{"database": "openregs", "table": "congressional_record", "rows": [["CREC-2008-12-12-pt1-PgS10971", "2008-12-12", 110, 2, null, null, "TARP SPECIAL INSPECTOR GENERAL", "SENATE", "SENATE", "ALLOTHER", "S10971", "S10973", "[{\"name\": \"Claire McCaskill\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}, {\"name\": \"Patrick J. Leahy\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}]", "[{\"congress\": \"110\", \"type\": \"S\", \"number\": \"3731\"}, {\"congress\": \"110\", \"type\": \"S\", \"number\": \"3731\"}]", "154 Cong. Rec. S10971", "Congressional Record, Volume 154 Issue 187 (Friday, December 12, 2008)\n\n[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 187 (Friday, December 12, 2008)]\n[Senate]\n[Pages S10971-S10973]\nFrom the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]\n\n[[Page S10971]]\n                     TARP SPECIAL INSPECTOR GENERAL\n\n Mrs. McCASKILL. Mr. President, this week, the Senate passed an\nimportant piece of legislation sponsored by Senator Grassley and\nmyself, that was needed to assure the new Special Inspector General for\nthe $700 billion financial rescue program could staff up quickly and\nhave the ability to do his job. S. 3731's other cosponsors--Senators\nCollins, Lieberman, Snowe, Dodd, Bunning, Schumer, Levin, Carper,\nColeman and Cantwell--were also key to securing unanimous support for\nthis bill in the Senate. Finally, I want to give special thanks to\nSenators Baucus and Shelby for working closely with us to craft a\nstrong bipartisan bill.\n  This legislation, the Special Inspector General for the Troubled\nAsset Relief Program, SIGTARP, would specifically grant the Special IG\ncreated under TARP earlier this fall to have full oversight over all\nactivities under the TARP program. The bill would have also granted the\nIG the temporary hiring authority needed to quickly hire the dozens of\nauditors required to conduct this critical oversight.\n  As the original Inspector General language is written under current\nlaw, Mr. Barofsky, who was confirmed as the Special Inspector General\nthis week, must hire his entire staff using normal civil service\nchannels. I am a big proponent of using the normal hiring process\nwhenever possible. But that process is time consuming and can take\nweeks, sometimes months, to hire one person. Meanwhile, this money is\nflying out the door. TARP has given out nearly all of the first $350\nbillion, and they have already told us they want the second half soon.\nYet, Mr. Barofsky has no staff, and he won't have staff for some time.\nWe need to fix this--right now.\n  Our bill would also make clear that the Special Inspector General has\noversight authority over the entire relief program. As written right\nnow, SIGTARP has oversight authority over only two sections of the\nrelief program. Why would we want to limit the Inspector General to\nonly certain sections of this program? Our legislation would make clear\nthat SIGTARP has oversight duties over all of TARP. This would include\nsections related specifically to assistance to homeowners and\npromulgation of conflict of interest rules by the Secretary of the\nTreasury.\n  Senator Snowe added some provisions to assure that the IG would\nprovide Congress and the public a thorough analysis of TARP's spending,\nas well as a requirement for Treasury officials to report to Congress\nan explanation if they did not implement the IG's recommendations.\n  As a former auditor, nothing is more frustrating than seeing your\nrecommendations completely ignored. I would never claim that all audit\nrecommendations can, or should, be immediately implemented. But we need\nto be able to assure ourselves that these recommendations are taken\nseriously and are being considered. We should know the reason if these\nrecommendations are not implemented.\n  Finally, Senator Snowe suggested that we should make sure that the\nSpecial Inspector General has the resources he needs by imposing a time\nlimit on providing him with the money allocated to his office in the\noriginal bill. The relationship between an agency and an office charged\nwith overseeing them is a delicate one. Tensions sometimes arise due to\nthe fact that IGs must rely on the agency they audit and investigate\nfor their resources. While I have no reason to think that the Treasury\nDepartment would deny Mr. Barofsky the funds needed to perform his\nduties, this provision would eliminate that tension.\n  Unfortunately, we were not able to secure passage of this legislation\nin the House before we adjourned this week. I will do everything I can\nto bring it back first thing in the 111th Congress to secure its quick\npassage in both chambers and signed into law to assure we have strong\noversight on the $700 billion financial rescue program.