John Cornyn: “the reason I came to the floor is to make note of the fact, as I alluded to a moment ago, that President-Elect Donald…”

“the reason I came to the floor is to make note of the fact, as I alluded to a moment ago, that President-Elect Donald Trump announced his intention to nominate one of our own, a Member of the Senate, to be the Nation's top law enforcement officer. Our friend, the junior Senator from Alabama, Mr. Sessions, is undoubtedly qualified and prepared for this role as Attorney General because of the long career he spent protecting and defending our Constitution and the rule of law. If there is one thing we can do in the U.S. Government to help restore the public's confidence, it will be to reembrace the concept of equal justice under the law and ensure there is not a double standard by which people are judged--the powerful, the well-connected, and then the rules that apply to everybody else--but, rather, that the same rules apply to all of us. The same laws apply to all of us. In fact, that is the bulwark of our constitutional democracy. Frankly, I think the American people have seen, in the last two Attorneys General--the current one and her predecessor, Mr. Holder--is essentially an office of the Department of Justice that was not worthy of the name ``Justice.'' It should have been called an extension of the White House political operation because so much of the way they conducted themselves was governed not by the rule of law but by political considerations. Our friend, the Senator from Alabama, understands firsthand the importance of hard work as well.…”