Holder Nomination Has Bipartisan Support
WASHINGTON (Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2009) – Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) was joined by former Senator Republican Senator John Danforth and Former Republican Congressman Asa Hutchinson in a conference call with reporters Tuesday morning to discuss the broad, bipartisan support for Eric H. Holder, Jr.’s nomination to be Attorney General of the United States. Danforth and Hutchinson have both endorsed Holder’s nomination, and have joined a growing list of former Republican officials that support Holder’s nomination. A confirmation hearing to consider Holder’s designation is scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 15.
On Tuesday, Leahy also released letters of support from Charles G. La Bella, a former United States Attorney, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, the Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the Center for Neighborhood Enterprise, and the Hispanic National Bar Association. Civil rights leaders, national law enforcement organizations, and victims’ rights advocates have endorsed Holder’s nomination.
Leahy’s comments, as prepared, from Tuesday’s conference call follow. Watch the confirmation proceedings on the designation of Eric Holder to be the next Attorney General, and read further letters of support and documents related to the designation online.
Comments Of Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.),
Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee,
On The Designation Of Eric H. Holder, Jr.,
To Be Attorney General Of The United States
January 13, 2009
As Prepared
Last week, civil rights advocates and law enforcement leaders came to Capitol Hill to voice their support for Eric Holder. Today, I’m happy to join with John Danforth, a former Republican Senator from Missouri, and Asa Hutchinson, a former U.S. Attorney, a former Republican Congressman from Arkansas, and former undersecretary for the Department of Homeland Security, to talk about this remarkable nominee.
In his more than 20 years of public service, Eric Holder has the experience and leadership qualities needed to steer the ship at the Department of Justice. More than 80 individuals and organizations from law enforcement, the civil rights community, and crime victims’ advocacy have written to me, Senator Specter and other members of the Judiciary Committee in support of Mr. Holder’s nomination. Former Republican officials, including Mr. Hutchinson and Mr. Danforth, as well as former FBI Director Louis Freeh and, former Attorney General Bill Barr and former Deputy Attorneys General James Comey and Larry Thompson, have voiced their support for this nomination.
Surely this broad, bipartisan support is indicative of strong confidence in Mr. Holder’s ability to lead the nation’s top law enforcement agency. To those who seek to question his character I would point out that it was Mr. Holder who urged the expansion of the Ken Starr investigation. It was Mr. Holder who prosecuted Democratic Congressman Dan Rostenkowski. It was Mr. Holder who recommended that a special prosecutor investigate President Clinton’s Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt. After years of political interference in the Justice Department by the White House, Mr. Holder’s record of independence – and clear understanding and respect for the law – will be a breath of fresh air.
Of course, Mr. Holder was also tapped by President Ronald Reagan to serve on the bench for the Superior Court of Washington, D.C. He was then nominated and confirmed to be the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia. Having done an outstanding job, in 1997, he was unanimously confirmed to be the Deputy Attorney General of the Justice Department.
When Mr. Holder is confirmed to be the next Attorney General, he will bring with him a respect for the integrity of the Justice Department – the integrity it has been so sorely lacking during this administration. Republicans and Democrats alike have lauded this nomination. Republican Members should apply the same standards to Mr. Holder’s nomination as they did when they all voted to confirm President Bush’s nominees to head the Justice Department. If they do so, he will win confirmation by the United States Senate overwhelmingly.
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*NOTE: Documents received from the Department of Justice in connection with the Holder nomination are available online.
