[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 23 (Tuesday, February 4, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Pages S577-S578]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                       Nomination of Pamela Bondi

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, in a few minutes--probably shortly, I 
should say--we will vote to confirm Pam Bondi as the Attorney General 
of the United States. Before we do, I would like to speak in support of 
her nomination and, in doing that, urge my colleagues to vote for her, 
hopefully in a bipartisan way like we did for Garland under the Biden 
administration.
  Ms. Bondi has been nominated to one of the most important offices in 
our country, and she has shown that she is up to that task. Her 
impressive record and presentation at her hearing are proof that she is 
ready to take the helm of the Justice Department.
  Ms. Bondi made history in 2010 as the first woman elected to be 
Florida's attorney general. She held this role for 8 years after she 
was comfortably reelected by the people of Florida to that second term. 
Eight years of service as attorney general of the third largest State 
in this Union is excellent preparation for the role of Attorney General 
of the United States.
  As Florida's attorney general, Ms. Bondi was a member of the Florida 
cabinet, its chief legal officer, and led a very large agency. She 
handled many issues at the State level that she will be handling at the 
Federal level, and by all accounts, she has handled those jobs 
expertly.
  As attorney general, Ms. Bondi didn't shy away from hard work or 
complicated problems. She engaged in an aggressive campaign to 
eliminate pill mills, took a leading role in securing a $3\1/4\ billion 
settlement following the Deepwater Horizon oilspill, and eliminated the 
backlog of rape kits. She also stood for law and order and sought 
justice for victims of violent criminals. Her record shows that she is 
highly qualified to be Attorney General of the United States.
  During her confirmation hearing, Ms. Bondi answered questions for 
more than 5 hours. What we learned during her hearing reinforced what 
we knew from her existing record as attorney general of Florida: She is 
a tough, fair, career prosecutor who built her reputation by enforcing 
the rule of law--pretty simple.
  We also heard from witnesses who praised Ms. Bondi's character, 
fairness, and willingness to work with members of both parties to solve 
the problems in Florida, and we are sure she is going to work the same 
way as Attorney General of the United States.
  What did we hear from these witnesses? We heard from an elected 
Democrat who never voted for President Trump. He said Ms. Bondi was 
fair, tethered to the rule of law, and could work with both Democrats 
and Republicans to serve the American people.
  We heard from Florida's statewide prosecutor, who praised her 
competence running the legal department, as I have said, of the third 
largest State in the Union.
  We heard from a Florida sheriff, who testified about her commitment 
to law and order and to her partnership with law enforcement to keep 
Floridians safe.
  These witnesses have worked with Ms. Bondi for decades, and they all 
vouch for her capability and character.
  Ms. Bondi's nomination has also received a flood of support from all 
across America. I have a group of people here that have expressed their 
view through letters to the committee. Law enforcement groups 
representing more than 650,000 officers wrote to urge us to support Ms. 
Bondi's nomination. A few of these groups include the National 
Association of Police Organizations, the Fraternal Order of Police, the 
National Sheriffs' Association, Major County Sheriffs, National 
Narcotic Officers' Associations, the International Association of 
Chiefs of Police, and still some others. This support is a testament to 
Ms. Bondi's history of backing the blue.
  We should all be backing the blue. I just met with some law 
enforcement people just before coming over here, and I tell every one 
of them, I am not for defunding the police, and thank you for keeping 
the peace.
  We have also received letters of support from more than 100 former 
senior Department of Justice officials, scores of former U.S. 
attorneys, dozens of State attorneys general, women's rights groups, 
Second Amendment groups, and, of course, others.
  Between her record, her presentation in committee, and the support 
she has received from across the country, I am convinced that Ms. Bondi 
is the right choice.

