Senate Approves Brett Tolman as Utah's U. S. Attorney

SENATE APPROVES BRETT TOLMAN AS UTAH'S U.S. ATTORNEY

Utahn Is Former Hatch Staffer

Washington - The Senate by unanimous consent today approved Utahn Brett Tolman to be U.S. Attorney for the District of Utah. Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) recommended that President Bush nominate the Provo native, who has served as Hatch's counsel on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

"Brett Tolman is the right man for this important position," Hatch said. "Brett is an extremely bright and capable prosecutor with many years of experience in the U.S. Attorney's Office in Salt Lake City. He has the respect, admiration, and support of the whole community of players in Utah with whom the United States Attorney is regularly engaged. Brett shows leadership, excellent judgment, unusual talent, and competence."

In the Senate, Tolman worked to find an acceptable compromise on the PATRIOT Act reauthorization and a 2004 DNA bill that provides much-needed funding and assistance to help prosecutors realize the full potential of DNA technology to solve crimes and protect the innocent. He has also worked on bills to fight gang crime, protect children from pornography, and reauthorize programs at the Justice Department and Office of National Drug Control Policy. Following Tolman's success as counsel under Hatch's chairmanship, current Judiciary Committee chairman, Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Penn.), selected Tolman to continue leading the committee's crime and terrorism.

Tolman graduated from Brigham Young University's law school and joined the U.S. attorney's office in 2000, where he was honored by the Department of Justice for his leadership of Utah's Project Safe Neighborhoods program that helped take guns off Utah's streets.

http://hatch.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressReleases.Detail&PressRelease_id=1623&Month=7&Year=2006