[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 1]
[House]
[Pages 850-855]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1900
  CONGRESSIONAL PROGRESSIVE CAUCUS: THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION NOMINEES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 3, 2017, the gentlewoman from New Jersey (Mrs. Watson Coleman) 
is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.


                             General Leave

  Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and 
include extraneous material on the subject of my Special Order.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from New Jersey?
  There was no objection.
  Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN. Mr. Speaker, I am here this evening representing 
the Congressional Progressive Caucus in this Special Order hour, and I 
will be joined by colleagues as we will examine what our future appears 
to look like as we plan for the transition which is taking place. We 
are 8 days away from a new President and administration that continues 
to refuse to put Americans first and complicit with Republican-
controlled Congress that will help them execute that mission.
  At 1 a.m. this morning, 51 Republican Senators voted to repeal the 
Affordable Care Act with no replacement. After 6 years of hollow 
grandstanding, Republicans now know that their plan to repeal the ACA 
would dump massive costs on families, businesses, and the Federal 
budget. The facts are clear, Mr. Speaker.
  Republicans' repeal of the ACA would result in the loss of 2.6 
million jobs and more than 250 billion--that is billion, B--of gross 
State products in 2019 alone. Family budgets and State budgets alike 
would be rocked by the reverberations of the repeal. And we cannot 
forget about our healthcare providers.
  The repeal of the ACA will crumble our critical healthcare 
infrastructure, decimating hospitals' and healthcare systems' ability 
to provide services, weaken local economies that hospitals help sustain 
and grow, and result in massive job losses of healthcare professionals. 
While Republicans claim to champion reducing the deficit, OMB 
calculates that the Republican budget resolution and repealing of ACA 
would lead to significantly larger deficits in each year and add more 
than $2 trillion in debt over the next decade.
  Taking away 30 million Americans' health care, blowing a hole in our 
budget, and saddling future generations with debt is the height of 
irresponsibility. It is important to note that just 20 percent of 
Americans support this repeal and delay plan.
  In fact, the American people want Congress to focus on raising wages 
and creating good-paying jobs for everyone everywhere in America. The 
American people want to be assured that their Federal Government is 
working for all of their interests. That is what I want to do as well. 
I stand ready to work with anyone who is serious about these 
priorities.
  Mr. Speaker, the nominees that this President-elect has put forth are 
focused on everything but the true interests of the American people. 
Maybe they are focused on the personal interests of the President-
elect. Today, the nominee to lead the Department of Housing and Urban 
Development, Dr. Ben Carson, could not even promise that not one 
decision or dollar would go to benefit the President-elect or his 
family. This is a problem.
  Maybe they are focused on rolling back hard fought freedoms or 
protections. Yesterday, New Jersey Senator Cory Booker reminded us that 
the nominee for the Attorney General, Senator Jeff Sessions, has not 
demonstrated a commitment to the central requirement of the job, that 
is to aggressively pursue the congressional mandate of civil rights, 
equal rights, and justice for all. This, Mr. Speaker, is a problem.
  Perhaps maybe they are not even interested in siphoning money from 
children and public schools. Nominee Betsy DeVos, the nominee for the 
Secretary of Education, has made a career of advocating for the 
shutdown of public schools and supporting legislation that has reduced 
oversight and accountability in Michigan charter schools. Her life work 
is the very antithesis of everything that the Department of Education 
represents.
  This is a problem, and to speak to this problem I would like to yield 
to the gentleman from California (Mr. Takano), who has experience in 
standing up for public education for our children.
  Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I thank my dear colleague, Bonnie Watson 
Coleman, for yielding to me.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my strong opposition to the 
nomination of Betsy DeVos for Secretary of Education. To start, 
President-elect Trump's nominee to lead our country's education policy 
has absolutely no experience in public schools: not as a teacher, not 
as a student, and not as a parent. That lack of experience makes her 
efforts to privatize public education particularly shameful.
  I was a public schoolteacher for more than 24 years--I taught high 
school--which means that I have spent at least 24 more years in a 
public school classroom than Betsy DeVos. If she actually stepped 
inside of a classroom in a public school, here is what she would find: 
she would find teachers who are giving everything they can, their 
passion, their time, and often their own money to give kids the best 
education possible. She would find facilities in need of repair, 
classrooms in need of modern equipment, and programs in desperate need 
of funding. She would find students who deserve to receive an 
exceptional education that will help them reach their potential.
  But Ms. DeVos has no interest in supporting America's public 
education system. Instead, she will insert a profit motive into our 
children's education that will cripple our public schools and punish 
the millions of children who attend them every day. The Obama 
administration pushed public schools on a race to the top. Betsy DeVos 
will create a race to the bottom line.
  The result of her work in Michigan serves as a warning to schools 
across America. By using her personal fortune to influence policy, 
Betsy DeVos engineered a massive influx of for-profit charter schools 
into the State of Michigan. Michigan taxpayers now hand for-profit 
charter schools $1 billion every year, and, in return, many of those 
schools underperform public schools while evading accountability.
  The opportunity that comes with a good education is what makes the 
American Dream possible for each new generation. If we abandon our 
public

