Political Quotes

“I come to the floor to ask my colleagues to vote against cloture on the nomination, and here are my reasons for asking that of my colleagues. Earlier this week I outlined my general objection to the Senate proceeding to a final vote on the confirmation of Mr. B. Todd Jones, the nominee to be Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms. As I explained, the Senate should not be voting on a nomination when there is an open investigation. In this case the Office of Special Counsel is investigating Mr. Jones in a complaint that he retaliated against a whistleblower in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Minnesota. Because of the way this nomination was handled in committee, I was able to conduct only a limited investigation. But what I found should give all of us pause--real pause--on this nomination because it gives me concern about Mr. Jones's leadership ability and raises doubts about whether he should be promoted to head this office. According to both the whistleblowing assistant U.S. attorney and the former head of the FBI in Minnesota, relationships with Federal, State, and local authorities deteriorated significantly under Jones's leadership. The problems primarily involved agencies that worked drug cases and violent crime. Mr. Jones addressed the issue in a meeting with criminal prosecutors in his office. According to the whistleblower, following that meeting, Mr.…”