Bill Clinton: “when the time comes I intend to vote in favor of Judge Chertoff's nomination to be Secretary of Homeland Security. There…”

“when the time comes I intend to vote in favor of Judge Chertoff's nomination to be Secretary of Homeland Security. There is no position in government of greater importance to the security of our country and of my home State of New York. And so I am glad that the Senate has agreed to devote some time to a discussion of the important issues that the next Secretary of Homeland Security will face. Let me say at the outset that I have some serious concerns about this nomination. These concerns have nothing to do with Judge Chertoff's personal abilities: his professional and intellectual qualifications are beyond question, as is his commitment to public service. Rather, my concerns are based on the misguided and constitutionally infirm policies that have been drafted by the Department of Justice and implemented by the Administration in its prosecution of the war on terror and in the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. Judge Chertoff was a senior DOJ official at the time that these policies were created. Because he is being nominated to a position for which respect for Constitutional and treaty obligations is especially important, his role in the formation of these policies is therefore worthy of careful scrutiny. My primary concern relates to those policies that have undercut and placed our men and women in uniform in greater danger and diminished our standing in the international community.”