Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015

Floor Speech

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Mr. BLUMENTHAL. Madam President, I am proud to follow the
distinguished Senator from Florida, and I join him in his observations
of the ``60 Minutes'' show, but equally, if not more importantly, in
his views on the letter that was sent to the rulers of Iran and its
divisive and destructive impact on a matter that should be above
partisan politics. To inject a partisan political issue into,
literally, a matter of life and death, in my view, is unfortunate,
inappropriate, and truly regrettable.

Lynch Nomination

Equally unfortunate, regrettable, and inappropriate is to inject
politics into law enforcement. The nomination of the chief law
enforcement officer in our Nation, the Attorney General--that position
truly ought to be above politics. In fact, as we know from the
structure of our government, it is generally regarded to be above
politics.

The President of the United States has his or her legal counsel to
provide advice to the President, but the Attorney General of the United
States enforces laws for this Nation--not for one party, not for one
official, not on one issue, but on all issues for all people in the
United States.

When my colleagues have said on the floor that the President deserves
his nominee, really it is the Nation that deserves a nominee to be
confirmed.

This nominee has been delayed longer than any in recent history. As
my colleagues have observed and as this chart illustrates, 129 days
have passed since Loretta Lynch's nomination. From announcement to
confirmation, her nomination has been delayed longer than any in recent
history--in fact, longer than any in modern history, putting aside the
Meese nomination, which was delayed because of an ongoing investigation
into alleged improprieties.

There is no investigation here. There is no question of impropriety.
There has been no hint of any reason to reject the Loretta Lynch
nomination.

The American people could be forgiven for thinking that some of the
Members of this body are simply looking for an excuse to delay or deny
her nomination.

First, it was in our hearing questions about her capacity and
qualifications. Those reasons or potential excuses for delaying or
denying her nomination were quickly extinguished. Then it was the
immigration issue. That too, as an excuse for delaying or denying this
nomination, has been dispensed. Now it is the antitrafficking bill.

No reason for delay could be more inappropriate, because the fact of
the matter is the threat to delay again her nomination is antithetical
to the very goal of stopping human trafficking. If my colleagues really
want to end sex exploitation and human trafficking, they should confirm the chief law enforcement official who is responsible for fighting it. They should confirm the nominee who has indicated an anathema to this kind of abuse, who has shown her
determination to fight it and to use all of the laws and potentially this new law in the war against human trafficking.

The Senate is perfectly capable of filling this crucial position--the
top law enforcement job in the Nation--even as it debates
antitrafficking legislation. In fact, it has shown itself capable of
doing so just last week when two nominees to Department of
Transportation positions--important transportation positions, as I can
say personally, because they involve the safety and reliability of our
system--even as it continued to debate the antitrafficking legislation.

Holding the Lynch nomination hostage--which is what is happening
here--is a disservice to the Department of Justice but even more so to
our system of justice. It undermines the integrity and trust in the
nonpolitical nature of justice in this Nation. It does so at a time
when vigorous and effective leadership is more important and necessary
than ever.

The Nation could be forgiven for assuming, as increasingly appears to
be so, that the Lynch nomination is being held hostage or is simply a
cynical excuse to prevent her from getting to work on protecting the
American public from human trafficking, which is so important.

There are legitimate points of debate between our sides on this
issue. Those points of debate and differences need to be resolved, and
I hope they will be. I trust they will be. I believe that they are
resolvable and that extraneous or irrelevant provisions now in the bill
can be removed so that we can focus on stopping modern-day slavery,
which is what the--

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Mr. BLUMENTHAL. Which is what we should be doing here, and I believe
we will do it.

Loretta Lynch has a stellar record. She served with incredible
distinction during her time as U.S. attorney for the Eastern District
of New York. I suggest to my colleagues that the best way to serve the
purpose of stopping trafficking is to confirm her so she can get to
work on enforcing that new law.

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