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“NOMINATION OF ERIC H. HOLDER, JR., TO BE DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Justice was published in the Senate section on pages S7688-S7689 on July 17, 1997.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
NOMINATION OF ERIC H. HOLDER, JR., TO BE DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL
Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I am pleased today that we are finally voting on the nomination of Mr. Eric Holder, nominated to serve as Deputy Attorney General. Mr. Holder was reported out of the Judiciary Committee unanimously on June 24. I support Mr. Holder for this position, and I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of his confirmation.
This is a position which is vitally important to the efficient and effective management of the Justice Department, as well as to this committee and its many dealings with the Department. The Deputy Attorney General plays a critical role in the day-to-day oversight, management, and administration of the Justice Department, typically handling the Department's most important and sensitive matters. The deputy has ultimate responsibility for the office of the Solicitor General, who represents the United States before the Supreme Court, as well as all of the Department's civil and criminal divisions, including, for example, the civil rights, tax and antitrust divisions, the criminal division, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and all U.S. attorneys. In short, a broad array of policy and law-enforcement decisions that are critical not just to our legal system but to the Nation as a whole, ultimately pass through the Deputy Attorney General.
Mr. Holder comes to us with a distinguished record in the law and in the administration of justice. After graduating from Columbia Law School in 1976, he served for 12 years as a prosecutor in the public integrity section of Justice Department's Criminal Division, after which he served for 5 years as a associate judge for the District of Columbia Superior Court. Since 1993, Mr. Holder has served as U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, our Nation's largest U.S. Attorney's Office, which employs over 300 attorneys and prosecutes over 10,000 cases each year. I believe these positions provide especially useful experience for a person who would serve as Deputy Attorney General.
I would like to emphasize how important it is to the Senate and the Judiciary Committee in particular, on both sides of the aisle, to have a close and cooperative working relationship with the Deputy Attorney General. I believe that one of the Department's greatest assets over the past several years has been its former deputy, Jamie Gorelick, who successfully fostered and maintained a cooperative, honest, and responsive relationship with this committee. I cannot overestimate how valuable this relationship has been in the virtually daily interactions between the committee and the Department, and I am hopeful, and confident, that Eric Holder will, like his predecessor, work closely with the committee to ensure that the Department maintains the highest level of professionalism and independence in its commitment to enforcing our Nation's laws. I have spoken with Mr. Holder on numerous occasions since his nomination, and am struck that, in addition to being eminently qualified for this position, he is a candid, forthright individual of character and integrity who will be a positive force in steering the Justice Department and in seeing to it that our laws our faithfully and impartially enforced. The Nation expects and deserves nothing less, and I believe they will get as much from Mr. Holder.
While I have often given Attorney General Reno due credit for the fine work and accomplishments of the Justice Department, not the least of which is the recent trial and conviction of Timothy McVeigh, the Department, like any large agency, also has its share of problems, many of which fall on the Deputy Attorney General's desk.
Moreover, the Department has been, and inevitably will be, the subject of some rather intense political pressure, and, quite frankly, I am somewhat disturbed by a growing sense that, in a number of instances, there is at least the appearance that political pressures may have won out over the fair and impartial enforcement of the law. After a rather public display by the White House of its displeasure that the Attorney General had previously sought the appointment of four independent counsels, we now see the Attorney General steadfastly refusing to appoint an independent counsel to conduct the campaign finance investigation--the one case where an independent counsel is most called for to ensure public confidence in the investigation and the Department itself. And, after the Attorney General expressly adopted one interpretation of the independent counsel statute, and I challenged that interpretation, we now receive a letter explaining that she has, notwithstanding statements to the contrary, been applying the same standard I articulated. The Justice Department issues bizarre statements seeking to put particular spins on information disclosed by Chairman Thompson in connection with the campaign fundraising hearings. The Justice Department has filed briefs taking rather dubious positions in politically sensitive cases, including its appeal brief in the litigation over California's proposition 209, and its very recent brief defending Mrs. Clinton's invocation of a governmental attorney client privilege in response to independent counsel Starr's request for certain documents. And the FBI Director is in the position of refusing to brief the White House on national security matters because of its pending investigation. While each of these instances, standing alone, might have a legitimate explanation, taken together they create an appearance that politics is influencing what should be a neutral, independent enforcement of our Nation's laws.
