Political Quotes

“I come to the floor this afternoon to support the nominations of Vanita Gupta and Kristen Clarke to serve in the leadership of the U.S. Department of Justice, and I am here, Mr. President, to say that just because you are pro-civil rights does not mean that you are somehow anti-police. To be for a Department of Justice that will help us make the right decisions in enforcing civil rights laws around the United States is what is at stake with these nominations. I personally am tired of the challenges that we have faced at home when we do not have people being held accountable and we have incident after incident. And the last administration said, instead of playing our role on consent decrees and making sure federal civil rights laws are enforced, instead they said, ``We're going to stop playing that role.'' So it is so important that we get a Department of Justice that will fight for the civil rights and civil liberties of all Americans. Both these women are highly qualified. They have defended our constitution. They have defended the civil rights of all Americans, and they will ensure that everyone, including the police, are held accountable. We have probably heard this afternoon my colleagues praising Vanita Gupta and supporting her to serve as Associate Attorney General, the third highest position in the U.S. Department of Justice. She is very qualified for the position. She will be the first civil rights lawyer and woman of color to serve in this role.…”