Executive Session

Floor Speech

EXECUTIVE SESSION -- (Senate - March 11, 2009)

Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Madam President, I am here to speak in favor of David Ogden to be the next Deputy Attorney General of the United States.

I have listened to my colleague and friend from Oklahoma, and I am not going to be able to respond to everything he said about every nominee, but I did want to talk today about Mr. Ogden. He is someone who I believe should be our next Deputy Attorney General, at a Department of Justice that is much in need of a Deputy Attorney General, and he is someone who will hit the ground running. He will beef up civil rights and antitrust enforcement. He will address white-collar crime and drug-related violence, as well as help to keep our country safe from terrorist attacks.

We know the to-do list and the demands on the next Deputy Attorney General will be great. Part of why it will be so great is something that I saw in my own State. We had a gem of a U.S. Attorney General Office in Minnesota, and we still do, but there was a period of time where I saw its destruction and rot by putting one political appointee in charge of that office. It was a huge mistake. The office was in an uproar. They got away from their regular mission. Luckily, Attorney General Mukasey put in a career prosecutor, Frank McGill, who has put the office back on track, and I thank him for that. We have suggested--recommended--a new name to the Attorney General and the President for the next U.S. Attorney in Minnesota. But I tell you that story for a reason, and that is justice is important and order is important and management is important in our criminal justice system. We went so far away from that when Alberto Gonzalez was the Attorney General. That is why it is so important to have David Ogden in there to work with Eric Holder.

David Ogden has demonstrated intelligence and judgment, leadership and strength of character and, most importantly, a commitment to the Department of Justice. He has the experience and the integrity, I say to my colleagues, to serve as the next Deputy Attorney General. One of the most important roles of a Deputy Attorney General is to make sure that the day-to-day operations of the Department run smoothly and to provide effective and competent management guided by justice. I know David Ogden can do that. His experience both as Chief of Staff and counselor to former Attorney General Reno, as well as his experience as Assistant Attorney General for the Department's civil division under President Clinton proves that David Ogden has experience and the integrity to do the job.

I have heard all these allegations made, including by my colleague. I want to tell you some of the people who are supporting David Ogden. His nomination is supported by a number of law enforcement and community groups, including among others, the Fraternal Order of Police--not exactly a radical organization. He is supported by the National District Attorneys Association, the Partnership for a Drug Free America, and the National Sheriffs' Association.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children is a strong supporter. In fact, they sent a letter saying they gave David Ogden their enthusiastic support. In particular, they wrote:

..... during Mr. Ogden's tenure as Chief of Staff and Counsel to the Attorney General, we worked closely with the Attorney General in attacking the growing phenomenon of child sexual exploitation and child pornography. As counselor to the Attorney General, Mr. Ogden was intricately involved in helping to shape the way our group responded to child victimization challenges and delivered its services.

It is seconded by the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, which also supports David Ogden's nomination. In addition to these law enforcement and child protective groups, David Ogden has received broad bipartisan support from a number of former Department officials, including Larry Thompson, a former Deputy Attorney General under President George W. Bush, and George Terwilliger, who served in the same role under President George H. W. Bush.

There are so many things on the Justice Department's plate, and we need someone to be up and running. But I want to respond specifically to some of the things we have heard today. There was a statement by one of Senators that Mr. Ogden opposed a child pornography statute that we passed in 1998.
That is simply not correct, and I hope my colleagues know that. In fact, as head of the Civil Division of the Department of Justice, he led the vigorous defense of the Child Online Protection Act of 1998 and the Child Pornography Prevention Act of 1996.

There were also mischaracterizations, for political reasons, of Mr. Ogden's record. We have already talked about how he is supported by the major police organizations in this country. Well, in addition to that, he has a general business practice, and before that he served in government. His work at the WilmerHale law firm over the past 8 years, for example, hasn't centered on first amendment litigation. He has represented corporate clients, from Amtrak to the Fireman's Fund.

They also said that somehow Mr. Ogden took some position taken by Mr. Ogden's clients, who were America's librarians and booksellers. Rather, the Senate rejected the Clinton administration's interpretation, and Mr. Ogden made clear to the Judiciary Committee that he disagreed with that interpretation. In his testimony, he made clear that he is comfortable with the ruling of the Court and agreed with the Senate resolution.

You can go on and on about some of these misstatements about Mr. Ogden's record, but let us look at what is going on here. As I mentioned before, the child protection community supports Mr. Ogden based on his strong record of protecting children. Now, I tend to believe the people who deal every day with helping families with missing children more than I believe some statement that is made in a political context. I will be honest with you, I tend to believe the Fraternal Order of Police when they give an endorsement more than I believe some statement made in a political context.

Let me tell you this. Why is this so important? Why can we not go back and forth and back and forth and have all these political partisan attacks? Well, we need a Deputy Attorney General now. We need a Deputy Attorney General right now. The Department of Justice has more than 100,000 employees and a budget exceeding $25 billion. Every single Federal law enforcement officer reports to the Deputy Attorney General, including the FBI, the DEA, the ATF, the Bureau of Prisons, and all 93 U.S. Attorney's Offices. The Attorney General needs the other members of his Justice Department leadership team in place.

Look what we are dealing with: the Madoff case and billions of dollars stolen. We are dealing with childcare cases. We are dealing with administering this $800 billion in money and making sure people aren't ripped off. We are dealing with murders and street crimes across this country. Yet people are trying to stop the Justice Department from operating? That can't happen.

I want to end by saying I was a prosecutor for 8 years, and always my guiding principle was that you put the law above politics. That is what I am asking my colleagues to do here. We need to get David Ogden in as a Deputy Attorney General. Now is the time.

Madam President, I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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