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Floor Speech

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Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Madam President, I rise today in support of the two nominees from my State: Andy Luger, who has been nominated to be the U.S. attorney for the District of Minnesota; and Eddie Frizell, a veteran, serving our country bravely overseas, who has been nominated to be the U.S. marshal.

I was sitting here thinking to myself as I listened to Senator Cotton that there were a lot of things I disagreed with at the Trump Justice Department--many, many things; many, many things--but never once did I think about holding up the U.S. attorney of Arkansas or of Arizona or of Illinois because I disagreed with Donald Trump. Why? Because as someone who used to be in law enforcement, I understand how important these positions are, and I don't think they should be held hostage simply because he happens to have a disagreement about something the Justice Department is doing.

There were so many things that I disagreed with Bill Barr and his associates about, and not only did I support the nominee for Minnesota whom Donald Trump put up for both the marshal and the U.S. attorney and voted for them, but I actually issued a public statement saying that they were qualified. I worked with them, and I talked to them ahead of time, and I actually liked them, because they might not have been, as the Senator from Illinois pointed out, my first choice, but there was something larger than politics and my first choice. My first choice was our justice system, our country, and the safety of our citizens.

Right now, in my home State, they do not understand why a Senator from Arkansas is holding up law enforcement in the State of Minnesota.

As the chief Federal law enforcement officer for their respective districts, U.S. attorneys are critical to ensuring that American communities are kept safe. This role is so vital that the Founders created the position during the very first Congress as part of the Judiciary Act of 1789. This is the same act that created the Attorney General and the structure of the courts.

Today, in my State, the U.S. attorney leads a team of nearly 130 dedicated law enforcement professionals, including 65 assistant U.S. attorneys. The office is responsible for bringing to justice those who commit a range of Federal crimes, including drug trafficking, child exploitation, cyber crimes, and national security matters.

After 9/11, it was the U.S. Attorney's Office in my home State of Minnesota that was involved in what was known as the hijacker who got caught. A citizen turned him in, and it was our U.S. Attorney's Office that worked with New York on that case.

It was our U.S. Attorney's Office that took on the second biggest white-collar case next to Madoff and won.

It was our U.S. Attorney's Office, under the nominee who is right now on the floor, Andy Luger, that took on perhaps the most infamous missing children case in the country. I know that the Presiding Officer, being from the State of Wisconsin, knows this case of Jacob Wetterling--sad, tragic case. He was able to put together the puzzle pieces that had eluded law enforcement because of his vast experience working as an assistant in the State of New York, working in Minnesota in this very office as an assistant and working his way up. He was able to put together that case with local, State, and Federal law enforcement and solve it and bring some justice and bring some closure for the Wetterling family, who will never see their son again. That is Andy Luger.

This is a guy who took on a sex trafficking case on his own with a young woman trafficked in the city of Rochester and brought the case to trial. This is someone who has reached out to our communities--our Native American communities--and gotten things done.

And this is someone, based on my discussions, Senator Cotton, with the Trump White House, that they would have actually, after firing all the U.S. attorneys, would have had him back. He decided to go to the private sector for a while, and now he is ready to come back.

So this is someone whom I have gotten calls about, since you put this hold on all the U.S. attorneys, from Republican Members of Congress who think we need him in place. I have gotten calls from Republicans across my State who want to put this guy in place.

We have double jeopardy here for my State because you are not only holding up, Senator Cotton, the U.S. attorney for the State of Minnesota, you are also holding up the U.S. marshal.

Andy Luger, the U.S. attorney nominee, as I noted, previously led the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Minnesota from 2014 to 2017. His proven experience is exactly what is needed to handle the challenges facing law enforcement in Minnesota today.

He has been waiting since January 1 to get this done because he figured this went well before the Committee--so he is waiting. He is waiting to serve our State, as is our U.S. marshal candidate.

In addition to the U.S. Attorney's Office, for over 160 years, the U.S. Marshals Service has helped keep Minnesota safe, protecting public servants, tracking down and apprehending fugitives, and operating the Witness Protection Program.

President Biden's nominee to serve as U.S. marshal for the District of Minnesota, as I noted, is Eddie Frizell. Chief Frizell was recommended by a selection committee, as was Andy Luger that Senator Smith and I convened. It included leaders in Minnesota's law enforcement advocacy and communities.

Eddie Frizell brings nearly 30 years of experience in law enforcement in my State, including serving as a chief of police for the Metro Transit Police Department. As I noted, he is also a 30-year veteran of the Minnesota Army National Guard.

