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Holder Sworn in as Attorney General
WASHINGTON (By Carrie Johnson,
Washington Post) February 3, 2009
―
Eric H. Holder Jr. was sworn in
today as the nation's first African
American attorney general, opening a
new chapter for a Justice Department
that had suffered under allegations
of improper political influence and
policy disputes over wiretapping and
harsh interrogation practices.
Holder, promising a "break with the
immediate past," said that the
department's 110,000 employees could
look forward to working in an
environment where "there shall be no
place for political favoritism. No
reasons to be timid."
"A new day for this country is
potentially at hand," Holder said of
the Obama administration. "The
distance from a very small house in
Queens, New York, to the fifth floor
of the Department of Justice is not
as far as you might think. . . . And
that is the wonder of America."
The ceremony was conducted by Vice
President Biden, who praised Holder
as someone who understood that he
was "the people's lawyer" and not
just part of a White House
administration.
The Senate confirmed Holder
yesterday by a vote of 75 to 21.
"The need for new leadership at the
Department of Justice is as critical
today as it's ever been," said
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman
Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.). "This
confirmation is going to do a great
deal to restore the morale and the
purpose throughout the department."
The Senate vote occurred four days
after Holder overcame concerns by a
small but vocal group of GOP
lawmakers about his position on
national security and gun rights, as
well as his recommendations in two
controversial clemency decisions by
President Bill Clinton.
Holder's advocates marshaled
critical support from a broad base
of federal and state law enforcement
groups as well as a bipartisan
coalition of former Justice
Department leaders, including
onetime deputy attorney general
James B. Comey, former FBI director
Louis J. Freeh and President George
W. Bush's terrorism and homeland
security adviser Frances Fragos
Townsend.
By all accounts, Holder is among the
most credentialed lawyers ever to
become attorney general. He began
his career as a public corruption
prosecutor before serving as U.S.
attorney in the District and as a
Superior Court judge. Holder later
operated as second in command at the
Justice Department during the later
years of the Clinton administration.
But his service in the Clinton years
invited criticism from GOP
lawmakers, who also questioned his
approach to hot-button terrorism
policies.
At a grueling seven-hour hearing
last month, flanked by his wife and
three young children, Holder labeled
as "torture" the simulated drowning
technique called water boarding and
vowed to make national security his
top priority.
Holder also said that he would look
askance at efforts to "criminalize
policy differences" but did not
conclusively rule out prosecution of
Bush administration officials for
their involvement in detainee
questioning and warrantless
surveillance operations. That issue
emerged as a pivot point for
conservatives such as Sen. John
Cornyn (R-Tex.), who voted in
opposition to Holder.
Another nay vote came from Sen. Tom
Coburn (R-Okla.). Coburn concluded
that Holder's recommendation of
"neutral leaning toward favorable"
in the last-minute 2001 pardon of
fugitive financier Marc Rich "should
disqualify him from higher office."
A significant number of Republicans
disagreed and, along with all of the
Democrats, cast their votes with the
nominee.
From Day One, Holder will have a
full plate of work. President Obama
already has put the attorney general
in charge of a task force
deliberating where to send nearly
250 terrorism suspects detained at
the U.S. military base at Guantanamo
Bay, Cuba. Obama last month
instructed officials to close the
prison within one year.
Holder also will play a critical
role in developing legal guidelines
for interrogation practices and in
deciding whether the Obama
administration will adopt broad
claims of executive power in court
cases over warrantless eavesdropping
and the firings of nine prosecutors
during the Bush years.
Holder vowed to revitalize the
department's civil rights division,
which is supposed to enforce voting
and employment laws for minorities.
The Justice Department inspector
general in January issued a report
detailing hiring abuses and racial
epithets that proliferated among
some former officials there.
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