-9999
Floor Speech
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I served on the Senate Judiciary Committee for over 20 years, including the last 4 as chairman.
During that time, I voted on thousands of judicial U.S. attorneys, U.S. marshals, and Justice Department nominees.
Every nominee who has gone through our committee--everyone--shares one thing in common, whether nominated by a Democrat or a Republican President, every single nominee has undergone an FBI background investigation--everyone.
President-elect Trump has the right to nominate his preferred candidates for Justice Department and judicial vacancies, but the Judiciary Committee plays a critical role in offering advice and consent on nominations, which includes receiving and reviewing the results of FBI background investigations.
After weeks of reports that President-elect Trump planned to bypass the FBI entirely, it was a relief to hear that the Trump transition team had finally signed an agreement this week to allow the FBI to conduct background investigations.
But I remain concerned about whether President-elect Trump will require all his appointees to undergo the process. Listen to what the New York Times reported:
Despite the signing of the agreement, it remains unclear whether [the] Trump's team plans to send the names of all officials requiring a security clearance or Senate confirmation to the F.B.I. for vetting.
If President-elect Trump's nominees are not required to submit to the same FBI vetting procedure as previous nominees, it makes you wonder what they are hiding.
The practice of the FBI conducting background investigations is not a new idea. The nominations investigations of the President's nominees dates back 70 years to the Eisenhower administration, and it applies to every Senate-confirmed position, including more than 1,200 positions in the executive branch, 900 Federal judicial nominees, 93 U.S. attorney nominees, and 94 U.S. marshal nominees. Every single one is subject to an FBI investigation.
You might ask yourself, Why is it so important to vet all these nominees? Consider the views of Noah Bookbinder and Gregg Nunziata, former Democratic and Republican counsels on the Senate Judiciary Committee, who, on a bipartisan basis, reviewed hundreds of nominees' background investigations.
They wrote in the New York Times:
Without nominees being scrutinized by the F.B.I., the danger is that neither lawmakers nor the public would know whether they are trustworthy or have issues that compromise their ability to do the job or [even] their loyalty to the United States.
As Mr. Bookbinder and Nunziata noted in their op-ed:
A nomination was never scheduled for committee consideration without the committee receiving an F.B.I. background check, reviewing it and clearing the nomination to move forward.
By design, positions that require Senate confirmation are of great importance. These individuals make critical decisions that protect America, our national security, and affect many thousands of American lives, including who is investigated, who is charged with a crime, and how the justice system operates.
It is absolutely critical that people nominated to these positions are upstanding citizens who can be trusted with sensitive life-or-death government information, people who will be immune to blackmail or foreign influence and are truly loyal to the United States.
President-elect Trump has reportedly considered using a private investigative firm to conduct these background investigations. That is unacceptable for one basic reason. First, when the nominees submit their paperwork to the FBI as a part of their background investigations, they are on notice that lying or concealing material facts is a felony--a felony. The same goes for individuals who agree to speak with the FBI about nominees' character and fitness. In comparison, there would be no penalties for misleading a private investigative firm.
Second, the FBI's resources in determining if a nominee poses a risk far outweigh any private firm's capabilities. Seasoned agents at the FBI field offices nationwide are deployed to pull records, interview individuals, and report their findings.
Finally, any private firm paid by the Trump transition team would have an unavoidable conflict of interest. They would have an incentive to clear the backgrounds of nominees so they would get more business from the transition team. By contrast, the only motive for FBI agents is honoring their oath to the Constitution.
It is the duty of President-elect Trump to pick nominees of his choosing. It is also the duty of the Senate, under the Constitution, to carefully examine the record of each nominee before this body. To fulfill this constitutional duty of advice and consent on nominations, the Judiciary Committee must continue to receive background investigations conducted by the FBI for every single nominee.
We owe the American people a transparent transition of power, but that is only possible if the incoming administration follows longstanding, established practices ensuring that the President's nominees can be trusted in a position of power.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Source