Amy Klobuchar: “as a former prosecutor, I am here to speak in behalf of S. 214. I would first like to thank the members of the Judiciary…”

“as a former prosecutor, I am here to speak in behalf of S. 214. I would first like to thank the members of the Judiciary Committee for introducing and reporting out this important bill, and I am proud to be a cosponsor. I returned from Iraq yesterday, and I look forward to reflecting on lessons learned from that trip later on this week. But I will say that my Senate colleagues and I had extensive discussions with Iraqi political leaders as well as the American military about the need to restore the rule of law in Iraq. I have always been proud that our judicial process has been the gold standard for the rest of the world. It is ironic, then, that even as I spoke with Iraqi leaders about their challenges, we Americans were learning a very public lesson about how the rule of law can be undermined in even the most advanced democracies. We have learned this past month that our Nation's chief law enforcement officer, our leading guardian of the rule of law in this country, has allowed politics to creep too close to the core of our legal system. This administration has determined that Washington politicians, not prosecutors out in the field--and perhaps, in some cases, not even the facts--will dictate how prosecutions should proceed. The consequences are unacceptable.”