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Opening Statement
Pam Bondi
Nominee for Attorney General of the United States
Thank you, Chairman Grassley, Ranking Member Durbin, and Members of
the Senate Judiciary Committee. It is an honor to be nominated to serve as the 87th
Attorney General of the United States. I am grateful to President Trump for his
confidence and to this Committee for its consideration. To the Senators who made
the time to meet with me regarding my nomination, I appreciate your insight and
look forward to working with each of you to solve the important issues facing our
nation.
I would not be here without my family, which has taken over a large portion
of the gallery behind me. And today especially, I miss my father, whose example
continues to inspire me every day.
From the moment I began to work as an intern at the Hillsborough County
State Attorney’s Office, I knew I wanted to spend my life as a prosecutor. I spent
18 years handling countless prosecutions and jury trials, ranging from driving under
the influence to domestic violence and capital murder. Nothing has shaped my
career or vision of the law more than my experience as a prosecutor.
In 2011, I was elected Attorney General of Florida and proudly served for two
terms. In that role, my top priority was keeping Florida safe and standing up for
victims and their families. When my term began, Florida was overwhelmed by pill
mills and opioid deaths. I fought for tough legislation and worked to eliminate these
drug dealers from our state. We also protected human trafficking victims by raising
awareness, providing critical resources, and creating additional safe houses.
On the civil side, we worked to protect consumers. We tackled everything
from overreach by big tech companies to off-label prescription marketing. We
partnered with State Attorneys General from both parties and federal agencies across
administrations.
If confirmed as United States Attorney General, my overriding objective
would be to return the Department of Justice to its core mission of keeping
Americans safe and vigorously enforcing the law. That requires getting back to
basics—prosecuting violent crime and gang activity, stopping child predators and
drug traffickers, protecting our nation from terrorists and other foreign threats, and
