(CNSNews.com) - Sen. Harry Reid (D.-Nev.), who passed away this week, opposed President George W. Bush’s nomination of former Sen. John Ashcroft (R.-Mo.) to be attorney general of the United States citing, among other things, what he called Ashcroft’s “substantial biases against…gays and lesbians” and calling Ashcroft “a man who prevents women from options to which they should be entitled”—an apparent reference to abortion.
Despite Reid’s opposition, Ashcroft was confirmed as attorney general on 58-42 vote conducted on Feb. 1, 2001.
“I have weighed the facts revealed before the Judiciary Committee to the best of my ability,” Reid said in a Senate floor speech on Jan. 31, 2001.
“The evidence has convinced me that Mr. Ashcroft has demonstrated real and substantial biases against women, people of color, gays and lesbians, and anyone else who does not meet his personal definition of what constitutes an American,” said Reid.
“Not only has he shown that pervasive bias, he has repeatedly acted upon it as attorney general and governor of Missouri and as a member of this body,” Reid said.
“I cannot confirm a man who allows his bias against another's most personal lifestyle choices to effect his decision on whether that individual is fit to enter public service,” said Reid.
“I cannot confirm a man who prevents women from options to which they should be entitled,” he said.
“I cannot confirm as attorney general anyone who will not confer upon that office the impartiality it demands and, most importantly, deserves,” said Reid.
Sen. Harry Reid (D.-Nev.): “Mr. President, the Department of Justice is the representative not of an ordinary party to a controversy, but of a sovereignty whose obligation to govern impartially is as compelling as its obligation to govern at all; and whose interest, is that justice shall be done.
“That obligation of impartiality, oft repeated by the United States Supreme Court, courses as the lifeblood through all departments of any fair and representative government. From this springs the confidence in government which is the presupposition central to the Founding Fathers' basic premise: that government derives its proper power only from the consent of the governed.
“When George W. Bush campaigned for the presidency, when he took his oath of office, he promised the American people that he would not divide our house against itself. I took him at his word.
“When he nominated John Ashcroft as Attorney General I kept an open mind and determined that I would, as I have always tried to do in the past, judge the nominee upon the evidence presented regarding his fitness for office, and that I would give the chief executive of our country what leeway I could in his choice of people to carry out his plans and policies. That license, however, is not unlimited, for it is also my obligation to pass upon the nominee; to weigh the evidence of his or her past and determine how it will affect our country's future.
“I have weighed the facts revealed before the Judiciary Committee to the best of my ability. The evidence has convinced me that Mr. Ashcroft has demonstrated real and substantial biases against women, people of color, gays and lesbians, and anyone else who does not meet his personal definition of what constitutes an American. Not only has he shown that pervasive bias, he has repeatedly acted upon it as attorney general and governor of Missouri and as a member of this body.
“So, it is with sadness I stand here tonight to say that the facts have forced me to two conclusions. First, John Ashcroft, while he has many fine qualities, is not the person to be this country's chief law enforcement officer. Second, while President George W. Bush may wish to be a unifier, he is not willing to put unity above partisan appeal to the most extreme elements in the Republican Party.
“To President Bush I say this. Please remember that it was the first Republican president, Abraham Lincoln, who quoted from the Bible these words, ‘A house divided against itself cannot stand.’ You, President Bush, campaigned on a platform of unification of this nation. I will support every effort of yours, Mr. President, to do so, but unification does not mean that we abandon our commitment to fairness and impartiality and essential decency in government.
“To John Ashcroft, I say that I cannot confirm to an office whose obligation to govern impartially is as compelling as his obligation to govern at all; and whose interest, is that justice shall be done a man who has repeatedly and pervasively demonstrated that he is not impartial, and that he judges individuals not by the content of their souls but rather by the tint of their ideology. I cannot confirm a man who allows his bias against another's most personal lifestyle choices to effect his decision on whether that individual is fit to enter public service. I cannot confirm a man who prevents women from options to which they should be entitled. I cannot confirm as attorney general anyone who will not confer upon that office the impartiality it demands and, most importantly, deserves.
“So, Mr. President, I cannot for the women of Nevada, for the people of Nevada, vote to confirm John Ashcroft as Attorney General of the United States.
“So when my name is called by the clerk of this Senate, I will respond without hesitation ‘No.’”