[[Page 851]]

schools, we abandon the millions of children and parents who rely on 
them as a path to a brighter future.
  It is very simple. The Senate should not confirm a Secretary of 
Education who does not believe in public education. Senate Democrats 
and Republicans must send a clear message to parents, teachers, and 
students across the country that we stand by our public schools. I hope 
they will do so by rejecting this nomination. I thank my dear colleague 
from the State of New Jersey. I appreciate this opportunity to let my 
views be known and to make a plea with our colleagues in the other 
house to do their duty and hold out for a Secretary of Education who 
actually believes in public education.
  Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN. I want to thank my colleague for coming and 
taking the time and speaking on behalf of public education and students 
everywhere. We talked about it before, and I am happy to announce that 
we will be working as part of the House Public Education Caucus and 
looking very closely at those issues that are being brought forth and 
those plans that are being offered.
  I know if you look at my district in my State of New Jersey, you see 
some of the finest public schools in the country. At the same time, 
just 12 miles away, you see some of the most challenging. I know in my 
district that, if Elizabeth DeVos would take a look at what is 
happening in my district, she would see schoolteachers anxious to teach 
but have textbooks in what is considered advanced placement classes 
that don't even have the cover on the top of the book that those 
children are using. I know this because I have seen it for myself.
  So higher education is, indeed, that issue, that opportunity, that 
difference between living a life of poverty and being able to educate 
yourself and prepare yourself for a future that we must stand up for, 
and we will. I thank the gentleman for the time that he has given us.
  Mr. TAKANO. If I might join in a little more, I became a teacher--
more than, wow, gosh, it must be 30 years ago now--having experienced 
the disparity in the public schools in the Boston, Massachusetts, area; 
some days being a substitute teacher in Brookline, Massachusetts, and 
other days being a substitute teacher in inner city Boston. The 
contrast between the wealthy Brookline School District and then the 
inner city Boston where you walk through a metal detector woke me up. 
And I really believed that if we did not address the achievement gap in 
our country, that if the American Dream of social economic mobility was 
only available to some and not all of our students, that our very 
democracy would be in jeopardy.
  It pains me to see from the incoming Trump administration such a 
superficial, extreme profit-driven notion of improving our schools. I 
wish that both President-elect and Betsy DeVos could see some of the 
great work that is being done at my schools in my congressional 
district where we have a teacher--I am blanking on his name, but he is 
responsible for one-fourth of all the Latinos in the State of 
California that score 4s and 5s on the physics AP test. Remarkable work 
being done in a regular school that does not cherry-pick its students. 
It is a public school in the Val Verde Unified School District that is 
making remarkable strides. This work is not being looked at carefully, 
is being overlooked, and it is a shame that we have a nominee for 
Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos, who has such a terrible history, 
who is committed to actually tearing down our public school system.
  Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN. By nominating Tom Price as the Secretary of 
Health and Human Services, President-elect Trump will continue his 
assault on the health of Americans. The HHS nominee has made a career 
on lining the pockets of insurance companies at the expense of the 
sick, on behalf of the rich, and his unwavering support of cuts to 
Medicaid and Medicare are forever known.
  This signals yet another broken promise by the incoming President to 
pledge to leave the essential Federal programs alone, and he is doing 
the opposite. This is, indeed, a problem.
  Defending the sanctity of American democracy is more important than 
any partisan consideration. Yet, after reports of Russia's attack on 
our democracy were confirmed, Rex Tillerson, nominee for Secretary of 
State, wouldn't say if he would support sanctions against the country. 
In fact, Mr. Tillerson admitted that he had not yet spoken with the 
President-elect about the conflict. This is a huge problem, not the 
least of which is one whether or not we can believe it.
  I now yield to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee), a champion 
for all progressive needs and for all families.
  Ms. LEE. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentlewoman from New Jersey 
for yielding, but also for her tremendous leadership on so many issues, 
including as a champion for women and women's health and reproductive 
health care, and also for this important discussion tonight.

