Executive Session

Floor Speech

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Mr. SANDERS. Let me thank my colleague from Vermont, Senator Leahy, for yielding, and applaud him for the role he is playing on the Judiciary Committee.

Mr. President, several weeks ago, I informed the citizens of Vermont that I would be voting against the confirmation of Judge Mukasey to be Attorney General, and tonight I am going to, in fact, be casting a ``no'' vote.

Mr. President, there are several reasons I will vote no on Judge Mukasey. First, like many of my colleagues, I was deeply disturbed by his response to the question of waterboarding. He apparently does not know whether waterboarding is torture. Well, millions of Americans know waterboarding is torture. People all over the world know waterboarding is torture. The Geneva Conventions are quite clear about waterboarding being torture. And, frankly, I don't think it is too much to ask for us to have an Attorney General who knows waterboarding is torture. That is one reason I am voting against Judge Mukasey, but there is a second reason, and perhaps maybe an even more important reason.

For the last 6 years, it is clear that we have had a President who does not understand what the Constitution of the United States is about. What this President believes, essentially, is that he can do anything he wants, at any time, against anybody in the name of fighting terrorism. And he happens to believe the war on terrorism is unending. It is going to go on indefinitely. I think it is very important that we have an Attorney General who can explain the Constitution to a President who clearly does not understand it. Unfortunately, Mr. Mukasey is not that person.

In the last 6 years under President Bush, we have seen the National Security Agency start a program which allows wiretapping without first obtaining a court order, to my mind, in violation of the Constitution. We have seen personal records that have been extensively mined for data. How many millions? Who knows? Nobody in the Senate really knows. We don't have access to that information. It is massive amounts of data mining, in clear violation of the privacy rights and the laws of America under this President.

We have seen the phenomenon of extraordinary rendition, which has shifted detainees to prisons in countries abroad which allow torture. We have seen the firing and the politicization of the Office of the U.S. Attorney. We have seen detainees of the United States being denied the oldest right in the Western legal system--the right to habeas corpus. We are running a prison camp in Guantanamo where prisoners have minimal legal rights, which is an international embarrassment for us as we struggle against international terrorism. And we have seen many other assaults by this President on our constitutional rights and on the laws of this country.

We have a President who clearly does not understand the separation of powers; that the Congress of the United States is an equal branch of our Government; that the Judiciary is an equal branch of our Government; that the executive branch does not have all of the power.

A little while ago I was on a statewide TV program in Vermont. Somebody called in and they said: When is Congress going to begin to stand up to this President?

That is a good question, and I didn't have a good answer. But what I can tell you, the time is long overdue for us to begin to stand up to this President, who thinks he can veto virtually every piece of legislation we send him, who ignores the Constitution of this country--I think it is time we begin to stand up.

I have heard some of my colleagues say, if we reject Mr. Mukasey, the President is not going to send us another nominee. That is the right of the President of the United States. But we have our rights as well. We have the right to demand an Attorney General who supports, strongly, the Constitution and is prepared to tell the President when he is acting against our Constitution. That is our right. It is about time we began to defend our right.

I can't blame the President for taking over the rights of Congress, if Congress is not prepared to stand up and fight back. I think that time is long overdue.

Mr. President, if you do not want to send us another nominee, that is your right. We have our rights as well. I will be voting against Mr. Mukasey. I hope my colleagues do as well.

In conclusion, I ask unanimous consent that letters of opposition and concern from the American Civil Liberties Union, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, and Common Cause be printed in the Record.

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