[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2007, Book II)]
[November 3, 2007]
[Pages 1420-1422]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



The President's Radio Address
November 3, 2007

    Good morning. On Tuesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee is expected 
to vote on Judge Michael Mukasey's 
nomination to be our next Attorney General. I thank the committee for 
scheduling this vote. I urge them to approve this fine man's nomination 
and send it to the full Senate as quickly as possible.

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    In a time of war, it is vital for the President to have a full 
national security team in place, and the Attorney General is a key 
member of that team. The Attorney General is America's top law 
enforcement officer, with critical responsibilities for preventing 
terrorist attacks and protecting our Nation.
    Judge Mukasey is uniquely qualified 
to fill this vital role. He served nearly two decades on the Federal 
bench, and some of his most important legal experience is in the area of 
national security. He presided over the trial of the terrorist known as 
''the Blind Sheikh'' and his 
codefendants in the conspiracy to destroy prominent New York City 
landmarks, including the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center.
    And when the World Trade Center was attacked again on September the 
11th, 2001, Judge Mukasey quickly 
reopened his court, even though it was just blocks from Ground Zero. He 
and other judges in his district worked day and night to ensure that 
applications for warrants were processed, investigations could proceed, 
and the rule of law was upheld.
    This is the kind of leader America needs to head the Department of 
Justice at this important moment in our history. Judge Mukasey is a man of achievement. He is a man of character. 
And he has been praised by Republicans and Democrats alike for his 
honesty, intellect, fairness, and independence.
    Since I sent his nomination to the Senate, Judge Mukasey has provided nearly 6 hours of testimony. He 
patiently answered more than 200 questions during his hearings, and he 
responded promptly to nearly 500 written questions. Yet some Senators 
are working against his nomination because they want him to take a 
position on the legality of specific techniques allegedly used to 
question captured terrorists.
    As Judge Mukasey explained in a 
letter to Judiciary Committee members, he cannot give such a legal 
opinion for several reasons. First, he does not know whether certain 
methods of questioning are in fact used because the program is 
classified. He's not been given access to that information, and 
therefore, he is in no position to provide an informed opinion.
    Second, he does not want our 
professional interrogators in the field to take an uninformed opinion he 
has given in the course of a confirmation hearing as meaning that any 
conduct of theirs has put them in legal jeopardy.
    Finally, he does not want an 
uninformed legal opinion to give terrorists a window into which 
techniques we may use and which we may not. That could help them train 
their operatives to resist questioning and withhold vital information we 
need to stop attacks and save lives.
    Congressional leaders should not make Judge Mukasey's confirmation dependent on his willingness to make 
a public judgment about a classified program he has not been briefed on. 
If the Senate Judiciary Committee were to block Judge Mukasey on these 
grounds, it would set a new standard for confirmation that could not be 
met by any responsible nominee for Attorney General. And that would 
guarantee that America would have no confirmed Attorney General during 
this time of war.
    Senate leaders should move Judge Mukasey's nomination out of committee and bring it to the Senate 
floor for an up-or-down vote. In this time of war, America needs the 
best people leading our efforts to protect the American people. With 
Judge Mukasey serving as Attorney General, our national security team 
will be stronger, and the Senate should confirm this good man as quickly 
as possible.
    Thank you for listening.

Note: The address was recorded at 7 a.m. on November 2 in the Cabinet 
Room at the White House for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on November 3. The 
transcript was made available by the Office of the Press Secretary on 
November 2, but was embargoed for release until the broadcast. The 
Office of the Press

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Secretary also released a Spanish language transcript of this address.