                              {time}  1915

  I just want to mention that I serve on the Budget Committee, and you 
mentioned a nominee, Congressman Tom Price of Georgia, for Secretary of 
Health and Human Services. Once again, we see President-elect Donald 
Trump making recommendations of those individuals who want to dismantle 
the safety net and dismantle health care within the agencies that they 
are going to run. This is a very, very troubling development in terms 
of these cabinet appointee nominees.
  I note that--and many know--President-elect Trump ran one of the most 
divisive and prejudiced campaigns that we have witnessed in modern 
history. Since winning the Presidency, he has nominated billionaires to 
serve in his cabinet, proving that he will govern just as he 
campaigned. Also, he has nominated individuals who want to dismantle, 
for the most part, the agencies that they will have jurisdiction over.
  Another example is his choice for Secretary of State, which 
Congresswoman Watson Coleman mentioned, and that is Rex Tillerson. I 
serve on the State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs 
Subcommittee of the Appropriations Committee and understand the 
importance of our diplomatic initiatives, our USAID initiatives, and 
our efforts to really bring education and health care to the poorest of 
the poor around the world. Our Secretary of State serves as the 
Nation's chief diplomat and represents America's interests around the 
world. I have the opportunity and the privilege to serve on the 
committee that funds the majority of these efforts.
  So the nomination of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson really troubles 
me. His extensive ties to the Kremlin raises the question: Whose 
interest will he represent?
  Our country cannot afford a Secretary of State who will place private 
corporate interests over the needs of the American people and our 
national security interests. His recent confirmation hearing revealed 
what we have known all along in Republican-controlled Washington, that 
cabinet officials will cater to special interests, not to American 
families, based on the nominees that we have seen come forward.
  It is not just the Secretary of State we should be concerned about. 
Here at home, President-elect Trump has nominated cabinet officials 
that would turn back the clock on progress. His nomination for 
Secretary of Labor, Andrew Puzder, is another millionaire CEO who 
benefits from an economy rigged against families struggling to make 
ends meet. He earns more than $1 million a year, but opposes a raise 
for low-wage workers earning just $15,000 a year. He says that food 
assistance programs keep low-wage workers like those he employs at, I 
believe, Carl's Jr. and Hardee's--he says that if low-wage workers 
apply for these food assistance programs, then the programs actually 
discourage work. There are millions of people who are working two jobs 
being paid minimum wage who need food assistance, who need food stamps, 
because they can't survive in today's economy.
  So the working, poor, low-income individuals, should be very troubled 
by this appointment as Secretary of

[[Page 852]]

