Kerry Voted Against Ashcroft/Norton Nominations

Did you know that John Kerry voted against the nomination of both John Ashcroft and Gale Norton? Here is what Kerry said about Norton:

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Why I will vote against Gale Norton


By US Senator John Kerry

Thursday, January 25, 2001


GALE NORTON, President George W. Bush's choice for secretary of the interior, has been labeled an extremist and caricatured as ''James Watt in a skirt.''

These words are not only uncivil, but they distract from sincere differences over principle and policy that have made this nomination troubling for those concerned about the environment.

I oppose Norton's nomination because, for a Cabinet post that demands that its occupant strike a difficult and delicate balance between conservation and development, Bush has selected an individual whose philosophy is remarkably unbalanced.

. . .

The secretary must strike the proper balance between conservation and development, yet Norton has staked out positions favoring excessive development over sound conservation.

As a constitutional attorney, Norton argued that bedrock federal environmental, public health, and other laws are unconstitutional or otherwise fatally flawed. If her core convictions were the basis for this new administration's actions, it would unravel most of our nation's environmental safeguards.

. . .

Norton has argued that all or parts of the Clean Air Act and other protections are unconstitutional under her view of states' rights. She has argued that the Surface Mining Act - ensuring mines operate safely - is unconstitutional and ''threatens to destroy the federal structure of government.''

She has called for weakening environmental considerations in the National Environmental Policy Act. She has argued against the Superfund law's ''polluter pays'' provisions, a fundamental principle that protects the taxpayers from paying the cost of cleaning up toxic waste sites or enduring environmental degradation in their communities.

Norton's record as Colorado attorney general - another job in which she pledged to enforce the law - provides a troublesome perspective of how she might use the discretion of federal office.

. . .

She failed to take action against a power plant repeatedly violating the Clean Air Act, a refinery discharging oil into a creek, require a strong cleanup plan from a company emitting heavy metals, or pursue action against a polluting mill that ultimately received $37 million in fines for willfully covering up violations.

At her confirmation hearing before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Norton stated a willingness to rethink her views and pledged to enforce the laws of the Interior Department. But too often absolutist legal views were cast aside with little or vague explanation.

. . .


I do not believe a citizen can or should be expected to disavow a career's record to join the Cabinet and serve this nation. Neither do I believe senators should be expected to cast away legitimate concerns about that record for the sake of an expedient transition. Bipartisanship is compromise - not capitulation.

Given the assaults on the environment of the past few years and knowing the sanctity of our public treasures hangs in the balance, I will vote against the nomination of a secretary-designate whose philosophy threatens that balance.

ABC - Among Ashcroft’s most vocal critics today was Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., who said it was “a divisive not unifying nomination” even though Bush “has specifically said he is a unifier, not a divider.”

Kerry appearing on NBC’s Meet the Press, said that Ashcroft has been “on the fringe of a number of different issues that really challenge the … minority community that the president-elect is going to have to bring together.”

Kerry said Bush could have selected a more moderate Republican just as qualified as Ashcroft, such as Montana Gov. Marc Racicot, Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating, or former Missouri Sen. John Danforth. But “they were vetoed by an element of the Republican party that only wanted a John Ashcroft,” Kerry said.

“John Ashcroft comes with a certain set of credentials. And those credentials fly in the face of your capacity to bring back to the center those people who have been alienated in this election,” Kerry added.

But some moderate Democrats continue to express support for Ashcroft. Sen. John Breaux of Louisiana said that while the nominee has taken positions with which many Democrats disagree, “We have to recognize that the president has a right to appoint those who agree with his philosophy to the Cabinet.”

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http://abcnews.go.com/sections/politics/DailyNews/ashcroft010107.html

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Fearless leader say so.