Press Releases
“Senator Sessions will bring more hands-on experience to the leadership of the Justice Department than any of the 83 men and women who have occupied the post of Attorney General.”
WASHINGTON – Senator Orrin G. Hatch, R-Utah, urged Senate colleagues to join him in supporting the nomination of Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama to serve the next Attorney General of the United States during a speech on the Senate Floor on Thursday. Senator Hatch, a former chairman and current member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, met with Senator Sessions early in the week to discuss the nomination.
The speech focused on Senator Sessions’s long record of serious policymaking, strengthening law enforcement, and keeping American communities safe.
On the need to reform the Department of Justice:
…The Justice Department has lost its way. It has gone off course. The Justice Department has become partial rather than impartial, unfair rather than fair. It has become political rather than independent, partisan rather than objective. The Justice Department has enabled the executive branch’s campaign to exceed its constitutional powers, while ignoring Congress’ proper and legitimate role of oversight.
On Senator Sessions’s strong qualifications for the role of Attorney General:
Senator Sessions will bring more hands-on experience to the leadership of the Justice Department than any of the 83 men and women who have occupied the post of Attorney General. He was a federal prosecutor for 18 years, 12 of them as United States Attorney. He has also served on the Judiciary Committee since he was first elected two decades ago. In other words, he has been directly involved in both the development and implementation of criminal justice policy – a combination unmatched by any Attorney General since the office was created in 1789. His service in this body, and on the committee of jurisdiction over the Department, is especially important because a respectful and productive working relationship with Congress has never been more important.
On Democrats’ campaign to attack Senator Sessions:
The critics do not challenge Senator Sessions’s qualifications. They do not question the conclusions, like I have mentioned here today, of those who know more about Senator Sessions’s fitness to be Attorney General than anyone in this chamber. Instead, they traffic in rumor, innuendo, and smear. They take a comment here, a decision there, from years or even decades in the past, and use their media allies to transform these bits and pieces into what appear to be full-fledged stories.
The text of the speech is below.
Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, before the 114th Congress adjourns, I want to take a minute to put on the record my strong support for the nomination of our distinguished colleague, Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama, to be the next Attorney General of the United States.
Thomas Jefferson once wrote that government's most sacred duty is "to do equal and impartial justice to all its citizens." This ideal is also reflected in the Justice Department’s own mission statement, which I have here:
To enforce the law and defend the interests of the United States according to the law; to ensure public safety against threats foreign and domestic; to provide federal leadership in preventing and controlling crime; to seek just punishment for those guilty of unlawful behavior; and to ensure fair and impartial administration of justice for all Americans."
No one believes in this mission more, no one understands better what this mission requires, than Jeff Sessions.
Unfortunately, Mr. President, the Justice Department has lost its way. It has gone off course. The Justice Department has become partial rather than impartial, unfair rather than fair. It has become political rather than independent, partisan rather than objective. The Justice Department has enabled the executive branch’s campaign to exceed its constitutional powers, while ignoring Congress’ proper and legitimate role of oversight.
This decline, this corrosion, contributes to a steady loss of trust in government generally, and in the justice system specifically. According to the Pew Research Center, public trust in government is at a record low. Polls like this are not asking whether government is doing a good job, but whether our fellow citizens actually trust government. Fewer than one in five say that they trust government most of the time. The Gallup organization asked Americans how much of the time they can trust government here in Washington to do what is right. They, too, found that a record low percentage have that trust most of the time.
Reversing this decline, and trying to rebuild this trust, requires getting back to the essential ingredients in the Justice Department’s mission statement. The fair and impartial administration of justice, being guided by the law rather than politics, these are basic, fundamental principles that it appears are easier said than done.
Senator Sessions will bring more hands-on experience to the leadership of the Justice Department than any of the 83 men and women who have occupied the post of Attorney General. He was a federal prosecutor for 18 years, 12 of them as United States Attorney. He has also served on the Judiciary Committee since he was first elected two decades ago. In other words, he has been directly involved in both the development and implementation of criminal justice policy – a combination unmatched by any Attorney General since the office was created in 1789.
His service in this body, and on the committee of jurisdiction over the Department, is especially important because a respectful and productive working relationship with Congress has never been more important.
