Howard Berman: “I thank my chairman for helping to bring this bill and this issue to the floor twice now, and for yielding me this time.…”

“I thank my chairman for helping to bring this bill and this issue to the floor twice now, and for yielding me this time. Mr. Speaker, last month, the House passed H.R. 580 to restore the checks and balances to the U.S. attorney appointment process. The bill we are considering today takes a slightly different path to nearly the same end. Last year, during the conference process on reauthorization of the PATRIOT Act, a provision was added to the report authorizing the Attorney General to unilaterally appoint interim U.S. attorneys for indefinite periods of time, making it possible for the administration to circumvent the Senate confirmation process. The only disagreement I would have with my friend from Florida's comments was the notion that the Congress considered that change. This was put in in a conference committee, unbeknownst to, I think, just about every Senator on that conference committee, certainly all House Members, other than perhaps the chairman of the committee; and the Congress didn't consider that change. When the Judiciary Committee began its investigation into the U.S. attorney firings early this year, DOJ representatives were quick to assure members of the committee that getting around the confirmation process was never their intent in pushing for this proposal.”