[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 3]
[Senate]
[Page 3437]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            LYNCH NOMINATION

  Mr. CASEY. Mr. President, I rise today to talk about the nomination 
that will be before the entire Senate next week, the nomination of 
Loretta Lynch to be the Attorney General of the United States of 
America, and to urge all of my Senate colleagues to quickly confirm 
United States Attorney Lynch to this position.
  Loretta Lynch has dedicated much of her life--many years of her 
life--to public service, serving twice as the United States Attorney 
for the Eastern District of New York. In this role she earned a 
reputation as a tough but fair prosecutor.
  I would like to take a few minutes to outline some of Loretta Lynch's 
record. As United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, 
she has kept communities safer by bringing serious, violent criminals 
to justice, prosecuting high-level gang members and drug traffickers. 
U.S. Attorney Lynch has also tirelessly fought public corruption. While 
she was at the U.S. Attorney's Office, she was the lead prosecutor in 
municipal corruption cases on Long Island and supervised the 
prosecution of the New York State Senate majority leader recently.
  During her time in private practice, Loretta Lynch did pro bono work 
as special counsel to the prosecutor of the International Criminal 
Tribunal for Rwanda, further evidencing her commitment to public 
service and to the enforcement of the law. Hers is a truly impressive 
record, and one that without question prepared United States Attorney 
Lynch to serve as Attorney General Lynch upon confirmation by the 
Senate.
  I had the opportunity to meet with Loretta Lynch this past January. 
She and I discussed how the Department of Justice can do more to give 
law enforcement the tools it needs, also to eliminate witness 
intimidation--a major issue in cities such as Philadelphia and others 
around the country. Also, we talked about reforming the juvenile 
justice system, and finally reducing tensions between police, law 
enforcement and the communities they serve.
  I was very impressed by United States Attorney Lynch. I believe she 
is well suited to address these and many other issues she will confront 
as the Attorney General of the United States. These issues, of course, 
are not only critical to Pennsylvania but also our whole country.
  I am also confident that Loretta Lynch, when she is confirmed--and I 
believe she will be--will continue the important work of Attorney 
General Holder to fairly enforce Federal voting and civil rights laws, 
to support equality for LGBT Americans, to work to reduce the over-
incarceration of nonviolent offenders, and also to address disparities 
in our criminal justice system.
  Despite Loretta Lynch's record as a prosecutor, serving twice as the 
United States attorney in the State of New York, and despite her record 
and countless expressions of support from law enforcement, from civil 
rights advocates, and past Attorneys General, Loretta Lynch's 
nomination has been pending for 122 days before the Senate. This is the 
longest it has taken the U.S. Senate to vote on the nominee for 
Attorney General in 30 years.
  This is especially surprising given that the Senate has already 
confirmed Loretta Lynch twice. In both 2000 and 2010, the Senate 
confirmed Loretta Lynch to be the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern 
District of New York, as I mentioned earlier. In each case her 
confirmation before the Senate was unanimous.
  Loretta Lynch's nomination we know is historic for many reasons, but 
the principal reason is she would be the first African-American woman 
to serve as the Nation's Attorney General. However, apart from the 
historic nature of her nomination, and I hope confirmation, Loretta 
Lynch is supremely qualified for this position for all the reasons I 
stated earlier. They could be summarized in a few words: integrity, 
intellect, and experience. I could add more words to that, but they are 
the qualities we want in any prosecutor and, of course, they are the 
qualities we want in an Attorney General. I believe we have those 
qualities with Attorney General Holder, and we want to have the 
confirmation completed for the new Attorney General nominee, Loretta 
Lynch.
  I strongly support Loretta Lynch's nomination, and I am pleased the 
majority leader has committed to considering her nomination on the 
Senate floor. I call on all of my colleagues to confirm Loretta Lynch 
without delay.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Utah.

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