12.15.20

McConnell Applauds Attorney General Bill Barr

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) issued the following statement today regarding Attorney General Bill Barr:

“Attorney General Barr is one of the most dedicated and capable public servants I have ever seen in action. For nearly two years, he’s provided wise counsel to President Trump and rendered outstanding service to our country. He has helped keep America safe from criminals and terrorists and advanced the bedrock American value of equal justice under law.

“When his country came calling two years ago, Bill Barr did not have to answer. He had already completed a distinguished career in government. He had already led the Department of Justice, having been confirmed by a voice vote to serve President Bush 41 as one of the youngest Attorneys General in our nation’s history. He had a wildly successful private-sector career. Fortunately for the nation, his dedication to the men and women of the Department of Justice compelled Attorney General Barr to clock back in.

“In a time of intense polarization, and notwithstanding unfair criticism from the far left and the media, Attorney General Barr did his work with clarity, principle, and professionalism. He fostered greater accountability in the DOJ and confronted the egregious abuses surrounding the FBI’s handling of the 2016 election. He worked to protect innocent Americans from violent crime and protected our nation’s capital and its historic monuments when peaceful protests were hijacked by violent rioters. He fought against China’s lawbreaking and corrosive influence. He was a warrior for religious liberty and free speech who ensured that DOJ safeguarded these liberties even during a pandemic. And he stood for the simple but apparently controversial proposition that the federal government should actually enforce the laws on the books, in subjects from immigration and border security to the death penalty that federal law reserves for the gravest offenses.

“Now, for a second time, Attorney General Barr will leave the Department and the rule of law in this country stronger than he found them. He has more than earned a return to private practice and more time with his family. I warmly wish him and his family the very best.”

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