MR. PRESIDENT, I WANT TO JOIN MY COLLEAGUES TODAY IN MAKING SOME BRIEF REMARKS ON WILLIAM BARR'S NOMINATION TO SERVE AS ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES. I HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO MEET WITH MR. BARR ONE-ON-ONE IN MY OFFICE. WE HAD A VERY GOOD MEETING, AND WE TALKED IN SOME DETAIL ABOUT SECURING OUR ELECTIONS FROM FOREIGN INTERFERENCE, SOMETHING A MAJOR -- IT'S A MAJOR PRIORITY OF MINE, WHERE WE REALLY ARE CLOSE IN PASSING A BIPARTISAN BILL. SENATOR LANGFORD AND I HAVE CALLED THE SECURE ELECTIONS ACT AND JUST NEED A LITTLE HELP AND SUPPORT FROM THE ADMINISTRATION. ALSO ABOUT MODERNIZING OUR ANTI-TRUST ENFORCEMENT TO FIT THE CHALLENGES THAT WE HAVE TODAY AND MAKE OUR LAWS AS SOPHISTICATED AS THE TRILLION DOLLARS COMPANIES WE'RE NOW SEEING AND THE MERGERS WE'RE SEEING ALL ACROSS THE UNITED STATES. AND SO WE HAD A GOOD DISCUSSION ABOUT THAT. AND WE ALSO TALKED ABOUT HIS FAMILY, WORKING IN THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT, AND DURING THE HEARING, I GAVE AN OPPORTUNITY FOR HIM TO TALK TO THOSE WORKERS WHO WERE THROUGH NO FAULT OF THEIR OWN FURLOUGHED OR NOT GETTING PAID AND HE CLEARLY SHOWS RESPECT FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT, AND I APPRECIATE ALL OF THAT. I THINK THAT'S IMPORTANT TO HAVE IN AN ATTORNEY GENERAL. BUT I HAVE SOME SERIOUS CONCERNS ABOUT THIS NOMINEE. I ALREADY ANNOUNCED I WAS OPPOSING HIM DURING OUR JUDICIARY COMMITTEE VOTE, BUT I HAVE SOME SERIOUS CONCERNS WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE CONTEXT IN WHICH HE HAS COME BEFORE US. HIS NOMINATION COMES AT A TIME WHEN THERE ARE INVESTIGATIONS BY A SPECIAL COUNSEL AND MULTIPLE U.S. ATTORNEYS OFFICES IN NEW YORK AND TO CAMPAIGN FINANCE VIOLATIONS AND IN AN ATTEMPT AS WE KNOW BY A FOREIGN ADVERSARY TO INTERFERE IN OUR ELECTIONS. THE SPECIAL COUNSEL INVESTIGATION HAS LED TO INDICTMENTS OR GUILTY PLEAS FROM OVER 30 PEOPLE AND THREE COMPANIES INCLUDING SEVEN FORMER ADVISORS TO THE PRESIDENT. NOW, THESE INVESTIGATIONS AS WE KNOW GO TO THE HEART OF THE INTEGRITY OF OUR ELECTIONS, OUR GOVERNMENT, AND OUR INSTITUTIONS. AND IT IS WHY IT IS ESSENTIAL FIRST OF ALL THAT SPECIAL COUNSEL MUELLER'S INVESTIGATION AND THE U.S. ATTORNEY'S OFFICES INVESTIGATION BE ALLOWED TO FINISH THEIR WORK FREE OF POLITICAL INTERFERENCE. NOW THE PRESIDENT AS WE KNOW HAS MADE PAST STATEMENTS, SENT OUT TWEETS ABOUT ATTORNEY GENERAL SESSIONS, CRITICAL OF HIM FOR ALLOWING THESE INVESTIGATIONS TO GO FORWARD. THIS