Floor Statements

Madam President, yesterday, an overwhelming bipartisan majority of Senators voted to move forward on Senator Hirono and Senator Duckworth's anti-Asian hate crimes bill. I was pleased the vote was so substantial, 92 to 6. Rarely do you see 92 Senators agree to move forward with any piece of legislation. But if there was ever a topic that deserves a strong showing of bipartisan support, it is standing up to bigotry and racism against a particular group of Americans.

Today, we will continue to work on a bipartisan agreement regarding amendments. I have committed to start the process with the bipartisan Moran-Blumenthal amendment. I understand my Republican colleague from Maine has some modifications to the bill, which we welcome, and those negotiations are proceeding afoot. I expect the Republican leader and I, in consultation with the relevant committees, will be able to figure out an appropriate number of reasonable, germane, and non-gotcha amendments for the Senate to consider.

We are working with Senators Moran, Grassley, and Collins in a very bipartisan way, and we should be able to wrap up this bill next week. By doing so, the Senate will deliver a powerful message to Asian Americans that their voices are heard, their concerns are felt, and that their government will take swift, decisive action to protect them. They are not alone.

Before I move on, I just want to say to my Republican colleagues: This is how the Senate can work, even though it is closely divided. When there is a pressing issue, like the rising tide of anti-Asian violence, the Senate can act quickly and in a bipartisan way to address it.

We don't need to always distrust the other party. This bill was never intended to be a messaging bill or gotcha legislation. This bill is like a drive straight down the middle of the fairway--well-timed, modest, unobjectionable.

At the end of the day, we can achieve a result that has both substantive and symbolic importance: substantive because we are going to adjust the focus of the Justice Department to better respond to anti-Asian hate crimes and symbolic because both parties are standing up to deliver a message that racism and bigotry have no place--no place--in America. That is an undeniably good result

Madam President, on another, less happy, matter, this afternoon the Senate will need to go through a rare procedure to discharge a nomination from the Judiciary Committee: Ms. Vanita Gupta to serve as Associate Attorney General.

The daughter of immigrants from India, Ms. Gupta is the first civil rights attorney and the first woman of color to ever be nominated for Associate Attorney General, the third ranking official at the Department of Justice. Her public track record is nothing short of exemplary.

In her very first case after law school, Ms. Gupta won the release of several African Americans who had

been wrongly convicted by all-White juries in Texas, clients who eventually won a pardon from Texas Governor Rick Perry. She continued her work at the ACLU, where she launched a bipartisan criminal justice reform effort, before going on to lead the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department under President Obama.

Despite her sterling credentials, some of my Republican colleagues on the Judiciary Committee would have you believe that Ms. Gupta is some hair-raising, leftwing radical. In her hearing, Ms. Gupta was unfortunately subjected to a mind-numbingly repetitious line of questions about whether or not she supports the police or wants to decriminalize all drugs.

A conservative judicial organization launched a national ad campaign to smear her nomination. It was disgraceful. Just yesterday, a Republican Senator on the Judiciary Committee grilled another DOJ nominee, Kristen Clarke, over an obviously satirical piece she published for her college newspaper.

The political right seems to relish trying to score political points by connecting every Justice Department to hot-button partisan issues, whether or not they have any relevance, sometimes to the point of absurdity. And in the case of Ms. Gupta, the accusations of radicalism are especially false.

Ms. Gupta has worked with stakeholders and legislators from all corners, including a number of Republican Senators, during various criminal justice reform efforts. She has been endorsed by--listen to this--the National Fraternal Order of Police. Let me repeat that so my colleagues hear it. She has been endorsed by the National Fraternal Order of Police, as well as the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, and the National Sheriffs' Association. It is making the decrying that she is a crazy leftwing radical just absurd, and you wonder how and why they come to that conclusion.

Vanita Gupta will make an outstanding Associate Attorney General. The Senate should discharge her nomination from the Judiciary Committee this afternoon.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, I move to proceed to executive session, and I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. President, pursuant to S. Res. 27, the Judiciary Committee being tied on the question of reporting, I move to discharge the Senate Judiciary Committee from further consideration of the nomination of Vanita Gupta, of Virginia, to be Associate Attorney General.

