Mary L. Smith for Assistant AG in the DOJ Tax Division Support Letter

From Jerry Gardner (Mary_Smith_Individual_Support_Letter[1] v2_1):

President Obama nominated Mary L. Smith to be Assistant Attorney General for the Tax Division at the U S Department of Justice more than a year ago. She is a woman of color, and the only Native American nominee who has not been confirmed. Ms. Smith’s nomination is historic for the Native American community as she would be the first Native American – male or female – to hold the rank of Assistant Attorney General in the Department of Justice’s 140-year history. Ms. Smith is extremely qualified for this position. She has served as a trial attorney at the Department of Justice. She has specialized in complex financial litigation for the past several years and was responsible for overseeing
the Tax Division during the Obama-Biden transition.

Attached is a possible support letter that could be used to support her nomination and urge a prompt vote on her confirmation. For general info on nominations before the US Senate Judiciary Committee, click here.

For specific info on Mary’s nomination, click here.

I should also add that Mary was instrumental in getting tribal resolutions enacted by the ABA that allowed the ABA to provide vital support for the enactment of the Tribal Law and Order Act.

Lawrence Baca on Mary Smith’s Stalled Nomination to the DOJ Tax Division

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.

Continue reading