IS THE CONTEXT WE'RE IN AND MADE IT VERY CLEAR THE PRESIDENT HAS WHAT HE'S LOOKING FOR IN AN ATTORNEY GENERAL. HE WANTS SOMEONE WHO WILL BE HIS LAWYER. HE WANTS SOMEONE TO USE THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT IN A WAY TO PROTECT HIM. AND I THINK THIS SHOULD WORRY US BECAUSE YES, THE ATTORNEY GENERAL WORKS FOR THE PRESIDENT, BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY, WHO THE ATTORNEY GENERAL REALLY WORKS FOR IS THE PEOPLE, THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES. THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES IS THE PEOPLE'S LAWYER AND PLEDGES TO UPHOLD THE RULE OF LAW, APPLY THE LAW EQUALLY, NO MATTER WHO YOU ARE. MR. BARR HAS MADE CLEAR ONE, THAT HE RESPECTS MR. MUELLER, WHAT I TRULY APPRECIATE. HE SAID THAT BOTH IN MY PRIVATE MEETING AND ON THE RECORD AT THE HEARING. BUT HE HAS ALSO SAID THAT HE INTENDS TO TAKE OVER SUPERVISION OF THE SPECIAL COUNSEL'S INVESTIGATION. HE WOULDN'T COMMIT AT HIS NOMINATION HEARING DESPITE HAVING WRITTEN THAT 19 PAGE MEMO THAT HE WOULDN'T COMMIT TO FOLLOWING THE ADVICE OF ETHICS LAWYERS AT THE DEPARTMENT ABOUT WHETHER OR NOT HE SHOULD BE RECUSED. WHY DID THAT CONCERN ME? BECAUSE HE HAD ACTUALLY COMMENDED THE DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR FOLLOWING THOSE RULES AND HE HAD COMMENDED SENATOR AND NOW -- THEN ATTORNEY GENERAL SESSIONS FOR FOLLOWING THESE RULES. SO THAT CONCERNS ME. WE KNOW THAT IF HE IS CONFIRMED, HE WILL BE IN THE POSITION TO OVERSEE THE SPECIAL COUNSEL'S BUDGET, THE SCOPE OF THE INVESTIGATION, AND HE WILL ULTIMATELY, AND THIS IS KEY, RECEIVE THE RESULTS OF THE INVESTIGATION UNDER LAW. HE WILL GET TO DECIDE WHETHER THE RESULTS ARE RELEASED TO THE PUBLIC OR PERHAPS AS HE SUGGESTED DURING THE HEARING, ARE NOT RELEASED AT ALL. AND THAT'S IN ADDITION TO THOSE RELATED INVESTIGATIONS HE WILL OVERSEE BY U.S. ATTORNEYS. THESE INVESTIGATIONS DON'T HAVE SPECIAL COUNSEL REGULATIONS TO PROTECT THEM. SO HE IS IN A DIRECT LINE TO OVERSEE THOSE. AND EVEN THOUGH MANY OF MY COLLEAGUES ASKED HIM TO PLEDGE TO MAKE SPECIAL COUNSEL MUELLER'S REPORT PUBLIC, HE WOULDN'T COMMIT TO DO SO. HE ALWAYS HAD A WAY TO KIND OF DODGE A COMMITMENT TO DO SO INSTEAD OF IN MY MIND MAKING A FULL ENDORSEMENT OF RELEASING THAT REPORT. IF HE IS CONFIRMED, HE WILL ALSO HAVE ROOM TO MAKE HIS OWN INTERPRETATION OF WHAT THE LAW ALLOWS. IN FACT, AS ATTORNEY GENERAL, HE CAN MAKE THE DEPARTMENT'S RULES AND REGULATIONS AND ISSUE GUIDANCE THAT WOULD