I once met him coming off a plane after his deployment. I will never forget that moment. As the brave soldiers are getting off that plane, I thought, ``I know that guy.'' Yes, I was a Senator now. I knew him when he was a police officer and I was a county attorney. Thirty years, veteran of the Minnesota Army National Guard, including two overseas deployments--one to Bosnia and another to Kuwait and Iraq. Throughout his career, he has led by example, immersing himself in the community and becoming what our newspaper called a ``model of persistence.'' His proven experience is exactly what is needed.

So why haven't we been able to confirm these two nominees, both of whom moved through the Judiciary Committee on a voice vote with broad bipartisan support, after I, as I noted, proudly supported President Trump's nominees--who, by the way, they went into their jobs, and they did their jobs.

That is how we do law enforcement. That is how it is supposed to work. This hold has nothing to with the qualifications of the nominees for my State. Instead, as Senator Durbin has just noted, Senator Cotton has put an indiscriminate hold on all the Department of Justice law enforcement nominees, stalling appointments for critical positions in Illinois, Georgia, Nevada, Michigan, Ohio, the Virgin Islands, and, yes, my State of Minnesota. And I am sure, if he continues this--and as Senator Schumer has noted, he is going to have to call up votes for positions that, during the Trump administration, went through with consent during the Trump administration.

These nominees in these States are ready to serve millions of Americans, including 5.7 million people in my State who need the leadership of a permanent U.S. attorney and U.S. marshal.

Senator Cotton is seeking information from the Department of Justice, and I hope that his questions are answered, but I cannot stand by and let him use critical law enforcement nominations as leverage.

I note--and I will end with this--the timetables. During the last administration, Erica MacDonald--the U.S. attorney I mentioned, former judge who had been appointed by Tim Pawlenty--whom I met with in my house so I could make sure that we moved her nomination quickly, she was confirmed by the Senate, Senator Durbin, to be U.S. attorney the same day her nomination was reported by the Judiciary Committee on May 24, 2018.

Tom Heffelfinger was nominated by, by the way, two President Bushes-- the first and the second President Bush. When he was nominated by President George W. Bush to be U.S. attorney for Minnesota, his nomination was received by the Senate on September 4, 2001. He was reported favorably by the Judiciary Committee on September 13 and confirmed by the full Senate the next day. His entire confirmation process took 10 days.

And, by the way, when he retired from his position, he then served on my selection committees--the U.S. attorney who had served under both President Bushes. This is how law enforcement is supposed to work.

Before him, Todd Jones, who became, by the way, the head of the ATF-- he was nominated by President Bill Clinton to be U.S. attorney for Minnesota. His nomination was received in the Senate on October 7, 1998. He was reported favorably by the Judiciary Committee the next day and confirmed by the full Senate on October 21, 1998. His entire confirmation process took only 14 days.

Finally, there was James Rosenbalm, who was nominated by President Ronald Reagan to be the U.S. attorney for Minnesota. His nomination was received by the Senate on October 21, 1981. He was reported favorably out of the Judiciary Committee that day and was confirmed by the full Senate that day. His entire confirmation process happened in 1 day.

I hope we can get back to this tradition of cooperation and recognition that these law enforcement leaders aren't pawns in a political game. They are needed to help keep our communities safe and deserve to move through the Senate expeditiously.

We expect sound judgment from Federal law enforcement. Our constituents expect sound judgment when it comes to confirming top Federal law enforcement officers for a State. And it is time to do the right thing by confirming not just Mr. Luger and Mr. Frizell but the other law enforcement officers who have been held up. And I am happy to come back here day after day after day until we get this done.

The people who work in the U.S. Attorney's Office, Marshals Office, and my constituents deserve to have people in place.

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Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Being that I am the Senator from Minnesota and I am not on the staff of the Attorney General of the United States and I have nothing to with the State in which this happened, I am not aware of all the facts of this. And I think it would actually be inappropriate for me to be involved in Justice Department policy. I am here on behalf of the people in my State, and I want to get someone in place.

And I have made the case, Senator Cotton, that at no time did I not only hold up the U.S. attorneys or the marshals under Donald Trump, I actually supported the ones in my State. And I am just asking for that same courtesy for the people of my State. We have talked about this before. And I simply believe that we should be able to get our U.S. attorneys and marshals in place. And you can do what you want to complain about what is going on in the Justice Department, to make your case to them, to go on TV about it, to make speeches in this Chamber, to write letters about it, to advocate, to gather your friends who might support you on this, but you shouldn't be hurting the people of my State while you do it.

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