[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 69 (Wednesday, April 21, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2092-S2093]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                       Nomination of Vanita Gupta

  Mr. President, we will be voting in a few minutes on Vanita Gupta.
  Yesterday was a day that many Americans will never forget with the 
decision in a trial in Minnesota, carefully watched by millions across 
America and around the world. The death of George Floyd was a stark 
moment, when one piece of videotape has been emblazoned in the minds of 
people in the United States and around the world.
  Under the knee of Officer Chauvin, George Floyd lost his life on a 
street in Minneapolis. Whether there would be accountability and 
justice as a result was an unanswered question until yesterday, and the 
answer came through loud and clear. The jury spoke, and justice was 
served. And now we have a responsibility to move forward.
  The reason I make reference to that in light of the nomination of 
Vanita Gupta is the fact that the path to civil rights progress in 
America is often difficult and, for those who try to lead, often a 
lonely battle.
  Vanita Gupta has taken more than her fair share of criticism from the 
Republican side of the aisle. I sometimes find it hard to believe that 
this amazing, outstanding, remarkable young woman is being degraded by 
so many Republicans when she comes to the floor for consideration by 
the Senate.
  She has a record that is incredible. She is the right person for this 
job in the Department of Justice as Associate Attorney General. She is 
unquestionably well-qualified. She would be the first civil rights 
attorney and the first woman of color to be an Associate Attorney 
General. And, you know, I think that is at the heart of the problem as 
far as some Republicans are concerned. They are just not ready for that 
kind of change. Well, they should be.
  Anybody who has turned on the news in the last week has seen that we 
need police reform in this country. We need to repair the relationship 
between law enforcement and the communities they serve.
  Vanita Gupta has a proven track record of doing just that. As head of 
the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, she led efforts to 
reform police departments across the Nation, and she did it in a way 
that brought people together: civil rights advocates, community 
leaders, and police and law enforcement. As a result, she has 
incredibly broad support.
  When I hear them talk about defunding the police and how she is anti-
police, how in the world do the Republicans explain the fact that she 
has the support of every major law enforcement group in this country? 
They just conveniently ignore that fact. If anything they said were 
true--really true--do you think that the Fraternal Order of Police 
would be standing behind her, as well as the civil rights community?
  Consider this statement from the Federal Law Enforcement Association. 
They said: ``Ms. Gupta has a proven history of working with law 
enforcement agencies, corrections officials, advocates, stakeholders, 
and elected officials across the political spectrum.''
  That is an incredible statement for an attorney--a civil rights 
attorney--who has not shied away from the battle, has walked into the 
most controversial situations in her time, and has proven over and over 
that she can not only just get the job done but she can do it to the 
satisfaction of both sides believing she was fair in the process.
  She has the support of outstanding conservatives like Grover 
Norquist, Michael Chertoff, and Mark Holden, former counsel of Koch 
Industries.
  I listened to the Republicans' baseless charges and smears against 
Ms. Gupta last week, and I find it amazing that they can ignore every 
law enforcement group that supports her and every leading conservative 
spokesman who has come out for her.
  She has been the head of the Department's Civil Rights Division. She 
led efforts to prosecute human trafficking, combat religious 
discrimination, protect th rights of men and women in uniform, and to 
ensure that members of our military are not taken advantage of.