MAKE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TRANSPARENCY AND OBSCURITY. THAT IS WHY WE HAVE TO LOOK AT HIS JUDGMENT ON THIS PARTICULAR ISSUE. MAYBE IF WE WERE IN A DIFFERENT TIME, AND A DIFFERENT MOMENT, WE WOULD BE TALKING ABOUT THINGS LIKE THE OPIOID EPIDEMIC AND WHAT THE ATTORNEY GENERAL IS DOING, WHICH IS VERY IMPORTANT, AND I KNOW HE DOES CARE ABOUT THAT, OR WE WOULD BE DEVOTING OUR MOMENT, WHICH I WISH WE COULD BE DOING, TO ANTITRUST AND UPGRADING THE WAY THOSE LAWS ARE ENFORCED AND WHAT WE SHOULD DO. OR WE WOULD BE TALKING, WHICH WE SHOULD BE DOING, ABOUT THE SECOND STEP ACT AND NOT JUST THE FIRST STEP ACT. ALL THOSE QUESTIONS WERE ASKED IN THE HEARING, IMMIGRATION REFORM, VERY IMPORTANT, ISSUES -- VERY IMPORTANT ISSUES. BUT WE ARE WHERE WE ARE. WE ARE WHERE WE ARE AND WE HAVE TO LOOK AT HIS JUDGMENT TO SEE WHAT KIND OF ATTORNEY GENERAL HE WOULD BE AT THIS TIME, WITH RESPECT TO LAW AND ORDER, WHICH TO ME RIGHT NOW IS NOT JUST ABOUT LAW AND ORDER IN OUR COMMUNITIES, VERY IMPORTANT, BUT IT IS ALSO ABOUT LAW AND ORDER WHEN IT COMES TO OUR ENTIRE JUSTICE SYSTEM. LIKE MANY OF THE NOMINEES FROM THE PRESIDENT, MR. BARR HAS DEMONSTRATED, JUST LIKE JUSTICE KAVANAUGH, JUST LIKE JUSTICE GORSUCH DID, AN EXPANSIVE VIEW, AN UNPRECEDENTLY EXPANSIVE VIEW OF PRESIDENTIAL POWER. WE DON'T HAVE TO LOOK FAR TO SEE HOW THOSE VIEWS WOULD IMPACT THE SPECIAL COUNSEL'S INVESTIGATION. JUST A FEW MONTHS BEFORE HE WAS NOMINATED AS A PRIVATE CITIZEN, I DON'T HAVE MANY CONSTITUENTS THAT WOULD DO THIS, BUT HE DECIDED TO SEND IN THIS 19 PAGE MEMO AS A PRIVATE CITIZEN. IT WAS NO ORDINARY MEMO, MR. PRESIDENT. THIS MEMO WAS 19 PAGES, SINGLE SPACED, AND ADDRESSED TO THE LEADERSHIP OF THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT, BUT IT WAS SENT TO ALL THESE PEOPLE, CONSERVATIVE ACTIVISTS AND ALL KINDS OF PEOPLE ALL OVER THE PLACE, THE LAWYERS AT THE WHITE HOUSE COUNSEL'S OFFICE, THE PRESIDENT'S PERSONAL LAWYERS. I DON'T THINK MY CONSTITUENTS WOULD HAVE THEIR ADDRESSES OR E-MAILS, BUT IT WAS SENT TO ALL THESE PEOPLE. IT ARGUED THAT A PORTION OF THE SPECIAL COUNSEL'S OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE INQUIRY WAS, QUOTE, FATALLY MISCONCEIVED. HE SAID IT WAS BASED ON A LEGALLY INSUPPORTABLE READING OF THE LAW. THAT MAKES YOU PAUSE. HOW CAN WE BE SURE -- HOW CAN WE THINK HE CAN IMPARTIALLY EVALUATE THE SPECIAL COUNSEL'S INVESTIGATION IF BEFORE HE'S EVEN SEEN ITS RESULTS, HE WRITES EXTENSIVELY THAT PART OF IT, NOT ALL OF IT, WAS ILLEGALLY -- WAS LEGALLY INSUPPORTABLE