Mel Martinez

Mr. MARTINEZ

Mr. MARTINEZ. Mr. President, I rise today in support of the nomination of Judge Alberto Gonzales to be our next Attorney General of the United States. As a freshman Senator, I was frankly hoping to wait a little longer before speaking for the first time on the Senate floor. It is a privilege I take very seriously. However, I could not fail to speak in defense of Judge Gonzales. I am disappointed that he has been the subject of such partisan attack, and today I rise in the defense of a good man and a good friend. Al Gonzales is a very dedicated public servant and exceptionally qualified to serve our Nation as our next Attorney General. In January of 2001, President Bush chose Judge Gonzales to be Counsel to the President, and he has served his Nation well in that position. Judge Gonzales was appointed to the Texas Supreme Court in 1999, and from December of 1997 to January of 1999, he served as Texas's 100th Secretary of State. I am so proud. Judge Gonzales also has received a number of awards. He was inducted into the Hispanic Scholarship Fund Alumni Hall of Fame in 2003, and he was honored with the Good Neighbor Award from the United States-Mexico Chamber of Commerce. I was honored when he and I both received the President's awards from the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and from the League of United Latin American Citizens, probably the largest Hispanic organization in America. These are just a handful of many professional accolades Judge Gonzales has been awarded over the course of his very distinguished career. I know a lot has been said about Judge Gonzales's life story. It is a story of the fulfillment of the American dream. It is a story that resonates with all Americans, but especially with Hispanic Americans. We view his story with pride and many view it with hope for their own lives. As a fellow Hispanic American, I want to put this nomination of Judge Alberto Gonzales in a very specific perspective. Our Hispanic community has broken key racial barriers in both Government and industry. I am so proud to have been part of that progress, thanks to the help of many who have opened doors and others who have been enlightened enough to make opportunities available to Hispanic people in America. I was honored to serve as this Nation's twelfth Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. I am thrilled to represent the great State of Florida as our Nation's first Cuban-American Senator. It is a wonderful honor, but I also feel a tremendous weight of responsibility from that very important opportunity. In the case of Attorney General, no Hispanic American has ever been in the position of Government at that level. No Hispanic American has ever served in one of the four premier Cabinet positions. I have sat at that Cabinet table, and I know what an immense privilege it is to sit in with the Counsel of the President of the United States. But I also know very well that there are four seats at that Cabinet table that have never before been occupied by a Hispanic. They are the Secretary of State, Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of Defense, and Attorney General. These are the original Cabinet positions. These are the positions that are at the heart of the most important positions of our Government. Never in the history of our Nation has the Hispanic American or Latino had the opportunity to occupy that seat. Judge Gonzales will be the first Hispanic American to serve in one of the Cabinet's top four positions when he becomes our next Attorney General. This is a breakthrough of incredible magnitude for Hispanic Americans and should not be diluted by bipartisan politics. Judge Gonzales is a role model for the next generation of Hispanic Americans in this country--a role model to our young people who, frankly, have too few. Just this past weekend, Congresswoman Sue Kelly was relating a story to me of something that happened with her recently at a school she was visiting in her district. She told me of something that I know to be a fact; it has happened in my own life. She said, While I was visiting there, one of the young people came to me, a Latino, a Hispanic, a young person, and said to me, Do you know we now have our own Senator. That young person was speaking of me or perhaps of Senator Salazar from Colorado. But this young person knew and took pride in the fact that we were here as role models for them, as someone who could signal the opportunities that lie ahead in their own life. Attorney General Gonzales will resonate through the Hispanic community just as he has resonated throughout our community; that he has been the President's lawyer--not an insignificant thing for him to have done. He is already and will continue to be an inspiration to these young students. There will be Hispanic boys and girls across the country who will now aspire to be lawyers because of Judge Gonzales's example of what is possible and how it is possible that someone with his very humble beginnings could achieve all he has achieved if only they dare to dream in our great Nation. And to Hispanic Americans throughout our Nation: Y a los Hispano-Americanos a lo largo y ancho de esta gran nacion: tanto a nuestros ninos, como a nuestros estudiantes de Derecho y los padres y abuelos que han venido a America a crear una vida mejor para ellos y sus familias, hoy les tengo un mensaje: El Juez Gonzales es uno de nosotros. El representa todos nuestros suenos y esperanzas para nuestros hijos. Debemos reconocer la importancia de este momento--sobre todo para nuestra juventud. No podemos permitir que la politiqueria nos quite este momento que nos enorgullece a todos. Apoyemos a Alberto Gonzales. From our schoolchildren, to law students, to parents and grandparents who came to America to create a better life for themselves and their families in the United States, I have this message for you today: Judge Gonzales is one of us. He represents all of our hopes and dreams for our children and for all of us as Hispanic Americans. Let us acknowledge the importance of this moment, especially for our young people. We cannot allow petty politicking to deny this moment that fills all with such pride. Let us all support Alberto Gonzales. I am honored to have my first remarks on the Senate floor be in praise of a friend, Alberto Gonzales, to be our next and I think exceptional Attorney General. Not only have I known Mr. Gonzales as a colleague in government service where I have known of his incredible dedication, the incredibly long hours he has put in, the very difficult days we all faced in the days following the tragic moments after September 11 when our Nation was attacked, the tremendous weight of responsibility that fell on him in the months and years that came after that, but I look forward to casting my vote in the Senate for our Nation's first, and in this historic moment, our next Attorney General, the first Hispanic to occupy that office. I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of Judge Gonzales's nomination. I urge them to rise above the moment to see the greatness of this opportunity, to not lose this moment that we can all make history. We can all make history. I look forward to being a part of that with my vote for Judge Gonzales. I yield the floor.