Mr. President, no one knows more what the office of Attorney General requires than those who have actually served in that office. I have a letter signed by 10 former Attorneys General and Deputy Attorneys General, who served over the past three decades, and ask consent that it appear in the record following my remarks.
Some of these officials knew and worked with Senator Sessions when he was U.S. Attorney, others since he joined us here in the Senate. They all share the same conclusion:
“All of us know him as a person of honesty and integrity, who has held himself to the highest ethical standards throughout his career, and is guided always by a deep and abiding sense of duty to this nation and its founding charter.”
I ask my colleagues, on both sides of the aisle, whether there is a better description of the kind of person we want in public office generally but leading the Justice Department in particular.
Let me say a word about Senator Sessions’s work on the Judiciary Committee. I have worked with him in that capacity for 20 years, including when he served as Ranking Member. We have worked together on dozens of bills to improve forensic science services for law enforcement, promote community policing, help child abuse victims, and prevent gun crimes. He is a serious legislator who knows that prosecutors and law enforcement need common sense, workable policies from lawmakers to help keep communities safe and protect the rights of all Americans.
I also received a letter from a bipartisan group of eight men and women who have served as Director of National Drug Control Policy or as Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration. I ask consent that this letter appear in the record following my remarks. Here is what they say:
“His distinguished career as a prosecutor…earned him a reputation as a tough, determined professional who has been dedicated to the appropriate enforcement of the rule of law. His exemplary record of service in law enforcement demonstrates that he is a protector of civil rights and defender of crime victims.”
Again, I ask my colleagues whether there is a better description of the kind of leader America needs at the Justice Department. I ask my colleagues, on both sides of the aisle, who would have a better informed, more comprehensive knowledge of Senator Sessions’s fitness to be Attorney General?
Before I conclude, I want to address what is already shaping up to be an ugly propaganda offensive against this fine nominee. I have served in this body under both Republican and Democratic Presidents, under both Republican and Democratic Senate leadership. I have actively participated in the confirmation process since I first came here, including for the appointment of 12 attorneys General of both parties. In that time, I have seen the steady degradation of the confirmation process. And I have seen before the tactics that are already being used in a vain attempt to undermine this nomination.
The critics do not challenge Senator Sessions’s qualifications. They do not question the conclusions, like I have mentioned here today, of those who know more about Senator Sessions’s fitness to be Attorney General than anyone in this chamber. Instead, they traffic in rumor, innuendo, and smear. They take a comment here, a decision there, from years or even decades in the past, and use their media allies to transform these bits and pieces into what appear to be full-fledged stories.
The critics know that people who might read these so-called news stories will not know the rest of the story, the context for a statement, or facts that the media choose to ignore. In fact, these critics are actually counting on people not knowing the whole story. Such a cynical, dishonest campaign is not about the truth, it is not about a fair evaluation of the President-elect’s nominee to be Attorney General. To be honest, these tactics are really not about Senator Sessions at all, but about the power of those who are using these tactics. They have to mark their territory, flex their muscle, and show that they are still a force to be reckoned with. If such things as fairness, integrity, truth, or decency have to be sacrificed in that power struggle, so be it.
The media have a lot at stake if they choose to cooperate with this smear campaign. The liberal propaganda machine is already churning and the tactics are sadly familiar. The Gallup organization recently found that only 32 percent of Americans – a new low – have even a fair amount of trust that the media will report news fully, accurately and fairly. Americans should be highly skeptical of those who traffic in rumor, innuendo, and gossip but ignore Senator Sessions’s 40 years of public service, his long record of achievement, and his actual views.
I hope my colleagues not only will resist these tactics, but that they will join me in exposing and rejecting them. They degrade the Senate, they mislead our fellow citizens, and they corrode our democracy. Let us stay focused on our role here, which is to evaluate whether the President-elect’s nominee is qualified. We know that he is superbly qualified, and that he will be a strong and principled leader for the Justice Department.
In closing, I want to quote from that letter by bipartisan drug policy officials. They say this about Senator Sessions: “His prudent and responsible approach is exactly what the Department of Justice needs to enforce the law, restore confidence in the United States’ justice system, and keep the American people safe. We support the nomination of Senator Sessions to be Attorney General of the United States, and we ask you to do the same.” I could not have said it better.
