The Chairs of the Congressional Hispanic, Black, and the Asian Pacific American Caucus are slamming House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) for holding a contempt vote against Attorney General Eric Holder.
Though it is no surprise that three House Democrats would come out strong against Republicans, their statements go for the jugular in terms of asserting that Republicans move against the Attorney General is political rather than substantive.
Excerpts from their statements:
Black Caucus Chair Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO): ”This is a sad day in the history of the United States Congress. Today, we see the great lengths to which some of my colleagues will go in an attempt to discredit the Attorney General–a member of President Obama’s Administration–as we near the 2012 election … The Obama Administration is now rightfully asserting executive privilege over the narrow subset of documents that remain at issue–the same process President Bush used six times during his presidency.”
“Just yesterday, the Attorney General participated in a bicameral meeting with Chairman Issa, Chairman Leahy, Ranking Member Grassley, and Ranking Member Cummings in a good faith effort to fully satisfy the Committee’s information requests… The United States House of Representatives has never in its history held an Attorney General in contempt.
“During this critical moment in our nation’s history, the attention of our country’s chief law enforcement officer should be focused on addressing ongoing law enforcement challenges and championing real issues, instead of being distracted by manufactured, partisan political ones. This is an extremely low moment in our body politic.”
Hispanic Caucus Chairman Charles Gonzalez: “Congress must exercise its authority responsibly and in the interest of the American people, not to score partisan political points. The Justice Department and Attorney General Holder have provided the Committee leadership with unprecedented access to the documents it requested; yet Rep. Issa refuses to be reasonable. When partisan advantage is the primary motivation, it’s really the American people who suffer.
“Attorney General Holder continues to act in good faith, but the Republican chairman of the committee has made a decision to pursue the extreme measure of initiating contempt proceedings. This is a waste of time for the Committee, the DOJ and the American people.”
Asian Pacific American Caucus Chairwoman Judy Chu (D-CA): “What the American people are witnessing today is politics at its worst. As we inch closer and closer to the 2012 election, Congressional Republicans are trying to blemish the career of a respected public servant in an attempt to discredit the Administration.”
“Congress has never before held an Attorney General in contempt, and this situation clearly does not meet the threshold for setting such a bold new precedent. The Attorney General and the U.S. Congress have more important issues to address, and these political distractions only leave the American people less safe.”
“Attorney General Holder and the Department of Justice have already provided thousands of pages of pertinent documents and testimonies from numerous top officials. Just yesterday, the Attorney General met with Committee Members in an effort to meet their requests. He is, and has been, cooperating in good faith, despite the egregious charges being leveled against him.
It can never be about a persons actions, the excuses are "it's political" or about "race". Holder was and is being dishonest. Where is the outrage about that?
Jason, all politicians are dishonest, it's a political trait, where have you been my man?
[...] chairs of the Congressional Hispanic, Black and Asian Pacific American Caucus are speaking out against House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa for holding a contempt vote against [...]
[...] Emanuel Cleaver told Rev.House panel votes 23-17 to place Holder in contempt of CongressThe HillHispanic, Black, Asian Chairs Slam Darrell Issa on Holder Contempt …Politic365all 2,337 news [...]
[...] be to white folks. Or hell, maybe this is all about Holder simply being Obama’s enforcer of white slavery that has somehow become the norm here in the United States. Me? I’m going with the race card [...]
That may be acceptable to some but not to me. An American list his life. Take responsibility for your actions. It is his job to prosecute wrong doings, his moral compass is off. And this is not about “all politicians” or any other excuse I listed earlier, it is his actions.
The United States congress should be holding meetings on weather to charge Darrell Issa, on his partisan bias against Attorney General Eric Holder. Some information should not be made public, due to their sensitivity and on-going connections to other active cases, The former President of the US President Bush, authorize such a program. But the current President Barrack Obama, still has to follow those orders implaced by the Bush administration, I am sorry for the family of Brian Terry, the border agent who was killed, but placing blame on Eric Holder and making him the fall guy is just wrong on several different levels.