Thank you, Mr. President.

The Senator from Utah has graciously yielded back his remaining time, so I ask unanimous consent that I speak for a brief few minutes and then we vote.

And then yield back the rest of our time after that.

Madam President, the Senate will soon vote on a motion to discharge the nomination of Vanita Gupta to serve as the next Attorney General--Associate Attorney General. The daughter of immigrants, she would be the first woman of color and the first civil rights attorney to serve as Attorney General.

Ms. Gupta is an exceptional nominee and an outstanding lawyer. It is confounding that her nomination has been tied up in the Judiciary Committee, requiring the Senate to take the extra procedural steps to move her nomination forward. But despite Republican obstruction, she will be confirmed by this Chamber in a few minutes.

Ms. Gupta's credentials speak for themselves. She most recently served as president and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and served 4 years at the Justice Department.

Her first case after law school involved securing the release of several African Americans wrongly convicted by all-White juries in Texas.

At a time when so many in our country call for action against civil injustices and racial violence, how can we not install one of the Nation's top civil rights lawyers at the Department of Justice?

Senate Republicans, rather than evaluate Ms. Gupta on the merits of her accomplishments, have spent the last few weeks appealing to outlandish accusations that she is an out-of-touch, far-left radical.

The questions she endured during her confirmation hearing were utterly inane--from accusations that she is anti-police to the insinuation that she wants to legalize all drugs. A conservative judicial organization even launched a shameful national ad campaign to smear her reputation--her nomination. These smear tactics are nonsense.

Gupta commands the respect of civil rights advocates and law enforcement and has the endorsement from the National Fraternal Order of Police, the National Sheriffs' Association, the Association of Chiefs of Police, and the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association. There is no mystery to Ms. Gupta's broad support. She is outstanding at what she does. She knows how to listen and work with others, including Republican Senators, and is deeply knowledgeable in the field. That is exactly--exactly--she is exactly the kind of person we need at the Department of Justice.

So I look forward to now moving on Ms. Gupta's nomination.

I yield back the rest of our time.

Vote on Motion to Discharge

Madam President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. President, I move to proceed to legislative session.

Mr. President, I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 57.

Mr. President, I send a cloture motion to the desk.

Mr. President, I move to proceed to legislative session.

Mr. President, I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 34.

Mr. President, I send a cloture motion to the desk.

Finally, Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum calls for the cloture motions filed today, April 15, be waived.

Mr. President, I move to proceed to legislative session.

Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate be in a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. President, I have 9 requests for committees to meet during today's session of the Senate. They have the approval of the Majority and Minority leaders.

Pursuant to rule XXVI, paragraph 5(a), of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the following committees are authorized to meet during today's session of the Senate:

Committee on Armed Services

The Committee on Armed Services is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Thursday, April 15, 2021, at to be determined, to conduct a hearing.

Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs

The Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Thursday, April 15, 2021, at 10 a.m., to conduct a hearing.

Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Thursday, April 15, 2021, at 10 a.m., to conduct a hearing.

Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

The Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Thursday, April 15, 2021, at 10 a.m., to conduct a hearing a nomination.

Committee on Finance

The Committee on Finance is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Thursday, April 15, 2021, at 9:30 p.m., to conduct a hearing on nominations.

Committee on Foreign Relations

The Committee on Foreign Relations is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Thursday, April 15, 2021, at 11 a.m., to conduct a hearing on nominations.

Committee on Foreign Relations

The Committee on Foreign Relations is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Thursday, April 15, 2021, at 11 a.m., to conduct a business hearing.

Committee on the Judiciary

The Committee on the Judiciary is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Thursday, April 15, 2021, at 3 p.m., to conduct a hearing.

Subcommittee on Communication, Technology, Innovation, and The Internet

The Subcommittee on Communication, Technology, Innovation, and The Internet of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Thursday, April 15, 2021, at 10 a.m., to conduct a hearing.