Labor, which is supposed to look out for the rights of working men and 
women. We need a Labor Secretary committed to helping working families 
and addressing the epidemic of poverty, not one who caters to the most 
affluent.
  Also, by nominating Senator Sessions to lead the Justice Department, 
President-elect Donald Trump is making it clear that he will abandon 
our fundamental civil and human rights. Senator Sessions has a long 
history of opposing civil rights and equality. I am very proud of 
members of the Congressional Black Caucus for really setting forth his 
record and his history, such as laying out the fact that he was 
rejected from serving as a Federal judge due to his blatantly racist 
comment. He forcefully degraded the LGBT community, opposed the 
Violence Against Women Act, and violated the Voting Rights Act, calling 
it an intrusive piece of legislation.
  Clearly, someone who has publicly shown prejudice and intolerance is 
not qualified to serve as the chief law enforcement for our civil 
rights laws. Once again, you see a nominee who really doesn't believe 
in the values of liberty and justice for all, a person to head an 
agency that is supposed to be an agency that ensures the civil and 
human rights for all. Let me be clear, these nominations are a chilling 
indication of how a Trump administration intends to govern.
  Our Nation has made tremendous progress in the fight to protect, 
preserve, and expand civil rights, civil liberties, and human rights 
for all Americans. We will not allow a Trump administration to drag us 
back into the past.
  Finally, let me just say something that is troubling me tremendously 
at this point in our history. Our Nation prides itself on being a 
democracy. We actually promote democracy abroad through our democracy 
programs, which, of course, I have historically opposed. The point I am 
trying to make and want to make clear is that this new administration, 
when you look at the majority of cabinet nominees, they are very, very 
wealthy and do not fundamentally believe in a strong public sector and 
in many ways do not support the mission of the cabinets they are 
actually asked to lead.
  Privatizing Medicare and other public sector programs that ensure 
that the most vulnerable have a safety net and an opportunity to live 
the American Dream by privatizing these agencies is dangerous. It will 
lead to chaos. Private sector takeover of the government is dangerous 
and it erodes our public institutions that are required in a democracy.
  So, Congresswoman Watson Coleman, I believe this is the dangerous, 
slippery slope that this administration has embarked upon, and we need 
to expose every step of the way who these individuals are, their 
background, and we have to urge that they comply with the ethics 
requirement and submit their financial disclosure statements and all 
the required ethics forms so that the public will know who they are. We 
must be transparent and, of course, we would like for our President-
elect to release his income taxes also.
  Again, we kind of see what is taking place now. We knew this during 
the campaign. I thought that we were going to see now more of an effort 
to unify the country, but, unfortunately, I think these nominees show 
us which direction, unfortunately, this new administration will take.
  Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN. I thank the Congresswoman. It is true. As we see 
the unfolding of some of the drama that is taking place, including that 
which affects us and is associated with Russia, it is even more 
important than ever that the President show us that he is not hiding 
anything regarding his relationships that potentially present a 
contradiction of his first and foremost responsibility to us and show 
us his tax returns.
  I thank the gentlewoman from California very much for being here.
  I yield to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Nadler).
  Mr. NADLER. I thank the gentlewoman from New Jersey for yielding, for 
hosting this Special Order, and for granting me this opportunity to 
speak.
  Since the first nomination was announced by President-elect Trump's 
transition team, phones in my office have been ringing off the hook; 
and not a day goes by when I do not hear from my neighbors, friends, 
and constituents of their angst, frustration, and discontent. I share 
their anger and dread--that feeling of being punched in the gut--as 
name after name has been released. Each nomination from President-elect 
Trump has put the fox in charge of the henhouse.
  We are not talking about simple differences in partisan ideology. We 
are talking about nominees who have devoted much of their professional 
lives to undermining the small-d democratic institutions that are the 
foundation of our country. This new administration is so extreme that 
we cannot, in any good faith, give this President-elect the traditional 
deference to name a cabinet that represents his governing philosophy 
because the appointments show it to be a philosophy that seeks to 
corrupt, if not fully destroy, our institutions, traditions, and 
values.
  Senator Jeff Sessions, the nominee for Attorney General, was 
