Loretta Lynch deftly handles Senate Judiciary Committee

At the beginning of her appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday morning, Attorney General-designate Loretta E. Lynch delivered her ...

Loretta Lynch (Courtesy of Justice.gov)
At the beginning of her appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee last Wednesday morning, Attorney General-designate Loretta E. Lynch delivered her opening statement. It was one that reflected her solid family background, with many of her family members in attendance at the Hart Office Building.

“My mother, Lorine, who was unable to travel here today, is a retired English teacher and librarian for whom education was the key to a better life,” she said.

“She recalls people in her rural community pressing a dime or a quarter into her hands to support her college education,” continued Lynch, who has been for several years the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York. “As a young woman, she refused to use segregated restrooms because they did not represent the America in which she believed. She instilled in me an abiding love of literature and learning, and taught me the value of hard work and sacrifice.”

Lynch stated proudly, “My father, Lorenzo, is a fourth-generation Baptist preacher who, in the early 1960s, opened his Greensboro church to those planning sit-ins and marches, standing with them while carrying me on his shoulders. He has always matched his principles with action, encouraging me to think for myself, but reminding me that we all gain the most when we act in service to others.”

Lynch, 55, who has gone through the confirmation process successfully on two other occasions, mentioned the Constitution several times in her opening statement, and during the grilling from the committee, it was the bedrock of her response to an endless number of hypotheticals, particularly from the Republican members.

As we go to press, she is being questioned by Sen. Al Franken, who expressed his concern about the merger of Time Warner Cable and Comcast and where she stood on the anti-trust laws. “I hope to learn more about that situation if I am confirmed,” she answered.

We can expect her very measured replies to more of these questions, as she realizes she has to get at least three Republicans to win confirmation. Stay tuned.

Special to the NNPA from the New York Amsterdam News

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