Madam President, today is the 50th anniversary of the introduction of the bipartisan Voting Rights Act of 1965, a day we are reminded of what is possible when we come together across party lines.
It was 50 years ago today that Republican minority leader Senator Everett Dirksen and Democratic majority leader Senator Mike Mansfield came together on this floor to introduce landmark legislation that sought to fulfill the promise of the 15th Amendment to the Constitution and ensure that no person would be denied the right to vote because of the color of his or her skin.
I was reminded of the power of their example just two weeks ago when I gathered with Republicans and Democrats from the House and Senate in Selma, AL, to honor the Americans who came from across our country 50 years ago to march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma and demand equal voting rights. Their example was one of unity, as was the example of Members from both sides of the aisle who came together to introduce and eventually pass the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
So I am concerned as I come to the floor this afternoon about our troubling inability to come together in this Chamber on issues where there clearly should be broad agreement as well.
I have with me a photographic reminder that the last time the Voting Rights Act was signed into law—was reauthorized—it was signed by Republican President George Bush, with the support of both Democrats and Republicans in the then Congress. Those of us who gathered 2 weeks ago at the bridge at Selma were treated both to a stirring speech by our current President, and the cheering presence of President Bush, when a challenge was issued to those Members of Congress present that we should come together, fix the Voting Rights Act, and reintroduce it in this Chamber.
When it comes to voting rights, it surely is true that today’s America is not the America of half a century ago, just as today’s hurdles to the ballot box are not the same as in the time of Jim Crow. Yet it is also true that in too many cities, towns, States, and counties across our country, new roadblocks are being built to make it more difficult for Americans to vote.
It is clear that, as President Obama said to us on the Edmund Pettus Bridge two weeks ago, ‘‘Our march is not yet finished.’’ In the coming weeks, as Senator Leahy, I, and others work to bring to the Senate a new voting rights act that reflects today’s challenges, it is my sincere hope and my prayer that Republican colleagues will partner with us to continue the work that remains undone.
Madam President, this was also to be the week that we would take up, consider, and vote on the nomination of Loretta Lynch to serve as Attorney General. I must say that the Senate’s proceedings this week do not portend well, because we find ourselves, yet again, stuck in regrettable partisan gridlock.
For the past 129 days, we have had before us an incredibly qualified and talented nominee for Attorney General. Loretta Lynch was first nominated by President Obama in November. She has now waited for a vote longer than any Attorney General nominee in 30 years.
As of today, her confirmation has waited longer on the floor than the last five Attorneys General combined. That is unacceptable, and I frankly haven’t heard a single good reason from my colleagues on the other side of the aisle for why Ms. Lynch’s nomination deserves such a delay.
Instead, her nomination is being used by many to continue their fight with the President over his immigration policy, and this is after nearly shutting down the Department of Homeland Security because of those same disagreements. While we do need to have a focused and functional debate in this Congress about immigration, it is simply irresponsible to hold up a highly qualified nominee for Attorney General because some don’t like that she agrees with the very President who nominated her.
I take very seriously the Senate’s role to advise and consent on Presidential nominations. So let’s just take a minute and look at Loretta Lynch’s experience, her background.
She is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School. She spent 8 years in private practice at a prestigious law firm, then known as Hogan & Hartson. She served on the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.
She has served the public and previously been unanimously confirmed by this body—twice, I should add—to be the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York. That is a job where she has prosecuted drug crimes, violent crimes, and where she has taken on corrupt politicians.
At her nomination hearing in the Judiciary Committee, on which I serve, our chairman called an outside witness panel of nine witnesses. When asked, not one of them said they opposed Ms. Lynch’s confirmation to be Attorney General on the basis of her skills or experience. The committee was, in fact, unable to produce one shred of testimony in opposition to her nomination. Yet we stand today in the middle of March and the first African-American woman ever to be nominated Attorney General of the United States, our Nation’s top law enforcement official, has foundered on this floor longer than the five prior nominees combined.
I think this is unacceptable and sets an unfortunate, even dangerous precedent.
We should not play political games with the Department of Justice, an executive branch agency with 125,000 employees and a $28 billion departmental budget that is charged with all sorts of different law enforcement functions, from running the Federal prisons to enforcing the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act, to making sure we fight human trafficking and money laundering.
Frustratingly, we find ourselves this week also considering a bill to combat human trafficking, which we don’t seem to be able to move forward. It is important legislation that includes broad bipartisan support, except for a simple, partisan, political provision that has now turned it into a divisive issue. The Republican leader this week has argued that once we finished work on this human trafficking bill, we could then move on to Loretta Lynch’s nomination vote.
But I am forced to wonder when the delay tactics here will end. Not only is it seemingly untrue that we can’t do human trafficking legislation and this nomination at the same time—because if my memory serves, we just confirmed two other executive branch nominees last night—but the Republican leader knows well that if he truly wanted to move this bill forward, Democrats would be ready to partner with him with just a minor revision to the bill.
There is, in fact, a bitter irony that, as was reported last night, Loretta Lynch’s confirmation is being held up over an issue—human trafficking— which she herself said she would prioritize if confirmed. I ask my Republican colleagues: Let’s find a way to move forward on all of these issues—on combatting human trafficking and confirming Loretta Lynch to serve as Attorney General and on reauthorizing the Voting Rights Act, which is such an important linchpin of civil rights in this country.
We agree that we need to combat human trafficking. So let’s work together on the broad areas where we are, in fact, united. Let’s confirm an Attorney General nominee who is qualified, smart, and will give the fight against human trafficking the dedication it deserves. Ms. Lynch would make a superb Attorney General.
As someone who has herself served in law enforcement and served in that role at the State level, I think the Presiding Officer appreciates the importance of having a confirmed Attorney General to lead our Federal Department of Justice.
Loretta Lynch has demonstrated— throughout her confirmation process and through her many years of service to her country—that she is well and amply prepared and qualified to take on this vital and important role.
I urge my colleagues to end the delays and give Loretta Lynch the vote our country deserves.