Good morning. Welcome to this nomination hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Today we will consider the nomination of Larry D. Thompson to be the Deputy Attorney General and of Theodore B. Olson to be Solicitor General of the United States.

      Before we begin, I would like to congratulate both nominees on being selected by President Bush for these important positions. It is a pleasure to have two nominees before this Committee who have distinguished themselves with hard work and great intellect, and I am confident that they will do great service to the Department of Justice and the citizens of this country upon their confirmation.

      Certainly, the position of Deputy Attorney General is vital to the Department of Justice and to country. The Deputy Attorney General serves as the number two person at the Justice Department and acts as the Justice Department’s chief operating officer, handling much of its day-to-day administration. The Deputy must be a person of unquestioned competence and integrity who can exercise good judgment and provide objective legal advice to the Attorney General.

      Mr. Thompson meets all of these requirements. He has had an impressive and varied career as a lawyer, including working as an in-house corporate lawyer at Monsanto, as a partner at the prestigious law firm King and Spalding, as the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, as an Independent Counsel, and as an adjunct professor of law at both Mercer University and the University of Georgia School of Law.

      The diverse nature of his employment is surpassed by the even wider variety of legal issues that he has mastered. Most recently, Mr. Thompson has specialized in white collar criminal defense, complex civil litigation, internal corporate investigations, RICO litigation and False Claims Act cases. But he has also handled a variety of civil matters and has both prosecuted and defended people accused of criminal activity. He has been involved in antitrust, civil rights and intellectual property issues. This experience, combined with an excellent character, convinces me that Mr. Thompson, once confirmed, will prove to be one of the most qualified Deputy Attorney Generals to serve this country.

     It is a pleasure to welcome you and your family to the Committee this morning Mr. Thompson.

      Our second nominee this morning is Ted Olson.

     The Solicitor General is one of the most coveted positions in the Federal Government. Numerous anecdotes of accomplished lawyers attest to this fact. For instance, when appointed to the Supreme Court Justice Murphy asked whether any other Justice had held as many government position as he had. The clerk responded, "Well, there was Taft . . . He was Solicitor General, he was a Circuit Court Judge, he was president of the Philippines Commission, he was Secretary of War, he was President of the United States, and, of course, he was Chief Justice." Dejected, Justice Murphy asked, "He was Solicitor General, too?"

     The Solicitor General represents the interests of the United States in litigation before the Supreme Court and the federal appellate courts.

     By statute, the Solicitor General takes his orders from the Attorney General. The position was created in 1870 to assist the Attorney General with the duties of litigating before the Supreme Court.

      One of his main tasks is to defend federal statutes and regulations from challenges in the federal courts.

     Before the Supreme Court he serves more than just an advocate’s role – he is also a kind of trusted advisor and is sometimes referred to as the "tenth justice" or as the "thirty-fifth law clerk," because of his important institutional role. The Supreme Court relies on the Solicitor General to provide an accurate explanation of the current state of the law.

     Mr. Olson, who has been nominated for the position of Solicitor General, should be no stranger to this role. He has argued before the Supreme Court 15 times, and is regarded by both liberals and conservatives as one of the best appellate lawyers in the country. The National Law Journal has twice recognized him as one of America’s 100 Most Influential Lawyers and has called him a "member of the inner circle of the Supreme Court bar."

     Mr. Olson has an extremely distinguished record in private practice and also as the head of the Office of Legal Counsel in the Department of Justice. His knowledge and expertise extend over the whole range of constitutional and statutory issues. He has the intellect and experience to represent the United States well on the wide variety of matters that will face the administration.

     Let me just say that I have the utmost confidence in Mr. Olson’s ability to maintain his balance.

     With Attorney General John Ashcroft at the helm, Larry Thompson as his Deputy, and Ted Olson as the Solicitor General, I believe that we have the beginnings of one of the best and most qualified Departments of Justice this country has seen.

     Ted, I am delighted to welcome you and your family here this morning.

     Let me now turn to the distinguished Ranking Democratic Member for his opening remarks and then we will turn to our witnesses.

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