Judge Merrick Garland is scheduled to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday for his confirmation hearing to be Attorney General of the United States. Here's a portion of his opening statement that reiterates his commitment to fighting for equal justice and for the prosecution of white supremacist domestic terrorists (pdf):
Celebrating DOJ's 150th year reminds us of the origins of the Department, which was founded during Reconstruction, in the aftermath of the Civil War, to secure the civil rights promised by the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments. The first Attorney General appointed by President Grant to head the new Department led it in a concerted battle to protect black voting rights from the violence of white supremacists, successfully prosecuting hundreds of cases against members of the Ku Klux Klan.
Almost a century later, the Civil Rights Act of 1957 created the Department's Civil Rights Division, with the mission "to uphold the civil and constitutional rights of all Americans, particularly some of the most vulnerable members of our society."
That mission remains urgent because we do not yet have equal justice. Communities of color and other minorities still face discrimination in housing, education, employment, and the criminal justice system; and bear the brunt of the harm caused by pandemic, pollution, and climate change.
150 years after the Department's founding, battling extremist attacks on our democratic institutions also remains central to its mission.
From 1995 to 1997, I supervised the prosecution of the perpetrators of the bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building, who sought to spark a revolution that would topple the federal government. If confirmed, I will supervise the prosecution of white supremacists and others who stormed the Capitol on January 6 -- a heinous attack that sought to disrupt a cornerstone of our democracy: the peaceful transfer of power to a newly elected government.
The person who would be sitting on the Supreme Court but for Moscow Mitch McConnell now has an important mission: to revitalize the Department of Justice and be a prosecutor for justice and democracy. After four years of demoralizing politicization, it's a mission for which Garland is especially well- suited.
