Preserving United States Attorney Independence Act of 2007

Floor Speech

PRESERVING UNITED STATES ATTORNEY INDEPENDENCE ACT OF 2007 -- (Senate - March 20, 2007)

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Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, as a former prosecutor, I am here to speak in behalf of S. 214. I would first like to thank the members of the Judiciary Committee for introducing and reporting out this important bill, and I am proud to be a cosponsor.

I returned from Iraq yesterday, and I look forward to reflecting on lessons learned from that trip later on this week. But I will say that my Senate colleagues and I had extensive discussions with Iraqi political leaders as well as the American military about the need to restore the rule of law in Iraq. I have always been proud that our judicial process has been the gold standard for the rest of the world. It is ironic, then, that even as I spoke with Iraqi leaders about their challenges, we Americans were learning a very public lesson about how the rule of law can be undermined in even the most advanced democracies.

We have learned this past month that our Nation's chief law enforcement officer, our leading guardian of the rule of law in this country, has allowed politics to creep too close to the core of our legal system. This administration has determined that Washington politicians, not prosecutors out in the field--and perhaps, in some cases, not even the facts--will dictate how prosecutions should proceed. The consequences are unacceptable.

Good prosecutors, by all accounts doing their jobs, upholding their oaths, following the principles of their profession, basing their decisions on the facts before them, were pressured and/or fired and/or unfairly slandered by this administration. All of this, it would seem, was motivated by rank politics. That is simply not how we do things in this country. That is why, last week, I called for the Attorney General to resign.

Before I came to the Senate, I was a prosecutor. I managed an office of nearly 400 people, and we always said in our office: If you do the right thing, if you do your job without fear or favor, at the end of the day, you have no regrets. It may not be easy; whatever your decision is, it may not make everyone happy, you may have to explain it, but if you do your job without fear or favor, you have no regrets. That was true, even though I was elected through the political process. I checked politics at the door when I came to my job.

I remember when I first came to my office there were two prosecutors in the office who supported my opponent. I went and met with them the day after I was elected, and I said: I heard nothing but good things about you two, I heard you are great prosecutors, and I would like to know what are the jobs you want in the office. One of them wanted to be head of the drug team, the other wanted to be head of the gang team, and I put them in those jobs and never regretted it. They did incredible jobs, got along well with the police, and they worked well with the community. That is because we knew, when it came to prosecutions, there were boundaries. Those boundaries, this month in Washington, we found out were crossed.

Another case I will always remember is a case where we prosecuted a judge who had stolen $400,000 from a mentally disabled woman he was supposed to protect. This young woman lived in a world of stuffed animals and dolls. She needed people to take care of her. He was the person who was in charge of her money in her accounts, and he systematically stole all $400,000 in those accounts. He was a politically connected judge. He was a Democrat. When that case came into our office, I got so many calls, dozens of calls, from people in the community, political people, saying: You know, he messed up, but he is a good guy. He should not go to jail.

He went to jail. We asked for a 4-year sentence, and we got that sentence. I still remember that courtroom packed with all of his friends, all of his pals, but we did the right thing, and at the end of the day we had no regrets.

This is a tradition in our country, a simple and deeply rooted tradition that our party affiliation should not get in the middle of decisions about whom we prosecute and how we enforce the law.

That tradition is as true--perhaps even more true--in our Federal prosecutor's office as it is in the local DA's office. This tradition emerged because our justice system is ultimately built on a foundation of trust. Without that trust, the system does not work.

When our leaders play politics with the judicial process, we lose that trust. When people get fired for political reasons, we lose that trust. When good prosecutors are removed to make room for political cronies, we lose that trust. In losing that trust, the very lifeblood of our justice system comes under threat.

The legislation we are considering will not undo the damage this administration and this Attorney General have caused, but it will prevent this Attorney General and future Attorneys General from ever doing something like this again.

It is time once again to allow Federal prosecutors to do their jobs without fear or favor. It is time to place much needed limits on an administration that has far too often and far too flagrantly exceeded its authority and abused the public trust. Today, by passing this bill, we seek to curb that abuse and to give trust back to those who gave it to us--the people of this country.

Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum, and I ask that the time be charged equally to both sides.

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