[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 3]
[Senate]
[Pages 3953-3955]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            LYNCH NOMINATION

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, Loretta Lynch, the nominee to be our next 
Attorney General, has now been awaiting a vote on the Senate floor for 
25 days. I have spoken many times about her historic nomination, her 
inspiring family, and her passion for the highest callings of public 
service.
  Last week, a distinguished group of bipartisan law enforcement 
officials came together to call for the confirmation of Loretta Lynch. 
These individuals have dedicated the better part of their careers to 
protecting the American people, and they conveyed how important it is 
to have the Senate confirm the chief law enforcement officer in the 
country.
  One of those individuals is my friend, Louis Freeh, former Director 
of the FBI and a Federal judge. Director Freeh wrote to the committee 
in support of Loretta Lynch that ``[i]n my twenty-five years of public 
service--23 in the Department of Justice--I cannot think of a more 
qualified nominee to be America's chief law enforcement officer.'' He 
has further stated that ``Ms. Lynch is an atypically non-political 
appointment for that office, a career professional without any 
political party ties or activity.''
  Loretta Lynch is also supported by the current New York police 
commissioner, who was appointed by a Democrat, and a former New York 
police commissioner, who was appointed by a Republican. She has earned 
the support of former U.S. attorneys from both Republican and 
Democratic administrations. She has the support of the Major Cities 
Chiefs Association, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, 
the Major County Sheriffs' Association, and many, many others.
  There is a very obvious reason for the bipartisan support Ms. Lynch 
has received--her qualifications are simply beyond reproach. She has 
been confirmed by the Senate twice before to

