Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015

Floor Speech

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Mr. BENNET. Mr. President, through the Chair, I would like to thank
the senior Senator from Texas for his courtesy in allowing me to speak
this afternoon.

Mr. President, I rise today to discuss the nomination of Loretta
Lynch to be our next Attorney General. It has been 131 days since
President Obama nominated her for this position. By Monday, she will
have waited longer on the Senate floor than the last seven Attorney
General nominees combined.

When it comes to Ms. Lynch's nomination, it seems as if we are
setting records--but for all of the wrong reasons. The irony of that is
that she is probably one of the most qualified and least political
Attorney General nominees that this Chamber has seen in decades.

She has spent a significant portion of her career as a Federal
prosecutor in the Eastern District of New York, having twice served as
the U.S. attorney. There she took on corrupt public officials and
expanded the office's national security practice. She has also worked
in private practice at one of the country's top law firms, where she
specialized in commercial litigation, white-collar criminal defense,
and corporate compliance.

In 2011, she was recognized as the Federal Law Enforcement Officers
Association Foundation honoree of the year. In 2014, she was honored as
the recipient of the Women in Federal Law Enforcement Foundation
President's Award. She has received support--no surprise--from all
across the political spectrum.

Just this week, even former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani--hardly a
great friend of the President--wrote that she was ``balanced,
professional and a dedicated public servant.'' He went on to write that
he can ``further attest that her skill set seems very appropriate to
the tough tasks she would face as attorney general.''

The Major Cities Chiefs Association, which represents the 67 largest
law enforcement agencies in the country, wrote this to the Senate:
``Ms. Lynch has overseen many important criminal prosecutions for
terrorism, organized crime, corruption, drug and gang related cases. It
is clear that her familiarity with the Department, managing a fast-
paced and high profile office as well as her integrity and private
sector legal experiences make her a qualified candidate.''

What are we waiting for?

Some 25 former U.S. attorneys who worked in both Democratic and
Republican administrations wrote to this body saying: ``Ms. Lynch has
the experience, temperament, independence, integrity, and judgment to
immediately assume this critically important position.'' They should
know. They should know. These are the folks with whom she has worked
closely, and will continue to work as Attorney General. Both as a
Federal prosecutor and in private practice, they have seen firsthand
her character, intellect, and her integrity.

I myself once worked for the Deputy Attorney General of the United
States at the Department of Justice. I know how close the collaboration
is when things are working well between the Attorney General and the
U.S. attorneys all throughout the United States of America, and it is
something to see.

I know it has become fashionable around this place to continually
criticize our Federal employees, but I recommend that our new
colleagues, if they ever have the chance, go see the investiture of a
new judge in their State, as I have had a chance to do in my State.
When you see how the U.S. attorney's office, the Federal public
defender's office, the Drug Enforcement Agency, the FBI, and the U.S.
Marshals Service are all represented, you will say to yourself: Thank
God I live in a country that is committed to the rule of law. Thank God
I live in this country instead of most of the countries around the
world where they don't even know what the rule of law is.

That is what we have in the United States, and the chief law
enforcement officer of this country is our Attorney General.

Everybody who has looked at this nomination from the outside has said
she would be an excellent Attorney General. So given all of that, it is
awfully difficult to understand why she has had to wait so long just to
receive a simple up-or-down vote. Has anyone challenged her
qualifications? Come to the floor today and do it. Has anyone
questioned her character or integrity? Of course not. Has she failed to
provide necessary information to the Senate? It is my understanding
that she testified for almost 8 hours and responded to about 900
questions for the record. Is her nomination delayed just to make
political points on completely unrelated issues?

I have gotten to the point now that when people come to my office
after they have been nominated to be a judge or have been nominated to
do something in the Federal Government, the first words out of my mouth
are not ``Congratulations'' anymore; the first words to come out of my
mouth are ``Don't take it personally. Don't take this process
personally.''

We are losing talented people who want to serve the United States of
America in these important and in many cases nonpolitical jobs because
the Senate cannot confirm them. It is because we tell somebody like
Loretta Lynch: Sorry, it is going to be zillions of days before you
have a chance to even serve this country.

It is not right. I am amazed at the capacity of people in this place
to waste their own time, but we should not waste other people's time.

Unfortunately, the delay in confirming Ms. Lynch is having real-world
consequences. Earlier this week, the former Deputy Attorney General
expressed his concern that the protracted nomination process is adding
unnecessary uncertainty to the Department of Justice. He highlighted
the importance of having continuity in undertaking long-term
investigations or in developing national security policy and how it is
harder to facilitate continuity the longer Ms. Lynch's nomination is
delayed.

As I said, this has become in many ways the new norm in our politics
where these fights in Congress are having real-world consequences on
the people we represent. It is incredibly counterproductive to the
people we represent, whether it is shutting down the Department of
Homeland Security or running the government on continuing resolutions
or passing 2-week tax extender bills, for goodness' sake. There is not
a mayor or county commissioner in the entire State of Colorado who could get away with governing like this, and neither should we. It is obvious to everybody watching the Senate that we have not been productive. We have not really been
productive for a long time but certainly not for the last 90 days. We
barely managed to keep the Department of Homeland Security open for
another 6 months. We passed a resolution of disapproval that the
President will veto.

At the very least, we should be able to find the time to confirm
Loretta Lynch as the Nation's next Attorney General. Her experience,
temperament, and independence make her abundantly qualified for one of
the most important positions our country has, and she has waited too
long to receive an up-or-down vote.

I am not worried about her; she will be fine no matter what she does.
I am worried about the Department. I am worried about our homeland
security. I am worried about the willingness of other Americans to put
their hand up and say ``Let me serve'' for fear that they will get
caught in the crazy politics of the Senate.

I look forward to supporting Ms. Lynch's nomination. I hope we will
have the opportunity to consider that nomination in the coming days.

With that, I yield the floor.

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