\n Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, the election of Barack Obama and Joe\nBiden, and the President-elect's selection of Eric Holder to be\nAttorney General of the United States, provide an historic opportunity\nfor the country to move past the partisanship of the past decades, and\nwork together to solve the Nation's problems, protect against serious\nthreats, and meet some of the greatest challenges of our time. We all\nknow these men. They have long and distinguished records of service and\naccomplishments. They can make a real difference if we join with them,\nnot as Democrats or Republicans, but as Americans.\n  The need for new leadership at the Department of Justice is as\ncritical today as it has ever been. The Judiciary Committee, both\nDemocrats and Republicans, spent a good deal of time and effort during\nthis Congress uncovering scandals at the Department. Former Attorney\nGeneral Gonzales, Karl Rove, Mr. Rove's White House deputies, and\nvirtually the entire leadership at the Department resigned in the wake\nof congressional investigation. Since then, the Inspector General at\nthe Department has confirmed many of our findings and fears, and there\nare still more reports to come. An ongoing criminal investigation is\nbeing conducted by a specially appointed prosecutor. The crisis at the\nDepartment of Justice is not resolved, but ongoing.\n  I want to continue the work we began last year when I scheduled\nprompt hearings and the Senate proceeded to confirm Michael Mukasey,\nMark Filip and Kevin O'Connor to serve as Attorney General, Deputy\nAttorney General and Associate Attorney General after the Rove-Gonzales\nresignations, even though we were on the eve of the election of a new\nPresident. We cannot now delay restoring the Justice Department and the\nconfidence the American people have in our justice system. We must\npromptly consider and confirm Eric H. Holder Jr., and other nominees of\nthe new President.\n  I was encouraged by the initial reaction in mid-November when Mr.\nHolder's name was reported as the likely nominee, and when he was\ndesignated by the President-elect on December 1. Democrats and\nRepublicans alike acknowledged his qualifications and praised the\nchoice. I appreciate the willingness of Larry Thompson, who was\nconfirmed early in 2001 as President Bush's first Deputy Attorney\nGeneral; Louis Freeh, the former Director of the FBI; and Fran\nTownsend, President Bush's former Homeland Security advisor, to speak\nout in support of Mr. Holder's designation.\n  As early as November 19, the ranking Republican member of the\nJudiciary Committee said that he would not hold up the matter, but\n``would be prepared to move ahead very promptly with hearings.'' I\nappreciated and shared his desire to proceed ``as fast as we can move''\nand his commitment that he ``wouldn't hold it up.'' He said that he\nhoped Mr. Holder would ``re-professionalize'' the Justice Department. I\nhope so, too.\n  I agree with Senator Specter that we need to strengthen the Justice\nDepartment. He and I coauthored an article in the Politico before the\nelection. In a sentence Senator Specter quoted recently on the Senate\nfloor, we wrote: ``The Attorney General must be someone who deeply\nappreciates and respects the work and commitment of the thousands of\nmen and women who work in the branches and divisions of the Justice\nDepartment, day in and day out, without regard to politics or ideology,\ndoing their best to enforce the law and promote justice.'' I have every\nconfidence that Eric Holder is such a person, and I said so in this\nchamber on November 20. Indeed, in his brief remarks on the morning he\nwas designated, Mr. Holder expressed just such appreciation.\n  I know that the professionals at the Department of Justice reacted\nwith delight when he was named because they know him well. They know\nhim from his 12 years at the Public Integrity Section, from his time as\nthe U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, from his tenure on the\nbench, and from his years as the Deputy Attorney General, the second-\nhighest ranking official of the Department. His prompt confirmation\nwill do a great deal to restore morale throughout the Justice\nDepartment.\n  I have called Mr. Holder a prosecutor's prosecutor. He participated\nin a number of prosecutions and appeals involving such defendants as\nthe State Treasurer of Florida, a former Ambassador to the Dominican\nRepublic, a local judge in Philadelphia, an Assistant United States\nAttorney in New York City, an FBI agent, a ``capo'' in\n\n[[Page S10972]]\n\nan organized crime family, and a powerful Democratic chairman of the\nHouse Ways and Means Committee.\n  After he served for a dozen years as a prosecutor, President Reagan\nnominated Mr. Holder to be a judge, and he served with distinction on\nthe Superior Court of the District of Columbia. He left the bench to\nbecome the first African American U.S. Attorney for the District of\nColumbia, heading the largest U.S. Attorney's office in the country.\n  Four years later, Mr. Holder was nominated to the important post of\nDeputy Attorney General. I worked with Senator Hatch, who was then\nChairman of the Judiciary Committee, to report his nomination favorably\nto the Senate. I was disturbed that an anonymous Republican hold\ndelayed consideration of his nomination for three weeks, but when the\nSenate finally voted, the vote was unanimous. All 100 Senators voted to\nconfirm Eric H. Holder Jr. to be the Deputy Attorney General of the\nUnited States. He became the first African-American in the history of\nthe Department to achieve that high position.