* WARNING: THIS IS AN UNOFFICIAL, INTRODUCTORY COPY OF THE BILL.
THE OFFICIAL COPY CONSIDERED BY THE CITY COUNCIL IS THE FIRST READER COPY.
INTRODUCTORY*
CITY OF BALTIMORE
COUNCIL BILL R
(Resolution)
Introduced by: Councilmember Welch
A RESOLUTION ENTITLED
A COUNCIL RESOLUTION concerning
title
Request for Federal Action - Full Senate Vote on the Nomination of Loretta Lynch to be U.S. Attorney General
FOR the purpose of supporting the nomination of Loretta Lynch to replace Eric Holder as U.S. Attorney General, and calling on the Senate leadership to allow a vote on her nomination by the full Senate without further unwarranted delay.
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Recitals
On November 8, 2014, President Barack Obama nominated Loretta Lynch to replace Eric Holder as U.S. Attorney General. Ms. Lynch�s well established legal reputation and demonstrated commitment to civil rights protection would bring a fair and steady hand to lead the U.S. Department of Justice. She would also make history as the first African American woman to serve as Attorney General.
In her current position as the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Ms. Lynch has earned praise for her work fighting sex trafficking, police brutality, terrorism, and religious and racial hate crimes. In fact, throughout her 30 year career, she has distinguished herself as tough, as fair, an independent lawyer who has twice headed one of the most prominent U.S. Attorney�s offices in the country. She also traveled to Geneva, Switzerland, in 2014 as part of the U.S. official delegation before the United Nations Covenant to Eradicate Racial Discrimination. At that time, her mastery of the issues as well as her ardent support and understandings of the challenges of the U.S.�s justice system was impressive.
Ms. Lynch is clearly qualified for the position of Attorney General, and her confirmation should have ben accomplished quickly and without controversy. The U.S. Senate has twice unanimously confirmed her for her current position. During the Senate Judiciary Committee�s hearings on her nomination in late January, there was no stated opposition to her nomination from the panel and she was subsequently recommended for confirmation in a bipartisan vote. Her nomination has received broad, bipartisan support, including support from former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and New York Police Commissioner William Bratton. Her confirmation has been publicly supported by a majority of Senators, more than the number required to confirm her as our next Attorney General.
Yet, the Republican Senate leadership has refused to allow Ms. Lynch�s nomination to be put to a vote before the full U.S. Senate. They have not publicly questioned her qualifications to be Attorney General, and have not made a case for why she shouldn�t be confirmed on her own merits. Instead, they claim to be holding her nomination up as part of a partisan fight over one unrelated issue or another.
According to CNN, the period between the Senate Judiciary Committee�s vote to confirm and the full Senate vote has already lasted longer for her than for any Attorney General nominee in recent history; longer than the period for the eight previous nominees for the job combined. This unwarranted delay is unconscionable and damaging to the Justice Department�s ability to perform its essential mission.
Ms. Lynch has the necessary support in the Senate to be confirmed as Attorney General. No legitimate purpose is being served by further delay of her confirmation vote. The Republican Senate leadership should follow the recommendation of the Senate Judiciary Committee�s bipartisan vote that her nomination be acted on by the full Senate without further delay.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF BALTIMORE, That the Council supports the nomination of Loretta Lynch to replace Eric Holder as U.S. Attorney General, and calls on the Senate leadership to allow a vote on her nomination by the full Senate without further unwarranted delay.
AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution be sent to the Mayor, the Honorable Members of the Senate Majority Leadership, the Honorable Members of the Maryland House and Senate Delegations to the 114th Congress, and the Mayor�s Legislative Liaison to the City Council.
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