AND FATALLY MISCONCEIVED. BUT IT IS NOT JUST THOSE STATEMENTS THAT ARE TROUBLING. HE GOES ON TO STATE, NOT JUST FOR THE FIRST TIME, HIS ALARMING VIEWS ABOUT THE PRESIDENT'S POWERS. HERE IS ONE OF THEM AND I QUOTE THE PRESIDENT'S LAW ENFORCEMENT POWERS EXTEND TO ALL MATTERS, INCLUDING THOSE IN WHICH HE HAD A PERSONAL STAKE. MR. BARR DOESN'T CITE LAWS OR CASES FROM THE SUPREME COURT OR THE HISTORY OF OUR NATION'S FOUNDING OR EVEN THE FEDERALIST PAPERS WHEN MAKING HIS CLAIMS. HE JUST SAYS IT IS OBVIOUS. LET ME BE CLEAR WHAT HE MEANS BY THIS. MR. BARR BELIEVES THAT A PRESIDENT GETS TO SUPERVISE AN INVESTIGATION INTO HIS OR HER OWN CONDUCT. AS A FORMER PROSECUTOR, I KNOW THAT IT IS A FUNDAMENTAL VALUE IN OUR COUNTRY THAT NO ONE, NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW. AND IT IS A FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLE IN OUR LEGAL SYSTEM THAT NO ONE SHOULD BE A JUDGE IN THEIR OWN CASE. NOT EVEN THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. I ALSO HAVE GRAVE DOUBTS ABOUT MR. BARR'S RESPECT FOR CONGRESS. A CO EQUAL BRANCH OF GOVERNMENT AND OUR DUTY TO PROVIDE OVERSIGHT OF THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH. MR. BARR IS A PROPONENT OF THE UNITARY EXECUTIVE THEORY, WHICH IS THE IDEA THAT THE PRESIDENT HAS EXPANSIVE POWERS, EVEN IN THE FACE OF CONGRESS'S CONSTITUTIONAL DUTIES. HIS WRITINGS ON THE TOPIC WERE A SERIOUS QUESTION ABOUT HOW MR. BARR WILL APPROACH CONGRESSIONAL OVERSIGHT OF THE ADMINISTRATION. I'M CONCERNED THAT MR. BARR WILL RELY ON THE BROAD INTERPRETATION OF EXECUTIVE POWER TO SUPPORT THE WHITE HOUSE'S REPORTED EFFORTS TO ASSERT EXECUTIVE PRIVILEGE TO PREVENT THE RELEASE OF THE SPECIAL COUNSEL REPORT, ITS FINDINGS, OR ITS CONCLUSIONS. IF THAT HAPPENS, CONGRESS MUST BE READY TO ASSERT OUR RESPONSIBILITY TO MAKE SURE THE PUBLIC AND ESPECIALLY STATE ELECTION OFFICIALS WHO ARE WORKING TO SECURE OUR ELECTIONS HAVE THE FACTS ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED. HOW ARE WE GOING TO FIX THIS INTO THE NEXT ELECTION IF WE DON'T KNOW WHAT HAPPENED? HOW ARE WE GOING TO HAVE ACCOUNTABILITY FOR OUR GOVERNMENT IF THE PUBLIC IS SHUT OUT IN VIEWING WHAT HAPPENED? THIS IS NOT THE TIME TO INSTALL AN ATTORNEY GENERAL WHO HAS REPEATEDLY ASPOUSED A VIEW OF UNFETTERED EXECUTIVE POWER -- ESPOUSED A VIEW OF UNFETTERED EXECUTIVE POWER. CONGRESS CANNOT ADVOCATE ITS RESPONSIBILITIES, NOT WHEN IT COMES TO NATIONAL SECURITY, FOREIGN RELATIONS, TO THE BUDGET OR AS KEY TODAY OVERSIGHT INTO LAW