[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 23 (Tuesday, February 4, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Page S569]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                       Nomination of Pamela Bondi

  Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, the Justice Department needs a leader--a 
leader who has the qualifications, the experience, the determination, 
and the moral clarity to keep our Nation safe. Florida Attorney General 
Pam Bondi is that leader. She has my vote and my vocal support.
  The Attorney General is America's top prosecutor. The role should be 
filled by an experienced prosecutor. Attorney General Bondi has 
prosecution experience--a lot of it. She spent almost 30 years as a 
criminal prosecutor and then a State attorney general. She has more 
trial experience than any modern-day U.S. attorney general. Attorney 
General Bondi is the most experienced career criminal prosecutor ever 
to be America's chief law enforcement officer. She is ready to lead on 
day one.
  In Florida, Attorney General Bondi prosecuted a range of violent 
crimes and criminals. She locked up the worst of the worst for the 
worst offenses. Her signature achievements were in fighting illegal 
drugs and in fighting human trafficking.
  When she first became Florida's attorney general in 2011, the State 
was overrun with things known as pill mills. They were operations that 
were running to sell opioids. Pam shut them down. She locked up the 
drug dealers. She pushed for stronger laws, and she stopped the spread 
of synthetic opioids. Under her leadership, Florida led the fight 
against this deadly epidemic.
  Attorney General Bondi also protected victims of human trafficking in 
Florida. She pledged to make human trafficking an area for her to 
combat. It was a top priority at her justice department in Florida. She 
is a fierce advocate for safety, and she is a skilled leader.
  The Department of Justice is a huge Agency. It controls 40 separate 
organizations. It employs more than 115,000 people. It oversees all 94 
U.S. attorneys across the country. Leading the DOJ is an enormous 
undertaking. Pam Bondi is up to the challenge.
  The Florida Attorney General's Office is one of the largest in the 
Nation. It handles a broad scope of civil and criminal investigations, 
just like the U.S. Department of Justice. She led that office 
effectively and efficiently, and she will do the same thing now as 
Attorney General.
  She has received overwhelming support from all across the country. 
More than 100 former senior DOJ officials wrote a letter to the 
Judiciary Committee in support of Pam Bondi. Here is what they said 
about her track record: It shows ``the no-nonsense, law and order, pro-
law enforcement approach she will bring to the Department of Justice.'' 
The Fraternal Order of Police also urged the Senate to confirm Pam 
Bondi. This is an organization of more than 377,000 members of law 
enforcement. She has also earned the support of Second Amendment 
advocates.
  U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi will stand in stark contrast to the 
prior administration's Justice Department. The previous administration 
gave us two tiers of justice. It labeled parents as ``domestic 
terrorists'' when they attended school board meetings. It brought 
charges against pro-life protesters, then threw them in prison. It 
worked with leftwing judges and prosecutors to try to throw President 
Trump in jail. That is what we had in the last administration. This 
doesn't even begin to get into the Russiagate hoax or covering up for 
Hunter Biden. In those cases, we saw rogue Federal agents try to 
subvert the democratic process.
  At her hearing before the Judiciary Committee, Attorney General Bondi 
promised a different path. Instead of playing politics, Pam Bondi 
pledged to enforce the law fairly, fully, and faithfully. She said in 
her opening statement that she will return the Department of Justice to 
its ``core mission of keeping Americans safe and vigorously''--
vigorously--``enforcing the law.''
  Her commitment to the Constitution, to public safety, and equal 
justice under the law is exactly what our Nation needs today. The 
partisan, politicalized, and polarizing prosecutions are now over. Pam 
Bondi will usher in a new era of safety, of sanity, and of justice. She 
has my vote to be the U.S. Attorney General.