Senate Proceeding on Oct 6th, 2009 :: 1:52:15 to 2:06:50
Total video length: 2 hours 39 minutes Stream Tools: Stream Overview | Edit Time

Note: MetaVid video transcripts may contain inaccuracies, help us build a more perfect archive

Views:20 Duration: 0:14:35 Discussion

Previous speech:

Next speech:

1:52:13 to 1:52:33( Edit History Discussion )

Patrick Leahy: police, tom marringer, raymond knight, and state law enforcement officers lab alliance of maryland. i would ask unanimous consent that those letters be included in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cardin: madam president, we have a quality person who will return the department of justice to its civil rights -- civil

1:52:15 to 2:06:50( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Patrick Leahy

1:52:34 to 1:52:55( Edit History Discussion )

Patrick Leahy: rights division to its historic role, increasing the moral and professionalism in that department. i'm to prt him and support him colleagues to do the thank the chairman of the committee for yielding me this time. mr. leahy: madam preside? the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. leahy: madam president, i applaud the distinguished senator from maryland.

1:52:56 to 1:53:17( Edit History Discussion )

Patrick Leahy: he's been a star in the senate judiciary committee and his support of tom perez is one of the reasons why mr. prers went thro mr. perez we through our committee with an overwhelming vote. madam president, we do have letters of one that i have wch is very meaningful, and i think the senator from maryland would

1:53:18 to 1:53:38( Edit History Discussion )

Patrick Leahy: agree, it's a letter that we received from sena the late senator kennedy. i ask unanimous consent that the late senator kennedy's letter be included in the record as if read. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. leahy: letters of support from numerous attorneys, including the attorney general of

1:53:39 to 1:54:01( Edit History Discussion )

Patrick Leahy: and i ask those be made a part of the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. leahy: it's interesting, madam president, we're finally getting to ts nomination. what is troubling somebody who has been here for 35 years to see this -- what's happening this year that's really unprecedented.

1:54:02 to 1:54:24( Edit History Discussion )

Patrick Leahy: having to overcome a r was voted out of committee 17-2. all but two for it. that was four months ago. there's no questions about the qualification of tom perez. he's a former special counsel to senator kennedy. he's been nominated to return to the division where he previously

1:54:25 to 1:54:45( Edit History Discussion )

Patrick Leahy: served with distinction spending 10 years as a trial attorney in the criminal section of the civil rights division. rising to deputy chief of the section. critical need for leadership of the civil rights division. our delays concerning this nomination have hindered the

1:54:46 to 1:55:06( Edit History Discussion )

Patrick Leahy: work of restoring the division's independence and tradition of vigorous civil rights enforcement. especially following one worst civ rights records in modern american history and the partisan politics that we saw in the division's hiring and enforcement decisions. we need real leadership.

1:55:07 to 1:55:27( Edit History Discussion )

Patrick Leahy: we restore the traditional sse of purposes guided the civil rights division. a division that has acted -- been a but to uphold the civil rights of all americans, no matter what their political background. it's a priority of attorney

1:55:28 to 1:55:48( Edit History Discussion )

Patrick Leahy: general holder, and is a shame that this filibuster has held up mr. perez for four months. the president designated mr. perez on march 13. formerly nominated him two later. we held his confirmation april 29, over five months ago.

1:55:49 to 1:56:10( Edit History Discussion )

Patrick Leahy: i thank senatorardin wh chaired that hearingnd did a very able job of it. and then after we accomodated the request of the senior republican and other republicans of the judiciary committee, we didn't move immediately to it. we held it over memorial day recess so they could have ask other

1:56:11 to 1:56:32( Edit History Discussion )

Patrick Leahy: i did that as an accommodation even though nobody asked for a similar holdovers by any of president bush's nominees in there. but then it was reported out of the committee. senator hatch voted for him. senator grassley voted for him. senator kyl, deputy republican

1:56:33 to 1:56:54( Edit History Discussion )

Patrick Leahy: ader voted for him. senator graham, senator cornyn voted for him. and the ranking members, senator sessions a senator coburn asked to meet the nominee, and that was done immediately. unfortunately despite these efforts, it's taken four months to get to him.

1:56:55 to 1:57:15( Edit History Discussion )

Patrick Leahy: now, that makes a mockerymadam president, of the kind of way we should treat the department of justice, which is the department of justice of america for all americans. it's not a partisan place. it's there for all of us. the fact that the senators -- the republican minority applied the same standard to

1:57:16 to 1:57:37( Edit History Discussion )

Patrick Leahy: consideration of president obama's nomination of tom perez as democrats in considering president bush's first nomination to serve as the head of the civil rights division, ralph boyd, he would have been confirmed many months ago. i rember the boyd nomination well.

1:57:38 to 1:57:58( Edit History Discussion )

Patrick Leahy: the first nominee to head this division, that president bush setup, i chaired that we held mr. boyd's hearing just a his nominatio comparing that to the delays here. he was reported by the judiciary committee with every single democrat vot and then you have to wait four

1:57:59 to 1:58:19( Edit History Discussion )

Patrick Leahy: months after that? no. he was confirmed a day later by a voice vote in the senate. no shenanigans, no partisanship, no posturing for narrow, special interests. i'm sure that was heard.

1:58:20 to 1:58:41( Edit History Discussion )

Patrick Leahy: no interests. by comparison, it has now 18 days -- 188 mr. perez was nominated to the same post. even longer since he was designated. imagine this, president nominated one day and confirmed

1:58:42 to 1:59:02( Edit History Discussion )

Patrick Leahy: a day later. no partisanship, no shenanigans, no interests. and then president bush had a send nomination to head the civil rights division, alex shkosta. we move more quickly. at that point the democrats were in the minority.

