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.
“NOMINATION OF KRISTEN M. CLARKE” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Justice was published in the Senate section on pages S2500 on May 13.
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:
NOMINATION OF KRISTEN M. CLARKE
Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, on another issue in the Judiciary Committee, this morning the Judiciary Committee will also vote on a very important nominee to the Department of Justice, Kristen Clarke, to serve as the Assistant AG for Civil Rights.
The daughter of Jamaican immigrants, Ms. Clarke is an extremely well qualified and capable civil rights attorney who will be the first Black woman to ever fill her position at the Justice Department.
But her obvious quality did not stop a few of our Republican colleagues from trying to smear her record. The political right seems to relish in trying to score political points by connecting every Justice Department nominee, many of whom happen to be women of color, to hot-button partisan issues, whether or not they have any relevance.
In Ms. Clarke's hearing, it reached the point of absurdity when she was grilled on an obviously satirical piece she published for her college newspaper. Just like Ms. Vanita Gupta, who I am proud to say is now the Associate Attorney General, Ms. Clarke was treated by the minority on the Judiciary Committee like some hair-raising radical, despite her record, her qualifications, and her support from all sides. And just like Ms. Gupta, Ms. Clarke has been endorsed by the Nation's most powerful law enforcement organizations, including the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the Major Cities Chiefs Association.
Ms. Clarke is an outstanding, an outstanding nominee, and I urge all of my colleagues on the Senate Judiciary to advance her nomination today.
With that, I yield the floor.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so ordered.
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