[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 83 (Thursday, May 13, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Page S2500]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    NOMINATION OF KRISTEN M. CLARKE

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, on another issue in the Judiciary 
Committee, this morning the Judiciary Committee will also vote on a 
very important nominee to the Department of Justice, Kristen Clarke, to 
serve as the Assistant AG for Civil Rights.
  The daughter of Jamaican immigrants, Ms. Clarke is an extremely well 
qualified and capable civil rights attorney who will be the first Black 
woman to ever fill her position at the Justice Department.
  But her obvious quality did not stop a few of our Republican 
colleagues from trying to smear her record. The political right seems 
to relish in trying to score political points by connecting every 
Justice Department nominee, many of whom happen to be women of color, 
to hot-button partisan issues, whether or not they have any relevance.
  In Ms. Clarke's hearing, it reached the point of absurdity when she 
was grilled on an obviously satirical piece she published for her 
college newspaper. Just like Ms. Vanita Gupta, who I am proud to say is 
now the Associate Attorney General, Ms. Clarke was treated by the 
minority on the Judiciary Committee like some hair-raising radical, 
despite her record, her qualifications, and her support from all sides. 
And just like Ms. Gupta, Ms. Clarke has been endorsed by the Nation's 
most powerful law enforcement organizations, including the 
International Association of Chiefs of Police and the Major Cities 
Chiefs Association.
  Ms. Clarke is an outstanding, an outstanding nominee, and I urge all 
of my colleagues on the Senate Judiciary to advance her nomination 
today.
  With that, I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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