Dear Engineer5l:
Thank you for contacting me regarding the nomination of Eric Holder to be the next Attorney General. I appreciate having the benefit of your views on this issue.
President Obama announced his intention to nominate Mr. Holder to be Attorney General on December 1, 2008. On January 28, 2009, Mr. Holder's nomination was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee, on which I do not serve. The full Senate considered the nomination of Mr. Holder to be Attorney General on February 2, 2009, and he was confirmed by at vote of 75-21. I voted against the nomination.
After thoughtfully considering Mr. Holder's record and legal philosophy, I concluded that he lacks the judgment, independence, and candor necessary to be an effective Attorney General. There were several factors that I believed should have disqualified him from such a high office.
Of particular concern to me was Mr. Holder's antagonistic record on the Second Amendment. As both a private citizen and public servant, Eric Holder has been a zealous advocate of gun control regulation, working against the interests of gun owners. I firmly believe that the Second Amendment's individual right to bear arms is an important right for millions of Americas and future generations to come, and I am concerned that the strength of Mr. Holder's convictions may hinder his ability to defend the Second Amendment to its fullest extent.
Other incidents from Eric Holder's time as Deputy Attorney General also concern me. One such example is his involvement in granting clemency to 16 members of a militant Puerto Rican nationalist terrorist group. This FALN organization had been linked to over 150 bombings, threats, kidnappings, and other events which resulted in the deaths of at least six people and the injury of many more between 1974 and 1983. It is not hard to understand why these commutations were strongly opposed by the U.S. Attorney, the FBI, the pardon attorney at the Department of Justice, as well as the victims' families. What is hard to understand, is why Eric Holder chose to ignore those opinions and instead facilitated clemency for these convicted terrorists. In short, Mr. Holder's involvement in the FALN incident suggests a lack of independence and good judgment.
Another concerning incident from Mr. Holder's tenure as Deputy Attorney General is his involvement in the pardon of fugitive financier Marc Rich. Under Mr. Holder's watch, standard procedures at the Department of Justice were bypassed, allowing the pardon to occur without proper vetting. Mr. Holder's role in this pardon? or, at a minimum, his failure to oppose it?casts serious doubt on his ability to be an independent Attorney General, who does not allow political pressure to override good judgment or the rule of law.
For all of these reasons, I could not in good conscience vote to confirm Eric Holder as the next Attorney General.
Thanks again for contacting my office. I appreciate having the opportunity to represent the interests of Nebraskans in the United States Senate. Please feel free to contact me any time. For further information on legislative issues and constituent services, please visit my website,
www.johanns.senate.gov.
Best wishes.
Mike Johanns
United States Senator