\n  Eric Holder has prosecuted high-level public officials and organized\ncrime, developed comprehensive programs to combat domestic violence,\nchild abuse, and violent crime, and revitalized programs to assist\ncrime victims. He helped guide the Department's efforts on the criminal\nprosecution of corporations, health care fraud, computer crimes,\nsoftware piracy, and helped develop the community prosecution model. He\nhas served at nearly every level of the Department of Justice he would\nlead.\n  He is a public servant who will have broad support within the law\nenforcement community. He has already received the support of the 7,000\nmember National District Attorneys Association, NDAA. It was when I was\nthe vice president of that association and Arlen Specter was\nthe District Attorney in Philadelphia that the ranking member and I\nfirst met. The NDAA indicates that it feels a special relationship with\nMr. Holder because he was a street crime prosecutor.\n\n  Having a prompt confirmation hearing for the new Attorney General is\nin keeping with how we have treated all the men and women nominated to\nbe Attorney General in the 34 years I have served in the Senate, in\nparticular at the beginning of a newly-elected President's term. That\nis how the Senate acted on President Carter's appointment of Attorney\nGeneral Griffin Bell. That is how we acted on President Reagan's\nappointment of Attorney General William French Smith. When I chaired\nthe Judiciary Committee as President Bush was preparing to take office,\nI began the hearing on his selection for Attorney General just 25 days\nafter his designation. Likewise, last year I rejected the efforts by\nsome on my side of the aisle to delay hearings on Michael Mukasey and\nproceeded on that nomination in 30 days. I did not curb the rights of\nCommittee members to pose questions to then-nominee Mukasey during his\nconfirmation process; I do not intend to do so with Eric Holder.\n  I want to be as fair to President-elect Obama and to Mr. Holder as we\nhave been to others. I have noticed the hearing for the next Attorney\nGeneral to begin 39 days after he was officially designated and 52 days\nafter we all began reviewing his record following press reports on\nNovember 18.\n  In my statement to the Senate on November 20, I commended Senators\nHatch, Sessions, Coburn, and Grassley for their nonpartisanship when\nthey praised his selection. Senator Hatch spoke of his support for Mr.\nHolder, his experience and reputation. Senator Sessions, a former\nprosecutor, U.S. Attorney, and State Attorney General who is well aware\nof the problems at the Justice Department, said he was disposed to\nsupport him. Senator Coburn called it ``a good choice.'' In addition,\nSenator Grassley has acknowledged Mr. Holder's impeccable credentials\nwhile reserving judgment.\n  But of course since then, Karl Rove has appeared on the Today Show\nand signaled that Republicans ought to go after Mr. Holder. Right-wing\ntalk radio took up the drum beat.\n  I think the responsibilities of the Attorney General of the United\nStates are too important to have that appointment delayed by partisan\nbickering, by some tit-for-tat drawn out process. This is a public\nservant we have known and worked with for more than 20 years, and the\nSenate has previously confirmed him three times to important positions.\nHis record of public service, his integrity, his experience and the\ncommitment to the rule of law that he will bring to the office of the\nAttorney General of the United States deserve better. He should not be\nmade a pawn in some partisan political game.\n  I began the week meeting with Mr. Holder. He did not defend the Rich\npardon. That is hardly a new matter. It was the subject of House\nhearings and a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing chaired by Senator\nSpecter in 2001, almost 8 years ago. That is not a reason to delay his\nconfirmation hearing. In fact, the confirmation hearing will give those\nwho have doubts and need reassurance the chance to ask Mr. Holder about\nthat matter and hear about it directly from him.\n  I thought the President-elect had it right when he said recently that\nMr. Holder has acknowledged that the Rich pardon was a mistake.\nPresident-elect Obama agrees. I agree. President-elect Obama said:\n``But when you look at the totality of his experience, there is no\ndoubt that he is going to be an outstanding Attorney General.'' That is\nthe essential point.\n  Like the President-elect, I want the American people to have\nconfidence that laws are being evenly applied to everyone and that we\nare working with local and state as well as Federal officials\nconstantly to improve our criminal justice system. Public confidence\nand faith in that system has been shaken during the last several years,\nand Mr. Holder can help restore it.