should be legal, and she does 
not adhere to the statements that some people have tried to paint her 
with. You have to ask yourself, What are they afraid of? What are they 
afraid that she is going to do at the Department of Justice besides 
uphold our civil liberties? Some of my colleagues have argued that she 
supports defunding the police. There is zero proof that she supports 
defunding the police. I don't know why we keep having this debate, but 
she has worked and understands the police officers' perspective. She 
has worked to ensure that they were provided with adequate resources. 
She has worked on building relationships. She has a comprehensive 
approach to law enforcement and support from their organizations. And I

[[Page S2057]]

believe she deserves the support of our colleagues.
  In a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee, the Fraternal Order of 
Police described Ms. Gupta as one who ``always worked with us to find 
common ground, even when that seemed impossible.'' So it is clear that 
she has the support of police. So we need someone like her who is going 
to bring back this important role of oversight to these important 
issues.
  Ms. Clarke is the same. She is nominated to head the Civil Rights 
Division where she once worked as a trial lawyer. She previously 
codirected the voting rights work of the NAACP Legal Defense and 
Education Fund, led the Civil Rights Bureau in the New York State 
Attorney General's office, and has served as the president of the 
Lawyers Committee on Civil Rights Under the Law. I have called her; I 
have interviewed her. Why? Because I am tired of the violence and hate 
crimes in the State of Washington. I am tired of hearing, time and time 
again, about these issues. And it can be the synagogue in Spokane, 
where literally somebody spray-painted it. And you would think, Well, 
how are we going to find who spray-painted a swastika on a synagogue in 
Spokane? You think, How are we going to find that person? Okay. Not a 
lot of trouble because people actually said, We did it purposely 
because we are an organization who believes in this, and we wanted to 
get our message out. That is what we're facing.
  And several years ago, we found a bomb planted in the Martin Luther 
King Day Parade in Spokane, just a few years ago. So these aren't 
issues that we are sending somebody over to the Department of Justice 
to analyze and write a report on. We are asking people to help us with 
the situation in the United States of America to fight hate crimes and 
to bring about justice on the civil rights and civil liberties of all 
Americans. And so we have to have people that we have confidence that 
they are going to uphold our laws and enforce them.
  We need to have consent decrees to hold police departments 
accountable for systematic violations of constitutional rights. We need 
to defend voting rights and to make sure that hate crimes against 
Asian-American and Pacific Islanders are prosecuted. And so this is why 
the nomination of Ms. Clarke is so important. I ask my colleagues on 
the other side of the aisle, if you are facing any of this in your 
State, please get Kristen Clarke to be there to help us address these 
issues.
  Advocating for increased investment in mental health and social work 
and school resources for minority communities is something that law 
enforcement agrees with. They agree that we should do these things. So 
that is not defunding the police; yet people accuse Kristen Clarke of 
the same thing. She must be for defunding the police. I have talked to 
prosecutors throughout the State of Washington, and they will tell me 
that these programs that help families and communities identify these 
problems early are actually the best things to keep them from having to 
really have problems later. I certainly hope that some of the false 
claims that people have made about Ms. Clarke being anti-police are 
also continued to be struck down as untrue.
  Ms. Clarke understands law enforcement must collaborate with the 
State, local, and Federal level. She has a solid record of working 
cooperatively with law enforcement for decades. She is supported by the 
Major Cities Chief Association, the National Association of Black Law 
Executives, a bipartisan group of over 70 former State attorneys 
general, and more than 40 police chiefs and sheriffs throughout the 
United States. That can't be somebody who sounds anti-law enforcement. 
They have the support of law enforcement.
  What we need is the support of our colleagues to say that these are 
serious issues and the Federal Government does play a role. That is why 
it is called the Department of Justice, and that is why they oversee 
and make sure that the civil liberties of all Americans are upheld. As 
attorney general and at the Lawyers Committee, Ms. Clarke played a key 
role in launching a Religious Rights Initiative to address faith-based 
discrimination to fight anti-Semitic activities. When Ms. Clarke led 
the Lawyers Committee, she led the charge in shutting down abhorrent 
anti-Semitic websites that made racist comments, and some were in 
connection with stormfront.org, which was a central site used to 
organize the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville.
  She recognized that online hate is an emerging threat and that 
Congress must address that threat. After seeing what happened on 
January 6 and the plethora of anti-Semitic paraphernalia presented here 
even in the Capitol as we saw riots, Ms. Clarke's expertise and 
dedication to fighting online hate would be extremely beneficial to the 
Department and to all Americans.
  So I implore my colleagues, these are strong women, great 
qualifications, have been in the mix on these policy issues for a long 
time. They know what we are up against. We have to ask ourselves, Are 
we going to enforce the law? These women will enforce the law, and they 
have the support of law enforcement. We should proceed and confirm both 
of them.
  I yield the floor.

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