considered too racist to serve on the Federal bench by a Republican 
Senate, much less to head the Justice Department, and is someone who 
has so little respect for women's rights he voted against the Violence 
Against Women Act and called Roe v. Wade a colossal mistake.
  Ben Carson, the nominee for HUD Secretary, said today in his 
confirmation hearing that he was against protecting LGBT Americans from 
housing discrimination because protecting them from housing 
discrimination would be granting them extra rights, refusing to 
recognize that LGBT Americans deserve equal rights.
  Tom Price, the nominee for HHS Secretary, wants to eliminate Medicare 
and Medicaid as we know them, repeal the Affordable Care Act without a 
second thought for the millions of Americans who would lose coverage or 
would be subject to limits on preexisting conditions and would be 
subject to lifetime and annual limits, and has so little understanding 
of women's health that he insisted that not a single woman would lose 
access to contraception if contraception coverage were eliminated.
  Betsy DeVos, the nominee for Education Secretary, advocated for years 
to move taxpayer dollars away from public schools and towards for-
profit, private schools that would leave behind low-income students, 
minority students, and children with disabilities.
  Scott Pruitt, the nominee for EPA administrator, does not believe in 
climate change and is so linked to the fossil fuel industry that he has 
sued the EPA a dozen times to block environmental regulations designed 
to protect us from the effects of climate change.
  The list goes on and on, each more horrifying than the one before. 
These are not the values the majority of Americans voted for in 
November, and I don't just mean because Hillary Clinton won the popular 
vote by 3 million. I cannot imagine that the voters who wanted to drain 
the swamp and voted for Mr. Trump for that purpose and have the needs 
of working people represented are thrilled to see him name the 
wealthiest cabinet--with the greatest collection of Wall Street 
insiders--in American history.
  The fact is, President-elect Trump and the Republican Party do not 
have any mandate from the people to carry out the dystopian horror show 
this cabinet presents. Rather than rubber stamping the most extreme 
cabinet I have seen in my 25 years in Washington, the Senate should 
reject these extreme nominees, and then both Houses should do their 
constitutional duty to conduct oversight of the administration.
  I am ready to do that work. Over a month ago, along with my 
Democratic Judiciary Committee colleagues, I sent a letter to Chairman 
Goodlatte asking him to hold hearings on the conflict of interest and 
ethics provisions that apply to the President of the United States. I 
have not heard a response. Every Democrat in this House

[[Page 853]]

signed on to the Protect Our Democracy Act, legislation to create an 
independent, bipartisan-appointed commission to investigate Russian 
hacking in the 2016 election and to make recommendations to ensure 
nothing like that happens again. It is interesting that not a single 
House Republican has joined us.
  I join my constituents and millions of Americans in wanting to know 
why Republicans are working so hard to protect President-elect Trump 
from having to answer questions about Russian influence in this 
election. Why are Republicans working so hard to support President-
elect Trump's extreme and out-of-touch cabinet? Why aren't Republicans 
asking the same questions about how President-elect Trump will avoid 
conflicts of interest?
  I have served in this body for nearly 25 years. I have seen this body 
take on the big questions of our time--the role of government in the 
lives of everyday Americans, the threat of terrorism in the city I call 
home and around the country, the right of every American to marry 
whomever they love, the right of every American to vote free of 
intimidation, and the right of every American to make their own 
healthcare choices. I have seen us come through those battles bruised 
and battered but stronger.
  That is why I refuse to despair. I refuse to put my head down and 
hide. I refuse to give up on America. I will stand here and fight for 
the country we all believe in. I will do everything in my power to 
represent the strong progressive values of the men and women who sent 
me here.
  I will work with my colleagues here in the House and the Senate to 
stand united against any effort to undermine the rights we have fought 
so hard to achieve, whether it comes from the other end of the world or 
the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue.
  But if there is to be any check on this administration, congressional 
Republicans will need to join in that fight, and it starts with 
rejecting the shameful slate of nominees.
  Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN. I thank my colleague for sharing his insights 
and his experience with us. We have a lot of work to do, and we are 
ready to do it.
  Mr. Speaker, in addition to those that my colleague has mentioned, I 
would like to bring attention to some of the other nominees that we 
should be considering here.