[[Page S578]]

  When confirmed, Ms. Bondi will take the helm of what we all know is a 
turbulent time and also a Justice Department infected with political 
decision making and its leaders refusing to acknowledge that reality; 
in other words, political decision making at least on the seventh floor 
of the Hoover Building overtaking the major role of the FBI, and the 
FBI is part of the Justice Department. They aren't putting first things 
first.
  Here are a few examples of political decision making and infection in 
the Department: Crossfire Hurricane; secondly, the Justice Department's 
targeting my staff--yes, that is right, my investigative staff--who at 
the time was investigating, at my direction, the government's abuse in 
Crossfire Hurricane; thirdly, coverup of the Hunter Biden laptop story 
and sweetheart plea deals offered by the Department of Justice to 
Hunter Biden; fourth, the FBI's inappropriate briefing to me and 
Senator Johnson during our Biden family investigation that was later 
leaked, and nothing is supposed to be leaked from what we call the 
SCIF; fifth, Special Counsel Jack Smith's lawfare operation--in other 
words, trying to put now-President Trump in jail; sixth, the targeting 
of traditional Catholics, concerned parents, and abortion protesters as 
security threats; and, seventh, the coordination of censorship of 
political speeches.

  I don't have an eighth, ninth, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth, but they 
exist. I am not going to take your time on that.
  All of these things that I mentioned, plus things I haven't 
mentioned, are very serious breaches of the public trust, and we can't 
tolerate that sort of breach.
  I am confident Ms. Bondi will not tolerate that breach, and I am 
looking forward to working with her to shed sunlight on these abuses. 
And sunlight, as some Supreme Court Justice said, is the best attack 
against--oh, my gosh, I forgot exactly what it was. But sunshine coming 
in will really solve a lot of problems. This is the way I put it.
  I say we need more transparency in government, and transparency 
brings accountability. I have already released new FBI records, in 
fact, just last week, with Senator Johnson that show even more 
political bias within the Justice Department and the FBI. These records 
prove that former FBI Special Agent in Charge Thibault, a known anti-
Trump agent, authored the initial language for what ultimately became 
Jack Smith's Federal case against Trump regarding the 2020 Presidential 
election. That case was code-named ``Arctic Frost.'' I don't know where 
they get the name ``Arctic Frost,'' but that is what the case was 
called.
  These records that we released last week showed a scheme in place 
between the Justice Department and FBI officials to get Trump. I had to 
rely on brave whistleblowers to uncover the truth because I was 
stonewalled by the Justice Department and the FBI, and I was 
stonewalled even after they promised, at their own confirmation 
hearing, that they would answer the letters that Congressmen wrote 
them.
  We never got any answers. In fact, there are 58 questions, in the 
last 4 years, that I have written to the FBI on my investigations that 
I have not gotten answers to.
  So if you wonder why I am so passionate about Pam Bondi, I am 
confident that she is going to take a different approach and when she 
says ``yes'' for answering her letters, it will be yes, instead of what 
the other people should have said as the answer to that question, which 
is ``maybe.''
  As the recent terrorist attacks in New Orleans and around the world 
have shown, we are faced with very serious threats to our national 
security. The President needs his team in place to protect our country, 
and the American people deserve a secure homeland and borders, safe 
streets, and orderly markets. We need to swiftly confirm a capable and 
serious Attorney General to get to work.
  I am disappointed that none of my Democratic colleagues on the 
Judiciary Committee voted for Ms. Bondi in committee. I hope it will be 
different when we get to the full Senate. We had a bipartisan vote, as 
I have said previously, for Attorney General Garland. Maybe, in 
hindsight, we shouldn't have had, but we did.
  There is no doubt that Ms. Bondi is highly qualified. In committee, 
several of my Democratic colleagues even acknowledged as much. She is 
qualified for the job. She represents mainstream views shared by at 
least the 77 million Americans who voted for change on November 5. This 
should earn her the same bipartisan support this body gave Attorney 
General Garland. That is the third time I have said that.
  If my colleagues will not cross the aisle to vote for this qualified 
nominee, they will show that Senate Democrats are intent on opposing 
President Trump's Cabinet picks for purely partisan reasons, even at 
the same time they admit how fully qualified she is to do the job.
  So ending now, I say once again, I proudly support Ms. Bondi. I look 
forward to confirming her. She is ready and able to serve our country 
well and I know she will work with President Trump to restore faith in 
the Justice Department. I urge all of my colleagues to join me in 
confirming Ms. Bondi.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Hampshire.