Monday, February 2, 2009

U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson (R-GA)
Floor Statement on Eric Holder
Remarks as Delivered on the Senate Floor

Mr. President, I will vote today for Eric Holder. I want to tell this body why. When he was first nominated, I had concerns--second amendment concerns and Guantanamo interrogation concerns, and about some of the releases that had taken place while he was a deputy U.S. attorney. There are three main reasons I am going to support this nomination. One, when I called him, he was the most forthright, most candid of all the people who have been appointed by the President, and I appreciate very much the time he took.

On the second amendment, he may have had interpretations more strict than mine, but he interpreted the Supreme Court to be the law of the land, and he would enforce the Supreme Court, which has clearly determined that the second amendment is an individual right.

Secondly, on Guantanamo, he acknowledged that those who had done interrogations had done so under the authority of the Department of Justice, and the Department of Justice could not undo what it had done. I respected that.

Third, a great U.S. attorney general from Georgia by the name of Griffin Bell, who died 2 weeks ago, under Jimmy Carter, sang Eric Holder's praises. Also, Larry Thompson of Georgia, deputy U.S. attorney under John Ashcroft--when I called him to ask about Holder, he said he was as good a lawyer and as fine and forthright a man as he knew. With those endorsements and his candid answers to my questions, I will vote for his confirmation in the Senate.