                              {time}  1930

  We haven't mentioned the Department of Energy and the nominee, 
Governor Rick Perry, who disregarded this agency so much that he 
couldn't even remember that he wanted to eliminate it when he was 
running for President, or even Linda McMahon, who is the wife of a 
billionaire. It seems to me that this litany of nominees belongs to the 
millionaire-billionaire club. They know each other well, and the one 
thing that they are committed to is ensuring that their interests and 
the interests of this President-elect, in his private life, are 
advanced. I think that the people in this country need to understand 
how troublesome this is.
  I yield to the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Clarke), the co-chair 
of the Caucus on Black Women and Girls and a fighter for the rights of 
all working families and all vulnerable families.
  Ms. CLARKE of New York. I thank the gentlewoman from New Jersey (Mrs. 
Watson Coleman).
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the nomination of Betsy DeVos as 
Secretary of Education.
  I know that my colleagues have been talking about their concerns with 
regard to the troubling nominations of Donald Trump, and I want to add 
my voice with respect to the Secretary of Education.
  About 90 percent of Americans--Republicans and Democrats alike--send 
their children to public schools; and as a proud graduate of the New 
York City public school system, I, myself, know firsthand of the 
importance of both primary and secondary education as part of early 
childhood and young adulthood. Most public schools in the United States 
are operated by the city, town, or county for the benefit of the 
public, and all of the resources that are allocated to public schools 
are used to support the development of students and to prepare them for 
success in the 21st century.
  Mr. Speaker, I believe Betsy DeVos has a very different approach to 
education, and that is extremely clear. She and her family, over the 
years, have devoted millions of dollars to replacing public schools in 
Michigan with charter schools, most of which have recorded test scores 
in reading and math that are well below the State average. Let me 
repeat that--most of which have recorded test scores in reading and 
math that are well below the State average.
  Recently, the Detroit Free Press released an article that explained, 
while families in Detroit have the choice of many different charter 
schools, few of these choices actually offer a quality education.
  Mr. Speaker, I am concerned that Betsy DeVos has used donations to 
provide to Republicans in the Michigan State Legislature to prevent 
State agencies from investigating as to whether charter schools are 
providing students with a comprehensive education that will prepare 
them for the future. I am alarmed that the system that was developed by 
Betsy DeVos, which allows for-profit corporations to operate charter 
schools, realigns those resources intended for schoolchildren into the 
pockets of shareholders--making a profit off the backs of children.
  Since 1959, the DeVos family has operated Amway, which is a business 
that has been labeled as a pyramid scheme--paying out millions of 
dollars in fines and cheating working families. We cannot allow Betsy 
DeVos the chance to extend those same basic principles used during her 
time at Amway to affect our education system--enriching wealthy 
investors at the expense of our children's education. It is not a 
solution. It is a problem.
  I thank my colleague for giving me the time. I hope that the American 
people are watching very closely as to what is taking place here 
because, indeed, it is a travesty.
  Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN. I thank my friend and my colleague.
  Mr. Speaker, defending the sanctity of American democracy is more 
important than any partisan consideration. We are at a juncture at 
which we will experience a President-elect who has displayed 
breathtaking ignorance about the powers and the basic functions of 
government and who has identified the nominees for these cabinet 
positions who, if confirmed, will dismantle equality, equity, and 
opportunity at every turn, capped off by a Republican-controlled 
Congress that would rather make good on divisive rhetoric instead of 
working in the best interests of Americans.
  There is just so much at stake as we go forth in the next couple of 
weeks and as the President-elect identifies and puts forth his 
nominees. Whether it is in the Department of State or in the Department 
of Education or in Energy or in HUD or in Health and Human Services or 
in Justice or in the Environmental Protection Agency--where a nominee, 
as Attorney General, spends his time dismantling and litigating against 
the Environmental Protection Agency--or whether it is Labor, where the 
Labor Secretary doesn't seem to care about working individuals and 
protecting workers' rights, or whether it is an SBA administrator who 
doesn't have any idea what it is to be a part of a working class or a 
middle class, or whether it is even the Treasurer of the country, who 
comes from massive wealth and Big Business, each of these 
illustrations, in combination with there being the decisions already to 
dismantle--to take health care away from millions of families, to 
create the loss of jobs as a result of dismantling the Affordable Care 
Act without placing anything in its place--represent the dismantling of 
the democracy that we have fought so hard to sustain.
  If we are going to watch these serious attacks on the equality and 
opportunity for all people, then we must make sure that the people in 
this country see these things. I have a question for all of us to 
answer. As we look toward all of these issues, either individually or 
collectively, at what point do

