The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“THE PRIVILEGE OF SERVING IN THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Justice was published in the House of Representatives section on pages H398 on Jan. 12, 2017.
The Department is one of the oldest in the US, focused primarily on law enforcement and the federal prison system. Downsizing the Federal Government, a project aimed at lowering taxes and boosting federal efficiency, detailed wasteful expenses such as $16 muffins at conferences and board meetings.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
THE PRIVILEGE OF SERVING IN THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Al Green) for 5 minutes.
Mr. AL GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, it is always an honor for me to stand here in the well of the House to know that I am one of less than 450 people in the world who have been accorded the preeminent privilege of standing in the well of the Congress of the United States of America.
{time} 1045
It is an honor to stand here at this podium with a rostrum behind me with the word ``Justice'' etched in it. Right behind me, ``Justice'' is etched into the rostrum. You can't see it at home because it is low, and it is beneath the view of the camera.
Today, I want to talk about justice, Mr. Speaker. I want to talk about justice and the Justice Department. I do this, Mr. Speaker, because we have a President-elect who has said he will be a law and order President. I want to make a distinction between law and order and justice, and I want to attribute this to the Justice Department versus a law and order department.
Mr. Speaker, you can have law and order in a dungeon, but you won't have justice. There is law and order in North Korea, but you don't have justice. Justice, Mr. Speaker, is what this Department is all about. It is not the law and order department. One of the best ways to explain it is to harken back to something that was called to our attention yesterday at the hearing for the nominee to become the head of the Justice Department.
When the Honorable John Lewis spoke, he went back to 1965, and the crossing of the Edmund Pettus Bridge. On that day, George Wallace--one of the great segregationists of his time and, perhaps, the greatest segregationist of his time--had made it perspicuously clear to his troops that, if you maintain order, there will be law to protect you. As a result, those troops beat the marches all the way back to the church where they started. They were peaceful protesters. The Honorable John Lewis said he thought he might die. That is what law and order meant to a good many people in the South.
Law and order without justice is what took place on that day; but thank God there was a judge, the Honorable Frank M. Johnson. The Honorable Frank M. Johnson issued the order to allow those marches to move from Selma to Montgomery, and he did it notwithstanding his classmate George Wallace having said that they were banned from doing it. This was justice, not law and order alone. This is our fear--that the Justice Department will go back to the hands of someone who may consider it a law and order department and a department in which there is a belief that you can do anything to maintain the order and that there will be law to support your actions and activities.
Mr. Speaker, we must protect the notion of justice for all people in this country. This is why I was there yesterday to lend my support to Senator Booker when he spoke about justice and when he indicated that he could not support the nominee. I was honored to be there, seated right near the Honorable John Lewis when he said he could not support the nominee. I was also honored to be there with the head of the Congressional Black Caucus, Cedric Richmond, when he indicated: If this nominee is a civil rights advocate, why is the civil rights community so opposed to him? I think those were some very sage comments.
I must tell you that we in this country have come too far to allow the Justice Department to become the law and order department.
____________________