\n  We need the new Attorney General to be a person of integrity and\nexperience, who can inspire the thousands of hardworking prosecutors,\nagents and employees who do their best every day to enforce the law and\npromote justice without regard to partisan politics. We need an\nAttorney General, as Attorney General Robert H. Jackson said 68 years\nago about the Federal prosecutor, ``who serves the law and not\nfactional purposes, and who approaches his task with humility.''\n  That is the kind of man Eric Holder is, the kind of prosecutor Eric\nHolder always was and the kind of Attorney General he would be. The\nnext Attorney General will understand our moral and legal obligation to\nprotect the fundamental rights of all Americans and to respect the\nhuman rights of all people. Eric Holder will ensure that the Department\nof Justice is working to uphold the Constitution and the rule of law,\nnot working to circumvent them.\n  I was struck by the contrast between what President Bush and Alberto\nGonzales said at that announcement and how President-elect Obama and\nMr. Holder spoke at his. This is part of the change we need, the change\nthe American people voted for and hunger for. President-elect Obama\nsaid: ``Let me be clear. The Attorney General serves the American\npeople. And I have every expectation that Eric will protect our people,\nuphold the public trust, and adhere to our Constitution.'' The next\nPresident understands the role of the Attorney General of the United\nStates and that it is not as counselor to the President. I have no\ndoubt that Mr. Holder understands the independence required of the\nAttorney General and that his experience and lessons he has learned\nwill serve him and the American people well.\n  No one should have to remind us how decimated the Department of\nJustice was during recent years, or how important it is that it be\nrestored. I think it was Senator Specter who called it dysfunctional\nand said that morale was in disarray. We understand that it is all too\nimportant that the Department have its senior leadership in place\nwithout delay. We must act on this nomination; the Attorney General is\nthe top law enforcement officer in the country and a key member of the\nnational security team.\n  When President Bush nominated Michael Mukasey last year, Senator Kyl\nsaid: ``Since the Carter administration, attorney general nominees have\nbeen confirmed, on average, in approximately three weeks, with some\nbeing confirmed even more quickly. The Senate should immediately move\nto consider Judge Mukasey's nomination and ensure he is confirmed\nbefore Congress\n\n[[Page S10973]]\n\nrecesses for Columbus Day.'' I held that hearing within 30 days. We\nshould not change the standards now that a Democrat is making the\nselection.\n  During my time in the Senate, serving during 8 presidential terms,\nthere has been an average of 29 days between announcement of an\nAttorney General designation and the start of hearings, and 37 days on\naverage from the announcement of the nominee to the Committee vote. The\nHolder hearing was set for 39 days after announcement, with the hope\nthat he can be considered by the Committee within 50 days. That does\nnot seem unreasonable. I do appreciate that we and our staffs will be\nworking over the holidays, but we have been called upon many times to\ndo so during the last several tumultuous years.\n  This is not the occasion to convert our consideration of an executive\nbranch nomination into the kind of searching scrutiny we rightly\nprovide for lifetime appointments to the Supreme Court, which is\napparently what the Republican side is intent upon doing.\n  This is no ordinary time. Over the last 8 years, political\nmanipulation and influence from partisan political operatives in the\nWhite FIouse have undercut the Department of Justice in its mission,\nseverely undermined the morale of its career professionals, and shaken\npublic confidence in our Federal justice system. During those 8 years,\nwe experienced the attacks of September 11 and have retooled the\nJustice Department and the FBI to work closely with the intelligence\ncommunity in our efforts to prevent terrorism. Never has it been more\nimportant to have an experienced hand as Attorney General.\n  I hope our Republican Members will resist the temptation toward\npartisanship and join with us to consider this appointment fairly and\npromptly.\n\n                          ____________________"]], "columns": ["granule_id", "date", "congress", "session", "volume", "issue", "title", "chamber", "granule_class", "sub_granule_class", "page_start", "page_end", "speakers", "bills", "citation", "full_text"], "primary_keys": ["granule_id"], "primary_key_values": ["CREC-2008-12-12-pt1-PgS10971"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 3.227864974178374, "source": "Federal Register API & Regulations.gov API", "source_url": "https://www.federalregister.gov/developers/api/v1", "license": "Public Domain (U.S. Government data)", "license_url": "https://www.regulations.gov/faq"}