Holds on Ambassadorial Nominations

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. COTTON. Madam President, in September, we learned shocking news that the U.S. Secret Service--armed agents of the Executive--violated the law to intimidate a congressman from doing his constitutional duty. Forty-five Secret Service employees accessed the personal records of Congressman Jason Chaffetz in violation of the Privacy Act. They shared with hundreds of personnel the fact that Congressman Chaffetz had unsuccessfully applied to join the Service, leading to a leak of the information to the news media.

This activity was not limited to low-level employees. The Service's Assistant Director and head of training, Ed Lowery, encouraged the sharing of information, writing in an email:

Some information that he might find embarrassing needs to get out. Just to be fair.

The Director of the Service, Joe Clancy, failed to act to rein in the behavior when the information was raised to him. He had no reaction when he heard what he deemed to be a speculative rumor about the information. He apparently forgot that he had been informed of Congressman Chaffetz's personal records, incorrectly telling the Homeland Security Department's inspector general that he didn't learn of the matter until it was about to be published in the Washington Post.

The White House's reaction to this criminal violation was equally muted. The White House implied that an apology to Congressman Chaffetz would suffice in the absence of formal discipline and a criminal investigation. This was unacceptable. To ensure that proper remedial action took place, I placed a hold on three ambassadorial nominees to send a clear message to the White House.

I intended to lift these holds once two actions took place: First, I asked that the Department of Homeland Security take appropriate disciplinary action against all Secret Service personnel involved, including Secret Service leadership; second, I requested that a criminal investigation be initiated by the Department of Justice into violations of the Privacy Act.

Since I placed the holds, the White House reached out to my office and made clear that the President understood the gravity of the violations that occurred. In the past month, the Obama administration has finally begun to take action. The Department of Homeland Security issued disciplinary proposals for the suspension of 42 lower level personnel involved in the misconduct. For senior-level personnel--including Assistant Director Lowery--discipline proposals are being prepared, with the maximum penalty ranging up to the removal from their positions.

This discipline may or may not be proper in each case, but my intent isn't to be an HR officer for the Department of Homeland Security. Instead, when I instituted the holds on the three ambassadorial nominees, I made it clear my aim was not to keep these nominees in limbo indefinitely. My sole aim was to force action from the Obama administration, which too often ignores this separation of powers and proper enforcement of our laws.

Because the Obama administration has taken partial steps to hold those who violated the law to account, I will in turn honor my word and lift two of the three holds I have on ambassadorial nominations: Mr. Samuel Heins, who is nominated to be the U.S. Ambassador to Norway, and Ms. Azita Raji, who is nominated to be the U.S. Ambassador to Sweden. I believe both are qualified to represent our Nation abroad, and we have significant interests in Scandinavia. My hope is that both nominees receive a vote and are confirmed in the Senate sooner rather than later.

I will retain, however, the hold on President Obama's Ambassador to the Bahamas. This is because the Department of Justice has yet to initiate an investigation into the unauthorized access and dissemination of Congressman Chaffetz's personal records.

The DHS inspector general has testified to Congress that he believes criminal violations of the Privacy Act occurred. Secret Service Director Clancy, in his own testimony to Congress, agreed with the inspector general, acknowledging that the violations constituted, in his words, ``a criminal offense.'' With such agreement between the Department of Homeland Security IG and the Secret Service Director, I retain the hope and fully expect that a criminal investigation of these offenses by the Department of Justice will be forthcoming.

That investigation and the discipline currently being meted out by the Department of Homeland Security are important to send the message that politically motivated crimes will not be tolerated. Consequences are needed to make clear that the separation of powers will be respected and that Members of Congress acting on behalf of the people will not be intimidated.

I also reserve the right to place new holds on future administration nominees. What we cannot have is impunity for criminal offenses. If the discipline for the Secret Service leadership is too weak or if a criminal investigation is not initiated, I may place additional holds in order to again remind the White House of the seriousness of this matter, but in the meantime I look forward to continuing to work with the administration to ensure that discipline is appropriate and a criminal investigation on this matter is initiated.

Madam President, I yield the floor.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source