-9999

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. VANCE. I will restate a few of the things I have said.

First of all, he made much about my hold policy being focused on Donald Trump. And, of course, I do think it is preposterous--banana republic stuff--that the President of the United States is trying to throw his opponent in jail in the middle of a Presidential election.

But this isn't just about Donald Trump. This is about a pro-life father of seven who was harassed and arrested in front of his children like a common criminal. This is about parents who are investigated by the FBI for peacefully exercising their First Amendment rights at school board meetings. This is about a Department of Justice that seems far more interested in politics than in justice.

So long as that is true, Senator, I will certainly continue to implement my hold policy.

I want to say a second thing, which is that all I am asking for--all I am asking for--is that my distinguished colleague from Illinois or any other Senator invoke cloture, force a cloture vote, and then force a vote on the Senate floor. I understand that is not easy for a Senate that votes one to four times per day, but the American people--most of them have much harder jobs than we do. I think sticking our thumbs in the air or down to the ground is not too much to ask for people who--as my distinguished colleague said, we asked for this job. We ran for this job. We work pretty hard for this job. I think expecting us to vote on cloture and vote on these nominees on the record is not too much to ask.

Third point that I will make: I have come to really appreciate and look forward to these exchanges with my colleague from Illinois. I will say this, that I think his criticism and I think his concern come from a very legitimate place. He has made this argument a number of times, the argument that there is something unprecedented about what I am doing.

What is it--85 nominees were approved during the Trump administration through unanimous consent or whatever the number is--I don't know; I am going off of memory here--and now we have somehow stopped it, we have changed it.

Well, certainly I have changed it. I have changed it because the Department of Justice has changed. When Donald Trump was President, he was not trying to throw Joe Biden in prison. Joe Biden is President, and he is threatening to throw not just Donald Trump but a whole host of political opponents in prison. That is unprecedented. That is a new thing. Therefore, the way we respond to it must be unprecedented as well.

I acknowledge something the Senator from Illinois is pointing out here. In years past, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have made an argument that most of my fellow conservatives don't agree with but I do agree with. It is that for the Department of Justice or any local law enforcement to work--whether it is State, Federal, or county, city--it needs to have legitimacy; it needs to have the trust of the people.

I have talked to a number of people just in the last few months who have told me that they have witnessed things in their community, but they wouldn't call the Department of Justice because they don't trust the Department of Justice.

I know Senator Durbin and others might say: Well, look, you are a conservative Republican from Ohio. Of course you talk to the sorts of people who are skeptical of the Department of Justice.

But I would ask him to extend the same courtesy to my voters that I would extend to all voters across this country whether they like me or not.

When people don't believe that law enforcement can be trusted, public safety will suffer. Our Democratic colleagues have made this argument in the past, speaking about other prosecutors and other communities, and I actually think they are right. Whether you agree with the reasons why a given community is mistrustful of law enforcement, mistrust of law enforcement destroys one of the foundations of the Republic. You cannot have application of law if the people don't trust the people who are doing the application. That is what is different about the situation we find ourselves in.

I don't like that the Department of Justice has become what it has become. I don't like--again, set aside President Trump. I am pro-Trump. A number of my colleagues are anti-Trump. Set aside the concerns about the Presidential election. What about parents who are protesting at their school board meetings for their kids? Should they be investigated by the FBI? Since they are being investigated by the FBI, doesn't that suggest that something is broken at the leadership of the Department of Justice? I think the answer is yes, and I think that answer threatens the foundation of law enforcement and equal justice under the law in this country.

I will continue the hold policy so long as a broken Department of Justice cares more about politics than it does justice.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source