AND ORDER. A FEW YEARS AGO I GOT TO GO TO ATLANTA TO MAKE A SPEECH DOWN THERE, AND OF COURSE I TOOK A LITTLE TRIP OVER TO THE CARTER PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY. OF COURSE I WANTED TO SEE THIS LIBRARY. I HAD NEVER SEEN IT, TO LEARN MORE ABOUT AS OPPOSED TO CARTER, BUT AS A MINNESOTAN I WANTED TO LOOK AT THE MONDALE MEMORABILIA I MAY HAVE BEEN THE ONLY ONE THERE LOOKING FOR JOAN'S DRESS AND OTHER THINGS RELATED TO THE MONDALE HALF OF THE CARTER MONDALE TEAM. THERE WERE THINGS THERE, BUT WHAT WAS MOST PROMINENT THERE OF WALTER MONDALE'S WAS A QUOTE THAT WAS PUT UP RIGHT ON THE WALL, AND AT THE TIME I LIKED IT. I THOUGHT IT WAS SIMPLE. AND I WROTE IT DOWN, AND I PUT IT IN MY PURSE, BUT I NEVER KNEW THEN HOW RELEVANT IT WOULD BE TODAY. THE QUOTE CAME FROM MONDALE'S REFLECTIONS ON HIS SERVICE WITH PRESIDENT CARTER AFTER THEY HAD LOST THEIR REELECTION, BUT HAD SERVED OUR COUNTRY FOR FOUR YEARS. HE SAID THIS, WE TOLD THE TRUTH. WE OBEYED THE LAW. WE KEPT THE PEACE. I BELIEVE THAT THERE'S A MINIMUM STANDARD WE SHOULD EXPECT OF ANY ADMINISTRATION. WE TOLD THE TRUTH. WE OBEYED THE LAW. WE KEPT THE PEACE. EVERY PRESIDENT FACES GREAT CHALLENGES, MANY OF WHICH ARE UNFORESEEN AND REQUIRE DIFFICULT POSITIONS, BUT AT THE MINIMUM, AN ADMINISTRATION SHOULD TELL THE TRUTH, OBEY THE LAW, AND DO ALL THEY CAN TO KEEP THE PEACE. SO THAT IS WHERE I END BECAUSE WHAT CONCERNS ME ABOUT THIS NOMINEE IS NOT HIS VAST EXPERIENCE THAT HE'S HAD OR THE WORK HE WILL DO ON A FEW OF THE THINGS THAT I MENTIONED, IT'S HIS VIEWS ON EXECUTIVE POWER, HIS VIEWS ON CONGRESS'S POWER TO BE A CHECK AND BALANCE ON THE EXECUTIVE, HIS VIEWS ON WHAT THE EXECUTIVE CAN DO RIGHT AS WE FACE THIS CRUCIAL TIME IN HISTORY, WHERE COMING RIGHT AT US IS THIS MAJOR REPORT FROM THE SPECIAL COUNSEL. I WANT SOMEONE IN THERE THAT WILL MAKE SURE THAT WHOEVER IS IN THE WHITE HOUSE OBEYS THE LAW AND TELLS THE TRUTH. SADLY, I CANNOT SUPPORT THIS NOMINEE. I DO HOPE THAT I'M WRONG IN SOME OF MY CONCLUSIONS BASED ON WHAT I READ AND WHAT I HEARD, I WOULD LIKE NOTHING MORE AND I HAVE APPRECIATED SO MUCH OF THE WORK OF ROD ROSENSTEIN AS THE DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL AND MANY OF THE OTHER PEOPLE OVER IN THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT WHO HAS WORKED WITH HIM TO ALLOW THIS INVESTIGATION TO CONTINUE. AND I HOPE THAT THAT WILL BE THE CASE IF THIS NOMINEE DOES GO THROUGH THIS CHAMBER, THAT HE WILL DO THE SAME. THANK YOU, MR. PRESIDENT. I YIELD THE FLOOR.