Jeff Sessions

Isn't it true that when the Inspector General's preliminary report came out on the exigent letter issue... you accepted responsibility and you announced a number of reforms?

Well, Mr. Attorney General Holder, has already made clear his presumption that these cases would be tried in civilian court, which I think was a big error.

One of the things we learned from the 9/11 Commission is that intelligence saves lives, and we need to gather intelligence.

We are not putting them in jail. We are just simply confronting them before they get on an airplane.

I heard somebody on a talk show the other day who said he was born here, his family is from Lebanon, but he keeps getting stopped.

It is clear that 8 years after September 11, 2001, there are still holes in our counterterrorism system.

Make no mistake, this was another act of terrorism, another act of war.

I believe we have got to get it straight. And I believe these people will be better tried in a military commission for a lot of reasons, one of which is the gaining of intelligence.

It seems to me you have a policy that these kinds of individuals will be tried in civilian courts rather than military commissions.

I think that is well said in the sense which you are bound by superior authority and how those cases are interpreted.

I think lawyers ought to be open and having discussions.

I think we can work on that.

I would be duty-bound by my oath and by the doctrine of stare decisis to apply the law.

I firmly believe that persons can disagree with the death penalty as a matter of policy, but as for a lifetime appointment on the Federal bench, it is appropriate to ask are you prepared to follow the law faithfully like other laws and not…

Mr. Chairman, our people have--my staff has looked over these nominees' records. I think we feel good about them and their background.

I would just note, as you know but for the record, how much work does go into a person's nominating process.

We want judges who have the ability, the integrity, the experience to make good decisions.

Just to thank you for allowing me to spend more time than normal asking questions, and you and Senator Leahy have been good on that and allowed the questioning to go as long as appropriate.

I do think the Sentencing Commission invests a tremendous amount of time in trying to identify what the ranges of sentences should be.

Each of you have had significant accomplishments in your career.

I predicted, on the floor of the Senate, that much of that legislation that passed was not going to withstand constitutional muster, and I think it didn't.

It does mean a lot to us that Senators, I think, take seriously their responsibility to review nominees.

I think they provide a great service, not only to judges, but also to litigants, defendants.

I believe the Supreme Court, two members of the Supreme Court were deeply in error, in effect, by agreeing with the ACLU and dissenting in every death penalty case.

Some people don't realize that a lot of the individuals that are prosecuted are dangerous people.