1:59:03 to 1:59:24( Edit History Discussion )

Patrick Leahy: we didn't filibuster. we didn't obstruct. we didn't delay. we knew how important it was. we cooperated. we four weeks after he was mom made he was reported to the judiciary vote and confirmed by the senate voice vote.

1:59:25 to 1:59:45( Edit History Discussion )

Patrick Leahy: it took just 36 days. republicans have dragged t process out in nomination to extend more than five times that long. democrats didn't do that to president bush. no shenanigans, no partisanship, no posturing for narrow special interests. president bush's third nomination of the civil rights division, juan kim, was also

1:59:46 to 2:00:06( Edit History Discussion )

Patrick Leahy: considered and c more quickly than mr. perez. he was confirmed by the senate by a voice vote. there was no there was there was no partisanship. there was no posturing for special and then mr. kim had resigned

2:00:07 to 2:00:27( Edit History Discussion )

Patrick Leahy: along with attorney general gonzalez and the entire senior leadership of the bush-cheney justice department in the wake of the u.s. attorney firing scandal. in revelations of political hiring and decisionmaking that threatened the morale and independence of the civil rights division and the department. i say this, madam president,

2:00:28 to 2:00:49( Edit History Discussion )

Patrick Leahy: because the filibuster of mr. perez' nomination is indicative of the double standard the republican senators seem intent to imply with a democratic president. it's wrong. i'm not sayin senators don't have the power under the senate rules to do it or that it's even unconstitutional.

2:00:50 to 2:01:10( Edit History Discussion )

Patrick Leahy: what i am saying, it's not in the interests of the american people, it's bad judgment, it's misspent time, it's something we can ill afford in the civil rights division. it's following in the scandals of the last administration, needs to be restored to level of preige it's held

2:01:11 to 2:01:32( Edit History Discussion )

Patrick Leahy: under both republican and democratic presidents in the past. 10 months, 10 months into president obama's first term, president obama having won overwhelmingly, we find 16 nominations reported by the judiciary committee, many of them unanimously, remain pending

2:01:33 to 2:01:54( Edit History Discussion )

Patrick Leahy: on the senate's executive calendar. seven of them were before the last recess. including the nomination of mr. perez, five of these nominations are for appointments to be assistant attorneys general at the department justice. the department of justice which saw during the gonzalez days,

2:01:55 to 2:02:15( Edit History Discussion )

Patrick Leahy: which reached probably its low point. certainly since i have been old enough we saw it demoralized. we saw the scandals. and now we're trying to build it back up. so what has happened? because of republican foot

2:02:16 to 2:02:36( Edit History Discussion )

Patrick Leahy: dragging and shenanigans and appealing to special interests, we find five out of a total of 11 divisions at the department do not appointed head. one of these divisions, the office of legal counsel, the civil rights division, the tax division, the office of legal

2:02:37 to 2:02:58( Edit History Discussion )

Patrick Leahy: policy, and the environment of natural resources division remain without senate confirmed presidential appointees to guide them. president obama won the election. president obama inherited a

2:02:59 to 2:03:19( Edit History Discussion )

Patrick Leahy: justice department that had been wracd by scandal. he ought to be commended for trying to put it back. but look what's happened with some of these delays. even his attorney general was delayed for weeks and weeks, and when they finally allowed him to have a vote, he got a greater vote than any of the last four attorneys general. why is this delay for the sake

2:03:20 to 2:03:40( Edit History Discussion )

Patrick Leahy: of delay? i mean, ishere such resentment that president obama won the election? then talk to those who voted, but don't hold up the department of justice -- and the dep is there for republicans and democrats and independents, for all of us. we have to do a better job of

2:03:41 to 2:04:03( Edit History Discussion )

Patrick Leahy: confirming the leadership team of the justice department. ensure that the nation's top law enforcement agency is fully equipped to do its job. i would hope that all those senators who delayed law enforcement in this country be reminded of that when they go home and speak about being favor of law enforcement. now, i was privileged to spend

2:04:04 to 2:04:29( Edit History Discussion )

Patrick Leahy: eight years of my public life in law enforcement. i still breathe deeply the sense of being in law enforcement. every one of enforcement. but you damage law enforcement by holding up these people. so i hope now, despite this unnecessary filibuster, republicans and democrats who

2:04:30 to 2:04:51( Edit History Discussion )

Patrick Leahy: have joined together in the past to help law enforcement in this country will join together to confirm this well-qualified nominee. he intends to make restoration of the civilights division and its mission a mr. perez has pledged to follow in the footsteps of his mentor, his former boss senator kennedy and rekindle the bipartisanship

2:04:52 to 2:05:14( Edit History Discussion )

Patrick Leahy: this has characterized the fight for civil rights around our nation's history by the division to its law enforcement roots. let us not go back to an era in this senate when we were opposed to civil rights enforcement. let's support this well-qualified nominee. let's go back to enforcing the civil rights laws of our country.

2:05:15 to 2:05:28( Edit History Discussion )

Patrick Leahy: madam president, does the senator from vermont have any time the pres one minute. mr. leahy: i yield the floor. the presiding officer: who

2:05:41 to 2:06:05( Edit History Discussion )

Patrick Leahy: yields time? the presiding officer: if no one yields time, time will be charged equally to bot the senator's time is yielded

2:06:33 to 2:06:53( Edit History Discussion )

Patrick Leahy: back. mr. leahy: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. leahy: while we're waiting, i ask on behalf of the leader, i have seven unanimous consent requests for committees to meet during today's session of the senate. they have the approval of the majority and minority leade i ask unanimous consent that