  She has a career as a civil rights lawyer. This book tells the story. 
Six months out of law school, working for the Legal Defense Fund, she 
ended up taking an assignment in Tulia, TX. Why did she take this 
assignment? Because, when she did, there were some 40 people who had 
been arrested in this town. One out of every five Black adults in town 
was behind bars, all accused of dealing cocaine to the same undercover 
officer, Tom Coleman.
  Coleman, the son of a well-known Texas ranger, had been named 
``Officer of the Year'' in Texas. Not until after the trials in which 
Coleman's uncorroborated testimony secured sentences as long as 361 
years--that is not a typo, 361 years--did it become apparent that Mr. 
Coleman had misrepresented his own qualifications and, sadly, 
misrepresented all of the cases before him.
  Two dozen people were in prison, most of them African Americans. The 
town of Tulia had become a battlefield in the national debate over the 
war on drugs. And who was sent into this to represent the civil rights 
of those sitting in jail, who had been wrongly convicted? Vanita Gupta. 
Six months out of law school, she went down to Texas.
  I would imagine that, 6 months out of law school, I was still 
searching for the right place to eat lunch with a partner in a firm--
but not her. She went down there and became an outstanding advocate. 
And what happened as a result? As a result of her efforts and the 
efforts of other civil rights attorneys and the courage they showed, 
the determination they showed, the Republican Governor of Texas, Perry,

[[Page S2093]]

ended up pardoning every one of these criminal defendants and 
authorized the payment of millions of dollars in compensation for their 
damages.
  And so when we hear from the Republicans that she is not ready for 
prime time, she is too radical, she can't handle this job, we are all 
going to vote against her--and they have--you think to yourself: Did 
they ever take a minute to read what she has done with her life, time 
and time again?
  I will tell you, it is incredible to me that we are at this moment in 
history that a woman of color with an extraordinary civil rights record 
wants to make history in the Department of Justice, wants to continue 
to serve this Nation, representing our government and prosecuting cases 
for the American people, that she is prepared to take her experience 
and expertise and sit down and try to help us solve these monumental 
challenges we currently face and can't get a single Republican to stand 
in support--not one. It is hard to imagine.
  Well, as I mentioned before, she has tackled tough assignments before 
successfully in the cause of the name of justice. The Justice 
Department, her service there, the Tulia case, which many don't want to 
talk about, has been true throughout her career. She is guided by an 
unshakable belief in upholding the rule of law and vindicating the 
rights of those who are too frequently taken advantage of, 
marginalized, and forgotten.
  To Vanita Gupta, the people who have suffered discrimination in this 
country matter. She has dedicated her life to that. It troubles some. 
It wrangles them. It makes them angry, but the fact of the matter is, 
she is an extraordinary, essentially amazing woman in my estimation.
  She has demonstrated already what kind of leader she is, what kind of 
courage she had 6 months out of law school to go to Tulia, TX, and to 
represent people already serving time in jail, who were ultimately 
released.
  She also has a proven record of bipartisanship, a record of working 
with law enforcement and community leaders, and a record of upholding 
the rule of law.
  In just a few minutes--3 or 4 minutes--the Senate will get a chance 
to advance her nomination, and perhaps several hours after that, we 
will finally give her the vote of confidence she deserves to join the 
Department of Justice, Merrick Garland, and now Lisa Monaco, who is 
being sworn in today, and be part of the team that heard the message in 
Minnesota yesterday and is prepared to move forward to make America a 
better place for all, a better place for opportunity and equality and 
real justice.
  We need the right people in the Department of Justice at this moment 
in history more than ever in current memory, and we have the beginnings 
of that team with our Attorney General and with Lisa Monaco. Vanita 
Gupta should join them. She should be able, the day after tomorrow or 
even sooner, if possible, to be sworn into office and have this 
opportunity to continue her service to the Department of Justice and 
the cause of justice. That, to me, is indicated by her background and 
by the endorsement she has faced.
  When you hear the bad comments about her from the other side of the 
aisle, pause and think for a moment: But, Senator, if she is so bad, 
why did all of the law enforcement groups in America support her? Why 
do all the civil rights organizations support her? Why does she have 
the support of so many conservatives, even in the business community, 
if she is as bad as you say she is?
  The honest answer is she is not. She is a quality individual with 
remarkable credentials and a remarkable wealth of experience that she 
wants to continue to bring to our government. I hope the Senate will 
give her that opportunity.
  I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Republican whip.
  Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that I be able to 
complete my remarks before the vote.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.