Public confidence in our legal system, and in our Government itself, demands nothing short of this.
Mr. Holder has given me his commitment to maintaining his own independent judgment, and to seeing to it that the law is fairly and impartially interpreted and enforced as it should be, even when doing so may lead to results that are not politically expedient. That commitment will be as important as ever for the Department as it faces numerous challenges in the coming years. I believe Mr. Holder will remain true to his word, and urge my colleagues to support him.
Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I commend the President on his nomination of Eric H. Holder, Jr., and am delighted that the Senate is acting to confirm this nominee to be Deputy Attorney General of the United States.
It was with concerted effort that Senator Hatch and I worked to ensure that Eric Holder was reported by the Judiciary Committee and ready for Senate confirmation to the important position of Deputy Attorney General of the United States before the Senate adjourned 3 weeks ago.
The President's nomination of Mr. Holder to the second highest position at the Department of Justice was reported to the Senate without a single dissent on June 24. This nomination could and should have been approved by the Senate before it adjourned for the last extended recess for the Fourth of July. This nomination is strongly supported by Senator Hatch, chairman of the Judiciary Committee.
There was and is no Democratic hold on this nomination. The delay on the Republican side in considering this nomination remains unexplained. I urged on July 10 and July 11 that he not be held hostage to other nominations. I am glad we have finally--finally after 3 weeks--freed this nomination.
Eric Holder has proven his dedication to effective law enforcement. As a former prosecutor myself, I appreciate Mr. Holder's distinguished career in law enforcement.
Shortly after his graduation from Columbia Law School, Mr. Holder joined the Department of Justice as part of the Attorney General's Honors Program. He was assigned to the newly formed public integrity section in 1976, where he worked for 12 years investigating and prosecuting corruption. While at the public integrity section, Mr. Holder participated in a number of prosecutions and appeals involving such defendants as the State Treasurer of Florida, a former Ambassador to the Dominican Republic, a local judge in Philadelphia, an assistant U.S. attorney in New York City, an FBI agent, and a ``capo'' in an organized crime family. He received a number of awards for outstanding performance and special achievement from the Department of Justice.
In 1988, President Reagan nominated and the Senate confirmed Mr. Holder to be an associate judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, where he served for the next 5 years. In his 5 years on the bench, Judge Holder presided over hundreds of criminal trials. In 1993, President Clinton nominated and the Senate confirmed Eric Holder to the important post of U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia. As United States Attorney for one of the largest U.S. Attorney's offices in the Nation, Mr. Holder has supervised 300 lawyers involved in criminal, civil, and appellate cases. He has functioned as both the local district attorney and the Federal prosecutor. He has been active in community affairs. For more than a decade, he has been a member of Concerned Black Men, an organization seeking to help young people in the District of Columbia. He is involved in a number of the group's activities, including the efficacy program and the pregnancy prevention effort. He has participated in the D.C. Street Law program and is active in the See Forever Foundation and the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship. He is cochair of Project PACT to reduce youth violence and has been instrumental in the U.S. Attorney's Office's outreach efforts to the D.C. community.
In 1994 he received the Pioneer Award from the National Black Prosecutors Association. In 1995 his contributions were recognized when he received awards from the District of Columbia Bar Association, the Greater Washington Urban League, the American Jewish Congress, and Phi Beta Sigma fraternity. Last year he received awards from the D.C. Chapter of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, George Washington University, Columbia College, the Federation of Citizens Associations of D.C., Omega Psi Phi fraternity, the Brotherhood of Shiloh Men, McDonalds and the Asian Pacific Bar Association.
I look forward to working with him in his new position as Deputy Attorney General. I regret the unnecessary delays that have stalled this important nomination for the last 3 weeks on the Senate Executive Calendar.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is, Will the Senate advise and consent to the nomination of Eric H. Holder, Jr., of the District of Columbia, to be Deputy Attorney General? On this question, the yeas and nays have been ordered, and the clerk will call the roll.
The bill clerk called the roll.
The result was announced-- yeas 100, nays 0, as follows:
YEAS--100
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The nomination was confirmed.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The motion to reconsider the nomination is laid on the table. The President will be immediately notified of the Senate's confirmation.
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