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Despite all of this your Senator Mel Martinez, R-Fla has indicated that he will support his confirmation in the Senate by voting to Confirm him.

Below is a response to the recent comments I received from you:


Thank you for contacting me regarding the President’s nomination of Eric Holder to serve as Attorney General of the United States. I appreciate hearing from you and would like to respond to your concerns.

According to the Constitution, the Senate is charged with providing advice and consent to the president regarding selection of Cabinet Secretaries, as well as over 1,000 executive branch appointments. Prior to the president submitting names to the Senate, the Federal Bureau of Investigation conducts an extensive background check on each of the nominees.

The Senate committee with jurisdiction over the office that the nominee is seeking holds hearings on the nominee's appointment, usually with the nominee presenting testimony. Following a simple majority vote to discharge the nominee from the committee, the nomination may be considered by the full Senate, which must approve the nomination by a simple majority vote for the nomination to be confirmed.

As you may know, Mr. Holder served as a former judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia and Deputy Attorney General of the United States. If confirmed, he will be the first African-American Attorney General of the United States. I do have concerns about controversial pardons Eric Holder recommended while serving as Deputy Attorney General under President Clinton, his position on gun rights, and his past involvement in the Elian Gonzalez matter. On January 15, 2009, Mr. Holder will appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee during a confirmation hearing. Although I do not serve on this committee, I can assure you that I will closely follow Eric Holders testimony and keep your comments in mind.

Again, thank you for contacting my office. If you have any additional questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact me. In addition, for more information about issues and activities important to Florida, please sign up for my weekly newsletter at http://martinez.senate.gov.

Sincerely,

Mel Martinez
United States Senator

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I'm not sure where you are getting this part.  Here is Martinez' response to my email objecting to Holder:




The Elian Gonzalez matter is not a small issue with Martinez.  I would bet he votes NO on Holder.  I still have not heard back from Nelson, but we all know what he will do...

Obama's AG pick earns praise, GOP support

WASHINGTON – Former FBI Director Louis Freeh urged the Senate Judiciary Committee on Friday to confirm Eric Holder as the next attorney general as Barack Obama's pick won key support from another GOP senator.

Freeh's endorsement came during the second and final day of confirmation hearings before the committee.

As the panel questioned witnesses, Holder met with Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla. Martinez issued a statement after the hearing saying he would vote for Holder.

Martinez's support, combined with that of Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, should give Holder enough votes to avoid a filibuster challenge, assuming all the Senate Democrats support him.

"The prospects are probably good that he will be confirmed," said Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala. No Republican senator has yet come out against the nominee.

At the confirmation hearing, Freeh said Holder had made "terrible mistakes" leading up to President Bill Clinton's pardon of fugitive financier Marc Rich while Holder was a senior official in Clinton's Justice Department. Freeh called the Rich pardon "a corrupt act" but said the corruption was not Holder's.

"I don't think it's fair to put that blame totally on Eric Holder," said Freeh. "He takes responsibility and he will never make that mistake again."

Holder was also supported at the hearing by Frances Townsend, who was President George W. Bush's homeland security adviser.

She said she does not expect to agree with every decision Holder would make as the nation's top law enforcement officer, but she said she believes his choices will be fair and honestly made.

"I know Eric to be an honest, decent man of the highest ethical standards," she said.

Senators then heard emotional testimony from Joseph Connor, the son of a man slain in a 1975 bombing in New York City by a militant Puerto Rican independence group called the Armed Forces for National Liberation.

Clinton granted clemency to 16 members of that group, and Holder has been criticized for his role in the decision.

Connor urged lawmakers to oppose "anybody who would be soft on terror."

Holder "never talked to us," Connor said, urging lawmakers not to confirm "this man who recommended playing Russian roulette" with American lives by releasing unrepentant terrorists.

The witness testimony lasted two hours, and the committee is scheduled to vote on Holder's nomination next Wednesday, a day after Obama is sworn in as president.

In his appearance before the committee Thursday, Holder said the president's decision on the FALN members was "reasonable."

Most of his testimony, though, focused on how he would oversee U.S. legal and counterterrorism policy.

Holder declared waterboarding to be a form of torture, and he outlined numerous ways in which the incoming Obama administration will break sharply with the Bush administration's counterterrorism policies.

The 57-year-old former prosecutor who was deputy attorney general from 1997 to 2001 pledged to shut down the U.S. naval prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in part by sending detainees to trial in the United States, and to restore the Justice Department's reputation of independence from political interference.

Holder told lawmakers he did not believe the attorney general's job was to serve as the president's lawyer — a frequent criticism of Alberto Gonzales' tenure under Bush. He also vowed to see how much harm has been done to the department by political scandals.

"One of the things I'm going to have to do as attorney general in short order is basically do a damage assessment," Holder said.

At the hearing, many Republicans chose not to attack Holder aggressively, despite pre-hearing bluster that they would challenge his record as a Clinton administration official and flex their muscle as the minority party.

"I'm almost ready to vote for you right now," said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., after Holder agreed with the senator that the nation is at war with terrorists.

It was a similar story in other Senate hearings for Obama's picks to oversee the Homeland Security and Interior departments — Janet Napolitano and Ken Salazar, respectively. Both their hearings ended shortly after noon with no verbal fireworks.

Holder's testimony was just the latest sign that Obama will chart a different course than Bush in combatting terrorism. Obama plans to issue an executive order to close Guantanamo.

Holder said shuttering the prison would be difficult and would take time. Many detainees could be transferred to other countries, he said, and some could be charged and jailed in the U.S. That is a contentious proposal because many oppose the idea of bringing terrorism suspects onto U.S. soil.

The incoming Obama administration has not indicated what would happen to the detainees who were transferred to the United States. Holder said the administration was considering prosecuting the detainees in civilian courts, military courts or in some new hybrid court.

Quoted:
A sample letter might help.

FREE

Quoted:
I wrote to Mel once.

The form letter back I got back indicated that he's worthless.

Thank you for contacting me regarding the President’s nomination of Eric Holder to serve as Attorney General of the United States. I appreciate hearing from you and would like to respond to your concerns.

According to the Constitution, the Senate is charged with providing advice and consent to the president regarding selection of Cabinet Secretaries, as well as over 1,000 executive branch appointments. Prior to the president submitting names to the Senate, the Federal Bureau of Investigation conducts an extensive background check on each of the nominees.

The Senate committee with jurisdiction over the office that the nominee is seeking holds hearings on the nominee's appointment, usually with the nominee presenting testimony. Following a simple majority vote to discharge the nominee from the committee, the nomination may be considered by the full Senate, which must approve the nomination by a simple majority vote for the nomination to be confirmed.

As you may know, Mr. Holder served as a former judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia and Deputy Attorney General of the United States. If confirmed, he will be the first African-American Attorney General of the United States.

I adhere to the principle that, assuming qualifications, a President gets to choose the members of his Cabinet. I have met with Attorney General-designee Eric Holder and he answered a number of questions to my satisfaction. Eric Holder understands the unique role of Attorney General and further, I think he is qualified to serve in that role. Therefore, I intend to support Mr. Holder's confirmation.

Again, thank you for contacting my office. If you have any additional questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact me. In addition, for more information about issues and activities important to Florida, please sign up for my weekly newsletter at http://martinez.senate.gov.

Sincerely,

Mel Martinez
United States Senator

Quoted:
I sent him a letter on the 18th and just got a reply today saying he intends to support Eric Holder. I still have not heard back from Bill Nelson. This is the letter I got back.