Whip Clyburn on Gonzales Resignation

Majority Whip James Clyburn responded to the resignation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales:

"The resignation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is long overdue. His tumultuous tenure was marked by an unprecedented disregard for our nation's civil rights laws and fundamental civil liberties that serve as essential safeguards for the American public.

"As a young civil rights leader in South Carolina in the 1960s, I had many run-ins and dealings with the U.S. Department of Justice but never in my lifetime have I witnessed a Justice Department more tarnished by misstatements, falsehoods, and disingenuous sentiments than Gonzales' Justice Department. President Bush should seize on the resignation of Attorney General Gonzales as an opportunity to select not only an individual who is qualified on paper to serve as the nation's top law enforcement official, but one who also has the moral standing to restore the prestige once associated with this distinguished position."