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Letters of Support
Law Enforcement
- Bob Barr, former Congressman, former U.S. Attorney
- James B. Comey, former Deputy Attorney General, Dec. 2003-Aug. 2005
- Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association
- Fraternal Order of Police
- Judge Louis Freeh, former Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation
- Carla Hills, former Assistant Attorney General, Civil Rights Division; former U.S Trade Representative
- Hispanic National Bar Association
- Asa Hutchinson, former Congressman
- International Association of Chiefs of Police
- International Union of Police Associations
- Charles G. La Bella, former U.S. Attorney
- Carol Lamm, White & Case, LLP, former President, District of Columbia Bar
- Major Cities Chiefs Association
- Paul McNulty, former Deputy Attorney General, former U.S. Attorney
- National Association of Assistant United States Attorneys
- National Association of Police Organizations (NAPO)
- National Bar Association
- National Black Prosecutors Association
- National Criminal Justice Association
- National District Attorney’s Association
- National Narcotics Officers’ Associations’ Coalition
- National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives
- National Sheriffs’ Association
- National Troopers Coalition
- Police Executive Research Forum (PERF)
- John P. Sarcone, Polk County Attorney, Iowa
- Robert Silva, Mayor, City of Mendota, California
- State Attorneys General
- Karen Tandy, former Administrator, Drug Enforcement Agency
- Larry Thompson, former Deputy Attorney General
- The United States Conference of Mayors
- The Young Lawyers Section of the Bar Association of the District of Columbia
- Joint letter (William P. Barr, Former Attorney General; Joseph E. diGenova, former United States Attorney for the District of Columbia; Manus M. Cooney, former Chief Counsel, Senate Judiciary Committee; Stuart M. Gerson, former Acting Attorney General and Assistant Attorney General of the United States; Makan Delrahim, former Staff Director, Senate Judiciary Committee, former Deputy Assistant Attorney General; Michael J. Madigan, former Federal Prosecutor and Chief Counsel, Senate Special Investigation, Committee on Governmental Affairs; Michael O’Neill, former Chief Counsel, Senate Judiciary Committee, former Commissioner, United States Sentencing Commission; Victoria Toensing, former Deputy Assistant Attorney General, former Chief Counsel, Senate Intelligence Committee; George J. Terwilliger III, former United States Attorney for the District of Vermont, former Deputy Attorney General; Charles R. Work, former Federal Prosecutor, former President, District of Columbia Bar)
Crime Victims
- Coalition letter from Break the Cycle, Family Violence Prevention Fund, National Alliance to End Sexual Violence, National Center for Victims of Crime, National Congress of American Indians Task Force on Violence Against Native Women, National Latino Alliance for the Elimination of Domestic Violence, National Network to End Domestic Violence, National Organization of Sisters of Color Ending Sexual Assault, Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape, Sacred Circle
- American Probation and Parole Association
- Appriss
- Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence
- Center for Missing and Exploited Children
- Sharon J. English, Homicide Victim Survivor, Crime Victim Services Advocate
- Mario Thomas Gaboury, J.D., Ph.D., Professor and Chair of Criminal Justice, University of New Haven, Ct.
- Illinois Victims
- International Organization for Victim Assistance
- Justice Solutions
- Dan Levey, National President of Parents of Murdered Children (POMC), advisor for Victims to Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano
- Maryland Crime Victims’ Resource Center
- Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD)
- National Center for Victims of Crime
- National Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center
- National Leadership Council for Crime Victim Justice
- National Organization for Victim Assistance
- The National Organization of Victims of “Juvenile Lifers”
- Partnership for Safety and Justice
- Security on Campus
- Anne K. Seymore, National Crime Victim Advocate
Civil Rights
- Leadership Conference on Civil Rights
- Alliance for Justice
- American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee
- American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations
- Americans for Democratic Action, Inc.
- Anti-Defamation League
- Asian American Justice Center
- Center for Inquiry
- Feminist Majority
- Human Rights Campaign
- The Judge David L. Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law
- Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
- Mexican American Leal Defense and Educational Fund
- National Abortion Federation
- National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
- National Association of Blacks in Criminal Justice
- NAACP Legal Defense & Education Fund
- National Council of Jewish Women
- National Council of La Raza
- National Fair Housing Alliance
- National Health Law Program
- National Organization for Women
- National Partnership for Women & Families
- National Urban League
- People for the American Way
- Planned Parenthood Federation of America
- Southern Poverty Law Center
Other
Press Contact
David Carle: 202-224-3693Next Article Previous Article