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serve as the top Federal prosecutor based in Brooklyn, NY. Those who 
have worked with her over the course of her 30-year career described 
her as ``even-handed,'' ``apolitical,'' and believe she ``will be a 
strong independent voice at the helm of the Department of Justice.''
  Under her leadership, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern 
District of New York has brought terrorists to justice, obtained 
convictions against both Republicans and Democrats in public corruption 
cases, and fought tirelessly against violent crime and financial fraud. 
Her record shows that as Attorney General, Ms. Lynch will effectively, 
fairly, and independently enforce the law.
  Many Americans are starting to wonder why she is being held up so 
long in light of her sterling record and in light of the very serious 
law enforcement challenges that we face in communities across the 
country. Unfortunately, the Republican Senate leadership is holding Ms. 
Lynch's nomination hostage to their political agenda and that does not 
reflect well on the Senate or their leadership.
  President Obama announced the nomination of Ms. Lynch more than 4 
months ago. The Judiciary Committee reported her nomination with 
bipartisan support 25 days ago. As of today, her nomination has been 
pending on the Senate floor longer than all of the past seven Attorneys 
General combined: Richard Thornburgh, 1 day; Bob Barr, 5 days; Janet 
Reno, 1 day; John Ashcroft, 2 days; Alberto Gonzales, 8 days; Michael 
Mukasey, 2 days; and Eric Holder, 5 days. This delay is an 
embarrassment for the Senate.
  The excuses for holding up her nomination continue to mount and each 
excuse rings hollow given the importance of the position to which she 
is nominated.
  First, the President and Senate Democrats were warned last November 
that we should not move Ms. Lynch's nomination during the lameduck 
period last Congress. Senate Republicans claimed that she would be 
treated fairly if we waited. In fact, the current majority leader 
issued a statement last November, proclaiming that ``Ms. Lynch will 
receive fair consideration by the Senate. And her nomination should be 
considered in the new Congress through regular order.'' As a result, we 
acceded to their request. However, treatment of her nomination has not 
been fair when compared to her predecessors.
  Despite Senate Republicans' request that we not move her nomination 
in the few weeks remaining in the lameduck session, they now assert in 
the press that if this nomination was so important, then the President 
and Senate Democrats should have processed it during that very time of 
transition. Sometimes you can only shake your head at what is said to 
excuse their delay. This nomination is for the top law enforcement 
officer in the Nation. It should not just be important to Democrats. It 
should be important to Republicans as well. It is important to all 
Americans.
  I can remember when Judge Mukasey was nominated by President Bush to 
be Attorney General. From the date of announcement to confirmation, it 
took 53 days. Judge Mukasey received a floor vote just 2 days after he 
was reported from committee. And these were some of the remarks made by 
Senate Republicans at that time: ``We should stop playing partisan 
political games with this nomination. The Justice Department is too 
important for this type of stuff.'' ``Forty days into the partisan 
wilderness is more than enough. We should confirm Judge Michael Mukasey 
without further delay.'' There were expressions of outrage against 
Democrats after just 40 days. Contrast that to Ms. Lynch, who has now 
been waiting 135 days. Her nomination has been pending on the floor for 
25 days whereas Judge Mukasey received a vote in 2 days. Where is the 
outrage from my fellow Senators on the other side of the aisle now?
  Second, the majority leader announced 2 weeks ago that he would 
finally schedule a vote on Ms. Lynch's nomination last week. However, 
instead of doing so, the majority leader changed his mind and acted as 
if the Senate could not consider legislation and executive nominees at 
the same time. Now he has announced that she will not have a 
confirmation vote until after the Senate has concluded its debate on 
the human trafficking bill. The Senate often debates legislation and 
votes on nominations at the same time. Over the last week and a half, 
we voted on six other executive nominations while we were on the human 
trafficking bill. None of those executive nominations is more important 
than this one. The top law enforcement officer in the land is not a 
negotiating chip that any party should use for leverage. That is not 
how we respect the role that law enforcement officials play in our 
system of government.
  What made the delay announced last Sunday more confounding is the 
fact that Loretta Lynch has a proven track record of prosecuting human 
trafficking and child rape crimes. Over the course of the last decade, 
her office has indicted over 55 defendants in sex trafficking cases and 
rescued over 110 victims of sex trafficking.
  Ms. Lynch and her office have used the tools that Congress has 
provided them to bring traffickers to justice. In United States v. 
Rivera, the prosecutors in her office utilized the Trafficking Victims 
Protection Act to help them obtain a conviction against an owner of 
several New York bars for his role in a sex trafficking and forced 
labor ring. The evidence at trial established that the defendants 
recruited and harbored scores of undocumented Latin American 
immigrants, and forced them to work as waitresses at the owner's bars. 
The owner and his accomplices used violence, including rapes and 
beatings, as well as fraud and threats of deportation, to compel the 
victims to work and prevent them from reporting the illegal activity to 
police. Because of the leadership Ms. Lynch showed in making such cases 
a priority, the bar owner was sentenced to 60 years in prison.
  I am proud of the Senate's work to get the Trafficking Victims 
Protection Act reauthorized 2 years ago as part of the reauthorization 
of the Violence Against Women Act. We passed those laws with strong 
bipartisan support because we avoided unnecessary political fights, 
listened to the survivors, and responded to what they said they needed. 
I wish the Republican leadership would do the same on Senator Cornyn's 
trafficking bill. Unfortunately, it is many of the same Senators who 
voted against the reauthorization of the Trafficking Victims Protection 
Act and the Violence Against Women Act who have injected a divisive 
partisan fight here--over the objection of the very survivors they wish 
to help. It is this unnecessary fight that has stopped an otherwise 
bipartisan bill. And now, many of those same Senators are using this 
unnecessary conflict--a conflict they created--as an excuse not to move 
Loretta Lynch's nomination. So instead of working together to confirm a 
nominee with a proven commitment to stopping human trafficking, and 
instead of passing antitrafficking legislation that will help the 
survivors of this terrible crime, Senate Republicans have refused to do 
either one this month.
  Loretta Lynch was recently named one of ``New York's New 
Abolitionists'' by the New York State Anti-Trafficking Coalition for 
her leadership in combating human trafficking. She has told members of 
the Judiciary Committee that human trafficking would be one of her top 
priorities if confirmed as Attorney General. And now, in the name of 
supporting human trafficking victims, Senate Republicans are blocking 
her nomination. That makes no sense. If we want to show our commitment 
to ending human trafficking, we should remove the unnecessary, partisan 
language from the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act--language that 
is not in the House-passed bill--and confirm Loretta Lynch without 
further delay.
  It is time to stop delaying and making excuses. It is time to stop 
playing politics with our law enforcement and national security. There 
is only one holdup to Ms. Lynch's nomination to be Attorney General, 
and that is the party that the American public has entrusted to govern 
the Senate. I ask

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that she receive a confirmation vote this week so that she can get to 
the peoples' work as our next Attorney General of the United States.

                          ____________________