senator from rhode island 's senator, here we go again.just a few weeks ago the senate debated vanita gupta's nomination. gupta was eminently qualified, she had support from law enforcement leaders and groups in the country and had proven herself and link high-level government responsibilities but the public can set their hair on fire trying to take miss gupta down. the grassed for something anything to dampenher prospects . eventually they landed on torching an 18-year-old op ed even calling her accurate responses to their questions about lies . it wasn't pretty. now we're back on the floor with republican hair aflame again this time over the nominee to run the justice department civil rights division, kristin clarke. miss clarke is eminently qualified. she knows civil rights law inside and out. she's one of one of the nations leading civil rights organizations . she's a superb well-trained lawyer. conservatives have endorsed her like president george w. bush is dhs secretary and former national committee chairman michael deal. law henforcement organizations like the police chiefs associatio

clarke and previously voting to confirm vanita gupta as associate attorney general put, quote, every single democratic member of the united states senate on record supporting abolishing, abolishing the police, end quote. abolishing the police. that's what he said. not defunding, not reforming. abolishing. what a crock. unfortunately, we've come to expect these laughable exaggerations from our colleague from texas. he would rather smear a nominee with baseless charges than engage with the facts, because neither kristen clarke nor vanita gupta has ever supported abolishing the police. neither of them has said anything remotely close to this. if they had, i'm sure it would come as news to the fraternal order of police, the major county sheriffs of america, and the international association of chiefs of police, all who endorsed vanita gupta's nomination. you might also want to ask the major city chiefs association and national association of black law enforcement executives why they endorsed kristen clarke if she is looking to put their members out of work. the fact is she is not. this s

both vanita gupta and kristen m. clarke have expensive endorsements from law enforcement organizations. and, yet, when they were characterized on the floor of the senate by their critics, they were characterized as haters of police and law enforcement. it just mystifies me how senators can come to the floor knowing these organizations and believe that these two women have hood winked them into believing they support law enforcement. the women and men in law enforcement aren't pushed around and arnt easily deceived -- aren't easily deceived. they endorse these two women and we have kristen m. clarke record has been supported. consider this statement from schaffer david mahoney from davis county, wisconsin, recently stepped down from the national sheriff's association. it is a powerful organization. sheriff mahoney wrote and i want to quote his words after some of the outrageous charges made against ms. clarke this afternoon. she wrote, building trust between law enforcement and communities is essential for law enforce

still move to discharge nomination out of the mmittee for debate and floor vote as he did for vanita gupta since been confirmed as vice associate attorney general and is the first woman of color and for civil rights lawyer to serve in the position. if clarke's nomination a successful, she will be the first black woman to lead the civil rights division. for more we are joined by ben jealous, president of people for the american way, rmer president of the naacp. welcome back to democracy now! talk about what needs to happen right now. the senate judiciary committee deadlocked, but this can still move to the senate floor, the vote on kristen clarke come to have a civil rights division, can't it? >>>> yes. that is what chuck schumer will have to do. he will have to move this to the floor for about. republicans are voting on partisan lines, apparently because they are trying to suppress voting rights across the country. if that is the case, the last thing yowould what is misting voter rights advocate leading that division of the u.s. doj. amy: talked about the hearing that took place. talk abou

much like her future colleagues at the justice department vanita gupta, she has been endorsed by law enforcementgroups. miss clarke will make an exceptional leader so again , in a very significant way as we continue to pursue strong policing reform legislation, the fight for racial justice by confirming kristin clarke on the anniversary of george floyd's death is particularly poignant and appropriate. of course, congress must also pursue strong legislation to hand racial bias in law enforcement. >> .. that will lay the foundation for the next century of american economic leadership. i have spoken a lot about the substance of this bill so this morning i want to reinforce how bipartisan and inclusive this bill is. it is the product of at least half a dozen senate committees, meaning that every single member of the senate has had their fingerprints on this bill in one way or the other. the two pieces of legislation that form the core of the bill, the endlessct frontier act and e strategic competition act passed out of committee on overwhelmingly bipartisan votes, 24-four in the commerce

just a few weeks ago the senate debated vanita gupta's nomination for associate attorney general. let's review the bidding from that. gupta was eminently qualified for her role. she had support from the foremost law enforcement leaders and groups in the country. she had proven herself handling high-level government responsibilities. but republicans set their hair on fire trying to take ms. gupta down. they grasped for something, anything to dent her prospects. eventually they landed on contorting an eight-year-old op-ed, even calling her accurate responses to their questions about it lies. it wasn't pretty. now we're back on the floor with republican hair aflame again, this time over the nominee to run the justice department's civil priets -- rights division, kristen clarke. ms. clarke is eminently qualified. she knows civil rights law inside and out. she is a superb, well-trained, experienced lawyer. conservatives have endorsed her like president george w. bush's d.h.s. chertoff and michael steele. law enforcement organizations like the major chiefs association and the internation

when i look at these nominations and wonder how people like her kristen clarke, vanita gupta and others really enrage people on the other side of the aisle to the point where organizations are making concerted efforts to really twist and distort their life's work, their values, and the talents that they bring. listen to one of these attacks that was just made again on the floor of the senate. the attack is that she personally defended mamia al-jebal who was convicted in 1982 in the murder of david faulkner, a police officer. the attack is missing one key point. ms. clarke never never worked on the al-jebal case. the most vicious attack against her is the false accusation of anti-semitism. now, i am not jewish, and the senator who suggested that she was anti-semitic in some of the things that she had said and done is not jewish either. but those who are of the jewish faith have considered the charges made against her. let me tell you what they found. they found these accusations couldn't be further from the truth. ms. clarke has spent much of her career defending the rights of jewish ame

just like for vanita gupta, ms. clarke was treated by the minority on the judiciary committee like some hair-raising radical, despite her record, her qualifications, and her support from all sides. and just like ms. gupta, ms. clarke has been endorsed by the nation's most powerful law enforcement organizations, including the international association of chiefs of police and the major cities chiefs of police association. i urge all of my colleagues on the senate judiciary to advance her nomination today. with that, i yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: quorum call: mr. mcconnell: mr. president. the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. mcconnell: i'll begin this morning where i began on monday, talking about national police week. yesterday, i got to welcome members of kentucky