[[Page 854]]

we conclude with the question: Is what is happening in America un-
American?
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Higgins of Louisiana). Members are 
reminded to refrain from engaging in personalities toward the 
President-elect or a sitting Senator.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, as a senior member of the House 
Committees on the Judiciary and Homeland Security Committee; Ranking 
Member of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland 
Security, and Investigations, and the Congressional Voting Rights 
Caucus, I rise today to express my views regarding the more troubling 
nominations made by the President-Elect to fill the important Cabinet 
posts at the Departments of Justice, Health and Human Services, and 
Energy.
  Let me begin with the nomination of U.S. Senator Jefferson Beauregard 
``Jeff'' Sessions III of Alabama to be the next Attorney General of the 
United States.
  Mr. Speaker, those of us who oppose the nomination of Senator 
Sessions to be Attorney General owe a responsibility to the public to 
clear and forthright in stating the reasons they believe he should not 
be confirmed as the Attorney General of the United States.
  Many of the senator's supporters, ranging from his Republican 
colleagues in the Senate to current and former staffers to home state 
friends and constituents, praise the senator for his modesty and 
courtesy and manners.
  The four-term senator and former state and federal prosecutor is, we 
are told, learned in the law, a person of deep faith, a good man who 
loves his family, his state, and his country.
  We can, as the lawyers say, stipulate that these assertions are true.
  But that does not make him an appropriate and deserving candidate to 
be Attorney General of the United States.
  And that is because the office of Attorney General and the Department 
of Justice he or she leads is different in a very fundamental way from 
every other Cabinet department.
  Unlike the Secretary of Transportation or Commerce or Education, or 
even the Secretary of Defense or State, the Attorney General leads a 
department that is charged with administering the laws and enforcing 
the Constitutional guarantees and protections that directly affect 
every American, all 320 million of us.
  To quote then-Senator Joseph Biden during the 2001 confirmation 
hearing of Attorney General nominee John Ashcroft:
  ``This Cabinet position is the single most unique position of any 
Cabinet office.''
  ``For it's the only one where the nominee or the Cabinet officer has 
an equally strong and stronger, quite frankly, responsibility to the 
American people as he does to the person who nominates him.''
  At that same confirmation hearing, Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois 
observed that ``the attorney general, more than any other Cabinet 
officer, is entrusted with protecting the civil rights of Americans.''
  The Attorney General is not the lawyer for the President; the 
Attorney General is the lawyer, and the Department of Justice the law 
firm, for the American people.
  That is why I agree so strongly with then-Senator Biden when he said 
in 2001:
  ``[F]or the office of attorney general, first, the question is 
whether the attorney general is willing to vigorously enforce all the 
laws in the Constitution, even though he might have philosophical 
disagreements.''
  ``[The second question is] whether he possesses the standing and 
temperament that will permit the vast majority of the American people 
to believe that you can and will protect and enforce their individual 
rights.''
  Put another way, the U.S. Attorney General and Justice Department is 
not only the instrument of justice but also the living symbol of the 
Constitution's promise of equal justice under law.
  Mr. Speaker, the nation's greatest Attorney Generals conveyed this 
commitment to equal justice by their prior experience, their words and 
deed, and their character.
  Think Herbert Brownell, Attorney General for Republican President 
Eisenhower, who oversaw the integration of Little Rock's Central High 
School.
  Think Robert Jackson, Attorney General for Democratic President 
Franklin Roosevelt, who led the prosecution team at the Nazi War Crimes 
trial in Nuremburg, Germany.
  Think Robert F. Kennedy, for whom the Main Justice Building is named, 
bringing to bear the instruments of federal power to protect 
Mississippi Freedom Riders and to stare down Governor George Wallace in 
the successful effort to integrate the University of Alabama.
  The nomination of Alabama Senator Sessions as Attorney General does 
not inspire the necessary confidence.
  As a U.S. Senator from Alabama, the state from which the infamous 
Supreme Court decision in Shelby County v. Holder originated, Senator 
Sessions has failed to play a constructive role in repairing the damage 
to voting rights caused by that decision.
  He was one of the leading opponents of the reauthorization of the 
Violence Against Women Act.
  He is one of the Senate's most hostile opponents of comprehensive 
immigration reform and was a principal architect of the draconian and 
incendiary immigration policy advocated by the President-Elect during 
the campaign.
  And his record in support of efforts to bring needed reform to the 
nation's criminal justice system is virtually non-existent.
  In 1986, ten years before Senator Sessions was elected to the Senate, 
he was rejected for a U.S. District Court judgeship in view of 
documented incidents that revealed his lack of commitment to civil and 
voting rights, and to equal justice.
  And his Senate voting record and rhetoric has endeared him to white 
nationalist websites and organizations like Breitbart and Stormfront.
  As a U.S. attorney, Senator Sessions was the first federal prosecutor 
in the country to bring charges against civil rights activist for voter 
fraud.
  Senator Sessions charged the group with 29 counts of voter fraud, 
facing over 100 years in prison.
  Senator Sessions has repeatedly denied the disproportionate impact of 
voting restrictions on minorities and has been a leader in the effort 
to undermine the protections of the Voting Rights Act.
  Senator Sessions has spoken out against the Voting Rights Act, 
calling it ``a piece of intrusive legislation.''
  Senator Sessions criticized Attorney General Eric Holder for 
challenging state election laws, claiming they are necessary to fight 
voter fraud.
  However, evidence supports that voter fraud is almost nonexistent, 
with 31 confirmed cases out of more than 1 billion ballots cast.
  As Attorney General of the state of Alabama, Senator Sessions fought 
to continue practices that harmed schools predominantly attended by 
African-American students.
  Senator Sessions led the fight to uphold the state of Alabama's 
inequitable school funding mechanism after it had been deemed 
unconstitutional by the Alabama circuit court.
  In the state of Alabama nearly a quarter of African-American students 
attend apartheid schools, meaning the school's white population is less 
than one percent.
  Although Senator Sessions has publicly taken credit for desegregation 
efforts in the state of Alabama, there is no evidence of his 
participation in the desegregation of Alabama schools or any school 
desegregation lawsuits filed by then Attorney General Sessions.
  Mr. Speaker, The United States has been blessed to have been served 
as Attorney General by such illustrious figures as Robert Jackson, 
Robert Kennedy, Herbert Brownell, Ramsey Clark, Nicholas Katzenbach, 
Eric Holder, and Edward H. Levi.
  Nothing would do more to reassure the American people that the 
President-Elect is committed to unifying the nation than the nomination 
and appointment of a person to be Attorney General who has a record of 
championing and protecting, rather than opposing and undermining, the 
precious right to vote; the constitutionally guaranteed right of 
privacy, criminal justice reform, and support for reform of the 
nation's immigration system so that it is fair and humane.
  Regrettably, Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama is not that person and he 
should not be confirmed by the Senate to be the nation's 84th Attorney 
General.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, as a senior member of the House 
Committees on the Judiciary and Homeland Security Committee; Ranking 
Member of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland 
Security, and Investigations, and the Congressional Voting Rights 
Caucus, I rise today to express my views regarding the more troubling 
nominations made by the President-Elect to fill the important Cabinet 
posts at the Departments of Justice, Health and Human Services, and 
Energy.
  Let me begin with the nomination of U.S. Senator Jefferson Beauregard 
``Jeff' Sessions III of Alabama to be the next Attorney General of the 
United States.
  Mr. Speaker, those of us who oppose the nomination of Senator 
Sessions to be Attorney General owe a responsibility to the public to 
be clear and forthright in stating the reasons they believe he should 
not be confirmed as the Attorney General of the United States.

