María Elvira Salazar: “I am very proud to have supported the Preserving United States Attorney Independence Act we just passed in the Senate.…”

“I am very proud to have supported the Preserving United States Attorney Independence Act we just passed in the Senate. This bill will go a long way toward restoring the independence of Federal prosecutors--an independence which has, unfortunately, been chipped away at in recent months and years. I have been disappointed to watch the drama unfolding over the past few weeks regarding the politicization of our justice system. Every day, as the Judiciary Committee continues its investigation, we see more revelations of how the Department of Justice may have allowed portions of the U.S. attorney corps to become a vehicle for political patronage--this despite the fact that U.S. attorneys are among the most powerful public officials in our country, making virtually unreviewable decisions about life and death, about punishment and leniency. They make these kinds of decisions every single day all across this country. The U.S. attorneys must be individuals who have integrity. They must be above reproach. They must be free from any kind of partisan political interference. I am disappointed the Department of Justice may have blurred the line between the representation of President Bush as a client and the representation of the people of the United States.”