From ICT:
Mary L. Smith has been nominated to be the assistant attorney general for the Tax Division of the United States Department of Justice. Having been nominated April 20, 2009, she is the longest-standing presidential nominee not to receive a full Senate vote. While I have kept a respectful silence during this process, the time has come when I can be silent no longer. She merits immediate confirmation.
An enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation, Mary Smith is a historic first. When the Senate confirms her, Smith will be the highest ranking Native American in the 140-year history of the Department of Justice and the first Native American to serve as an assistant attorney general. All of Indian country should be outraged that a Native American nominee continues to be denied a full Senate vote more than a year after her original nomination. We must all raise our collective voice and tell President Barack Obama and the Senate to do everything possible to move her nomination to a confirmation vote.
Many of us know Mary Smith. We know she possesses impeccable credentials to serve as an assistant attorney general. She understands complex litigation and has exhibited excellent management skills. Having previously served as an attorney in the highly prestigious Skadden Arps law firm, Smith has served as senior litigation counsel at Tyco International (US) Inc., where she managed a securities class-action multi-district litigation that was the largest case pending at Tyco and one of the largest cases pending in the country. While at Tyco, as part of her responsibilities, Smith managed a multimillion dollar budget, more than 40 outside counsel, and more than 60 contract attorneys. She also has specific tax-related experience.
When she served in the Clinton White House, she worked with Congressional offices, the Treasury Department, and the National Economic Council to address tax disparities between Indian tribes and state governments. Smith also served on President Obama’s Justice Department transition team where she helped review and analyze the Tax Division, the very component she has been nominated to lead.
Her appointment is of greater significance than just her leadership of the Tax Division. Although she will not serve in a position that directly affects litigation or policy involving American Indians, her presence at the Department of Justice will affect the dialogue. When the assistant attorneys general meet with Attorney General Eric Holder as a group to discuss larger policy issues for the department, if Native American issues do arise, for the first time in history someone at the table will speak of Native Americans as “we” when everyone else is saying “they.” The appointments of Thurgood Marshall, Sandra Day O’Connor and Sonia Sotomayor had such effects on the discourse at the Supreme Court. Smith’s confirmation as assistant attorney general will be of comparable significance.
She began her career as a line lawyer at the Department of Justice. It is important to both the Native American and non-Native American personnel in the department to see that a Native American can also become an assistant attorney general.
President Obama nominated her to be the assistant attorney general for the Tax Division April 20, 2009. A hearing to consider her nomination was held in May 2009 and on June 11, 2009. The Judiciary Committee ordered the nomination reported to the Senate for consideration. Due to Senate rules, President Obama again nominated Mary for the position Jan. 20. On Feb. 4, the Judiciary Committee ordered the nomination reported to the Senate for consideration for the second time. To date, she has not received consideration by the full Senate.
There is no reasonable explanation for the failure of the Senate to act. The Tax Division enforces the federal tax laws and defends the United States when it is sued by taxpayers. For this reason, the assistant attorney general for the Tax Division must be a person with significant litigation experience, preferably experience in tax, corporate or financial litigation. Given her substantial litigation and management experience, Smith is the right person to head the Tax Division. Several Republicans have supported her nomination including former Solicitor General Ted Olsen and Nathan Hochman, the most recent assistant attorney general for the Tax Division under George W. Bush. Although Smith has bipartisan support for her nomination, she still hasn’t received full Senate consideration. That is simply wrong.
Last November, I was the keynote speaker at the Department of Justice’s Indian Heritage Month Program. I told the audience that the department needed to hire more American Indian personnel, that there should be American Indian supervisors and United States attorneys who are Native American. Immediately following my remarks, Holder shook my hand and said, “You know Mary Smith is going to be an assistant attorney general.” I was very pleased that he said “is going to be” and not just “has been nominated.” But that was six months ago. She is not an assistant attorney general yet.
Call and write your senators and let them know we want Mary Smith confirmed, now. Her nomination has been voted out of committee twice and the Senate continues to fail to act. There is no reason to treat any presidential nominee with such disrespect. Surely a nomination of such historic importance should not be allowed to languish. This “first” for Indian country deserves a confirmation vote.
Lawrence R. Baca was the senior American Indian attorney at the Department of Justice for 32 years. He also served as a special assistant to the assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division, Ralph Boyd and a deputy director of the Office of Tribal Justice. A Pawnee, he has served three terms as president of the National Native American Bar Association and is currently the national president of the 16,000 member Federal Bar Association.
Turtle Talk 