[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 1]
[House]
[Pages 1080-1081]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                  OPPOSING ATTORNEY GENERAL NOMINATION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Conyers) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, as the ranking Democrat on the House 
Committee on the Judiciary and the senior Member of the Congressional 
Black Caucus, I am unalterably opposed to John Ashcroft's nomination to 
be Attorney General of the United States. I have reached this decision 
with some regret and consternation. In my 36 years in Congress, I have 
never publicly opposed a nominee for Attorney General. However, in the 
present case, my reservations about the Senator's ability and 
inclinations to support and uphold the law in such critical areas as 
civil rights, reproductive choice and gun safety are so grave; and his 
pattern of misleading and disingenuous responses at his confirmation 
hearings so serious, that I believe it is in the national interests 
that his nomination be either withdrawn or rejected by the Senate.
  I am also concerned that the Senator's personal lack of 
responsiveness

[[Page 1081]]

to me foreshadows a pattern of conscious avoidance or, at best, benign 
neglect of me and my colleagues in the House.
  First, in terms of civil rights, I am troubled by the fact that 
notwithstanding Senator Ashcroft's general statements about support for 
civil rights enforcement, he declined to state specific agreement with 
the Department's position in a host of civil rights cases, including 
its support of the University of Michigan's affirmative action program.
  I am also dismayed that the Senator has taken public positions 
opposing voluntary school desegregation, and that he wrongly asserted 
that the State had done nothing wrong, and was quote, found guilty of 
no wrong, end quote, in the Missouri desegregation cases.
  As we all know, there are two separate Federal Court of Appeals 
decisions and numerous district court decisions holding the State 
expressly responsible for the unconstitutional discrimination that 
occurred. I am also profoundly disappointed in the manner by which the 
Senator thwarted Judge Ronnie White's nomination to be Federal district 
court judge, the first African American justice ever to serve on the 
Missouri Supreme Court. Senator Ashcroft's unwillingness at his 
confirmation to acknowledge or to express a scintilla of regret for the 
disingenuous manner in which he distorted Judge White's record can 
hardly be seen as a promising omen to those of us in the African 
American community who have worked so hard to integrate the Federal 
judiciary.
  Second, given Senator Ashcroft's past record and statements at the 
hearings, I do not find his acknowledgment of a woman's constitutional 
right to an abortion as settled law under Roe and Casey as being at all 
credible. I say this because in 42 out of 43 Senate votes concerning 
reproductive rights, he cast a vote aimed at overturning Roe versus 
Wade.
  Third, with regard to Senator Ashcroft's record of opposition to gun 
control legislation, I remain unconvinced that he is the appropriate 
person to uphold and enforce our Nation's firearms law. To me, Senator 
Ashcroft's past wholehearted embrace of an extreme view of the second 
amendment is active support for legislation in Missouri that would 
allow individuals to carry concealed weapons and his unwillingness to 
commit to relinquish his membership in the National Rifle Association, 
disqualify him as the person best charged with enforcing our gun laws. 
In sum, I have come to the reluctant conclusion that the Senator is the 
wrong man for the wrong job at the wrong time.
  When our Nation urgently needs an Attorney General who can bring us 
all together, we have been offered a person known for extreme right-
wing positions and divisiveness. I have spent my entire career fighting 
for the cause of civil rights, reproductive choice and common sense 
crime and gun safety laws. In my view, Senator Ashcroft's record is 
simply too inconsistent with these goals to justify our support for 
him.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to and commend the gentlewoman from Ohio (Mrs. 
Jones) for calling this Special Order and bringing us all together this 
evening.
  Mrs. JONES of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I would just state to the gentleman 
that I thank him for his leadership on the Committee on the Judiciary 
and trust that our work together will not allow this confirmation to 
proceed.
  Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the nomination of 
John Ashcroft of Missouri to the crucial position of United States 
Attorney General. Mr. Ashcroft has a long and consistent record of 
conservative extremism, opposing civil rights as well as qualified 
Federal nominees, abortion rights, gay rights and environmental 
protection.
  In his confirmation hearings last week, we saw a nominee on his best 
behavior, and yet, he could not acknowledge the possibility that he was 
wrong about the impeccable qualifications of federal judge nominee 
Ronnie White. We have a nominee who denies that sexual preference was 
an issue when he questioned James Hormel's ``life-style'' before 
rejecting his nomination. We have a nominee who claims that as Attorney 
General of Missouri he always upheld the law and did not try and impose 
his own personal beliefs while the record shows that just the opposite 
is true. In fact, there is nothing in the record to indicate that Mr. 
Ashcroft has ever exhibited any flexibility in his ideology.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask you should we support giving him the keys to our 
nation's laws with our eyes opened and our fingers crossed.
  I cannot remain silent when the person who is nominated to be the 
chief law enforcement officer of this country and who will be 
responsible for defending the civil rights of all Americans has 
repeatedly demonstrated his personal animosity for those fundamental 
rights. I urge the Administration to live up to its promises to unite 
this country and withdraw this ill-conceived nominee from 
consideration. At the very least, I urge my friends in the other 
Chamber to do the right thing and reject this nominee.

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