Executive Calendar

Floor Speech

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Mr. GRAHAM. Madam President, we are now debating the nomination of Mr. Barr to be the Attorney General.

All I can say is if America ever needed a steady hand at the Department of Justice, it is now. Mr. Whitaker has done a good job as interim Attorney General, but we are looking for a new person to bring stability, improve morale, and be a steady hand and mature leadership at a time when our country is very much divided.

I told President Trump, when he mentioned Mr. Barr to me as a potential nominee: The other names are impressive, but Mr. Barr stands out head and shoulders above the others.

If you knew who the others were, that is saying a lot.

Why not believe that? The best indication of what Mr. Barr will do as Attorney General in the future is what he has done in the past. He has actually been Attorney General before. He was approved by this body, under Bush 41, to be the Attorney General by a voice vote. He has been the Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel and the Deputy Attorney General. He has been the chief lawyer for the CIA. In all of these jobs, he was confirmed by the Senate by voice vote.

In other words, he was so well qualified that nobody felt the need to vote. Yes, he is a fine man. Let's go ahead and confirm him by voice vote.

Now, here we are, in 2019, and I can say, without any doubt, that if you think Bill Barr has been auditioning for this job, you really haven't paid much attention to how this whole thing came about.

Once the President mentioned to me that he was considering Mr. Barr, I asked him: Well, does he want the job?

He says he doesn't know, but everybody tells me he would be one of the best picks I can make.

I said: Well, I agree with what everybody else has told you.

I called Mr. Barr, on several occasions, asking to please consider this: I know that you are at a good time in your life. Your children are grown. You have made it. You have done a good job. You have a stellar reputation, and you have done the work of several lifetimes. But having said that, seldom can somebody in their late sixties be able to contribute the most in their life, and I believe this is your time to make the biggest contribution. In terms of what you have done for the country, that is saying a lot. Again, very seldom does this moment come along where you can make the biggest contribution to the country later in life after having served before.

So he agreed to take the job, and we have cloture by, I think, 55 votes. He got voted out of committee along party lines.

Senator Biden told me something that stuck with me to this day: Never question the motive of a Senator. They got here their way. You can question their judgment but not their motive.

When it comes to Bill Barr, I can only tell my Democratic colleagues that there is nobody better that I know to recommend to you. This is as good as it gets on our side. I was happy when President Trump wanted to nominate Mr. Barr. I thought of all the people he could have chosen, and this was the top, by far.

I say that because of the way he conducted himself over decades of service at the highest levels of government. He is a man of the law. He loves the law. His ethics is beyond reproach.

When it comes to Mr. Mueller's investigation, the Barrs and the Muellers are friends, but it will be a business relationship. I can promise you this: Mr. Barr will make sure that Mr. Mueller can finish his job without political interference. He said that, I believe that, and that is the way this movie has to end.

As for the memo that he wrote about one of the theories of obstruction of justice, related to the firing of Director Comey, I share his legal analysis and concern. If firing somebody that you have the ability to fire, for almost any reason, becomes obstruction of justice, then anytime you fire a U.S. attorney or assistant U.S. attorney, you are turning it into a political football.

So as for the statute that he wrote the memo about, his reasoning about how you should be reluctant to use this for an obstruction of justice case made perfect sense to me. When he was asked about the President's obstruction of justice, he said: Of course, the President can be charged with obstruction of justice. If the President encourages somebody to give false testimony, that will be obstruction of justice. If they tried to hide evidence from the courts or the Congress, that would be obstruction of justice.

The question was this: Could you bring a case based on firing somebody who is a political appointee? He had great reservations about that, but he acknowledged that the President is not above the law, and to suggest otherwise is not really listening to what he had to say-- wanting an outcome rather than listening to what he had to say.

About sharing the Mueller report with the country at large, there is a regulation on point that basically requires Mr. Mueller to report to the chairman and ranking member of the Judiciary Committee of the House and of the Senate about the report. He has discretion to withhold information that he believes should be classified. He has to tell us-- the chairman and the ranking member--whether or not he disagreed with Mr. Mueller's decision in any fashion.

In other words, if Mueller wanted to bring a charge or make an accusation, and Barr said no, under the regulation he would have to tell us that he actually disagreed with Mr. Mueller and why.

As to how much he will release, we will know when he gets the report, but here is what I do believe. He is going to err on the side of transparency. I am not going to take his discretion away from him. I trust him to make a good decision, and his promising us to release the report before he gets it is probably a bridge too far. For anybody wanting the job to make a bargain with a Senator just to get the job-- that I will turn this report over even before I see it--is probably not the right answer.

Here is what Mr. Barr said that really stuck with me. I am not making bargains with editorial writers, with pundits, or with elected political leaders that I don't feel are right for the Department. I don't want the job that much. I don't need the job in terms of building a career. I have had a great career. I am doing this because I think I can provide some leadership at a time we need some.

We will have a vote here probably tomorrow. He is soon going to be Attorney General. I can tell all my Democratic colleagues that I cannot think of a better person to do this job at this time in our Nation's history. I know he will be devoted to following the law as the law is written. I know he will be fair to the President, but he will pick the rule of law over anything or anybody, including the Senate or the President.

He will be a shot in the arm for a Department that needs a morale lift. He is going to look at the abuses inside of the Department. How could a FISA warrant be issued on an American citizen based on a dossier? It is a bunch of political garbage.

As for what happened in 2016, he is going to look at that, too, I hope. But when it comes to Mr. Mueller, Mr. Mueller will be allowed to do his job, and there will come a day when his report is completed. I am confident that Mr. Barr will share it with the public to the fullest extent possible. I have every confidence he will.

To the people who are working at the Department of Justice, in a day or two, you are going to have a new leader. I think you should be excited about the reforms that will be coming. I think you should be excited about working for this good man. He has dedicated his life to your causes--a Department of Justice that is impartial, that goes after the bad guys, and that makes sure that the policies in place build up the country.

I think Mr. Barr represents that way of doing business in Washington that has sort of been lost. He is a ``handshake and phone call'' kind of guy. He has been up here for a very, very long time. He has earned a lot of accolades in the legal profession.

Some of the people who came forward to testify on his behalf definitely have a different legal philosophy and political philosophy than Mr. Barr, but they all said, without hesitation, that he is one of the finest people they have ever known and he will be a great Attorney General.

I want to thank President Trump for nominating Mr. Barr. I don't think he could have done a better job in picking someone than Mr. Barr. I want to let the people at the Department of Justice know that help is on the way. I want the American people to understand that this man has a record that should comfort you--that with Bill Barr, you know what you are getting. He has served at the highest levels of government for decades--former Attorney General, Deputy Attorney General, and chief legal counsel to the CIA. He has done it all.

He is ready to take over, and he is mature in his judgment. He is calm in his demeanor. He is passionate about the law. He loves the Department of Justice.

To the American people, you can go to bed here soon knowing that the Department of Justice is in good hands.

To my colleagues that voted against him, give him a chance. I think he is going to deliver for the country.

To the committee, thank you for allowing the nomination to go through so quickly.

To Dianne Feinstein, who is a great partner, I appreciate the processing of the nomination. We may have differences of opinion about what the right answer is, but we could not have asked for a better process. Mr. Barr was challenged, but respectfully so.

Having said that, we are about to confirm a new Attorney General at a time when we need one. This is just not somebody for the job. This is a very special person for the job.

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