[[Page 855]]

  Many of the senator's supporters, ranging from his Republican 
colleagues in the Senate to current and former staffers to home state 
friends and constituents, praise the senator for his modesty and 
courtesy and manners.
  The four-term senator and former state and federal prosecutor is, we 
are told, learned in the law, a person of deep faith, a good man who 
loves his family, his state, and his country.
  We can, as the lawyers say, stipulate that these assertions are true.
  But that does not make him an appropriate and deserving candidate to 
be Attorney General of the United States.
  And that is because the office of Attorney General and the Department 
of Justice he or she leads is different in a very fundamental way from 
every other Cabinet department.
  Unlike the Secretary of Transportation or Commerce or Education, or 
even the Secretary of Defense or State, the Attorney General leads a 
department that is charged with administering the laws and enforcing 
the Constitutional guarantees and protections that directly affect 
every American, all 320 million of us.
  To quote then-Senator Joseph Biden during the 2001 confirmation 
hearing of Attorney General nominee John Ashcroft:

       This Cabinet position is the single most unique position of 
     any Cabinet office.
       For it's the only one where the nominee or the Cabinet 
     officer has an equally strong and stronger, quite frankly, 
     responsibility to the American people as he does to the 
     person who nominates him.

  At that same confirmation hearing, Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois 
observed that ``the attorney general, more than any other Cabinet 
officer, is entrusted with protecting the civil rights of Americans.''
  The Attorney General is not the lawyer for the President; the 
Attorney General is the lawyer, and the Department of Justice the law 
firm, for the American people.
  That is why I agree so strongly with then-Senator Biden when he said 
in 2001:

       [F]or the office of attorney general, first, the question 
     is whether the attorney general is willing to vigorously 
     enforce all the laws in the Constitution, even though he 
     might have philosophical disagreements.
       [The second question is] whether he possesses the standing 
     and temperament that will permit the vast majority of the 
     American people to believe that you can and will protect and 
     enforce their individual rights.

  Put another way, the U.S. Attorney General and Justice Department is 
not only the instrument of justice but also the living symbol of the 
Constitution's promise of equal justice under law.
  Mr. Speaker, the nation's greatest Attorney Generals conveyed this 
commitment to equal justice by their prior experience, their words and 
deed, and their character.
  Think Herbert Brownell, Attorney General for Republican President 
Eisenhower, who oversaw the integration of Little Rock's Central High 
School.
  Think Robert Jackson, Attorney General for Democratic President 
Franklin Roosevelt, who led the prosecution team at the Nazi War Crimes 
trial in Nuremburg, Germany.
  Think Robert F. Kennedy, for whom the Main Justice Building is named, 
bringing to bear the instruments of federal power to protect 
Mississippi Freedom Riders and to stare down Governor George Wallace in 
the successful effort to integrate the University of Alabama.
  The nomination of Alabama Senator Sessions as Attorney General does 
not inspire the necessary confidence.
  As a U.S. Senator from Alabama, the state from which the infamous 
Supreme Court decision in Shelby County v. Holder originated, Senator 
Sessions has failed to play a constructive role in repairing the damage 
to voting rights caused by that decision.
  He was one of the leading opponents of the reauthorization of the 
Violence Against Women Act.
  He is one of the Senate's most hostile opponents of comprehensive 
immigration reform and was a principal architect of the draconian and 
incendiary immigration policy advocated by the President-Elect during 
the campaign.
  And his record in support of efforts to bring needed reform to the 
nation's criminal justice system is virtually non-existent.
  In 1986, ten years before Senator Sessions was elected to the Senate, 
he was rejected for a U.S. District Court judgeship in view of 
documented incidents that revealed his lack of commitment to civil and 
voting rights, and to equal justice.
  And his Senate voting record and rhetoric has endeared him to white 
nationalist websites and organizations like Breitbart and Stormfront.
  As a U.S. attorney, Senator Sessions was the first federal prosecutor 
in the country to bring charges against civil rights activists for 
voter fraud.
  Senator Sessions charged the group with 29 counts of voter fraud, 
facing over 100 years in prison.
  Senator Sessions has repeatedly denied the disproportionate impact of 
voting restrictions on minorities and has been a leader in the effort 
to undermine the protections of the Voting Rights Act.
  Senator Sessions has spoken out against the Voting Rights Act, 
calling it ``a piece of intrusive legislation.''
  Senator Sessions criticized Attorney General Eric Holder for 
challenging state election laws, claiming they are necessary to fight 
voter fraud.
  However, evidence supports that voter fraud is almost nonexistent, 
with 31 confirmed cases out of more than 1 billion ballots cast.
  As Attorney General of the state of Alabama, Senator Sessions fought 
to continue practices that harmed schools predominantly attended by 
African-American students.
  Senator Sessions led the fight to uphold the state of Alabama's 
inequitable school funding mechanism after it had been deemed 
unconstitutional by the Alabama circuit court.
  In the state of Alabama nearly a quarter of African-American students 
attend apartheid schools, meaning the school's white population is less 
than one percent.
  Although Senator Sessions has publically taken credit for 
desegregation efforts in the state of Alabama, there is no evidence of 
his participation in the desegregation of Alabama schools or any school 
desegregation lawsuits filed by then Attorney General Sessions.
  Mr. Speaker, the United States has been blessed to have been served 
as Attorney General by such illustrious figures as Robert Jackson, 
Robert Kennedy, Herbert Brownell, Ramsey Clark, Nicholas Katzenbach, 
Eric Holder, and Edward H. Levi.
  Nothing would do more to reassure the American people that the 
President-Elect is committed to unifying the nation than the nomination 
and appointment of a person to be Attorney General who has a record of 
championing and protecting, rather than opposing and undermining, the 
precious right to vote; the constitutionally guaranteed right of 
privacy, criminal justice reform, and support for reform of the 
nation's immigration system so that it is fair and humane.
  Regrettably, Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama is not that person and he 
should not be confirmed by the Senate to be the nation's 84th Attorney 
General.

                          ____________________