Political Quotes

“earlier this year the Senate expressed its opposition to proceeding to Mr. Cole's nomination when it failed to invoke cloture. I was a strong advocate against the Senate invoking cloture on Mr. Cole's nomination because the Justice Department had failed to respond to a legitimate oversight request that both Senator Chambliss and I made relating to two separate topics. The Justice Department was withholding vital documents related to my inquiry of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearm's Operation Fast and Furious and to an inquiry by Senator Chambliss in his capacity as vice chairman of the Select Committee on Intelligence. As ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, I have been seeking and still seek documents, information, and access to witness interviews to determine who approved Operation Fast and Furious. This was an operation that you have heard me talk about often where ATF agents were ordered to knowingly allow straw buyers to obtain weapons on behalf of criminals and traffickers intent on smuggling those weapons into Mexico. The courageous agents who blew the whistle and testified about their efforts to warn supervisors about the dangers referred to this practice as ``walking guns.'' Of the more than 1,800 weapons allowed to ``walk,'' hundreds have been recovered in connection with crimes in the United States and Mexico, including two such weapons in connection with the murder of Border Patrol agent Brian Terry.…”