court nominees. >> i am going to swear you in so please remain standing. do affirm the testimony you are about to give is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you god? please be seated. thank you very much. we will start with introductory remarks by our judicial nominees. >> i am so lucky to have here with me today several members of my family. first with me today is my husband who has supported every step of my career since we first met in college and our son who is the light of our lives and make sure every day has moments of both humility and joy. also drawing me are my parents who raised me to set high expectations for myself and to believe even as a child my thoughts mattered and i father and mother in law whose families came to the united states from china in search of a better life and who went on to build a successful future for themselves and their own children in incumbent texas. my sister victoria and her family cannot be in person but i know they are watching from kuwait where she serves our country in the foreign service. i am grateful throughout this process to have had the support from my colleagues from my law firm and tightknit groups of friends from college and law school. only one of them could be here any person today but i know many are watching from around the world. i want to note the personal significance of having been nominated for ac in tacoma washington. i am a monk the fifth generation of my family to reside in washington state and migrate grandfather was a blacksmith for the northern pacific railroad. union station is now the federal or house where i will sit if confirmed. i can only imagine how proud my family would be today. thank you. look forward to answering the committee's questions. >> thank you, senator blumenthal, chairman derby, ranking member grassley and members of the senate judiciary committee for the opportunity to appear before you today. many thanks to president biden for the nomination and to senator bennett for his kind words and senator hickenlooper for the recommendation as well as our judicial nomination committee. i am truly humbled to be here today. there is no doubt i would not be here without many people. i thank my husband doug. it should come as no surprise doug has paid small and large sacrifices often untold and appreciated so i could be considered for this seat. he and our son luc are at home finishing a final week of school. her daughter is with me today and i hope both of them remembered dad and i are proud of who you are, what you want to do. also with me today are two of my dearest friends, dr. jamie solomon and so winco who have shared my greatest joys and hardest losses. i would like to thank my parents whose immigration and action with hard work and resilience i could achieve my dreams. thanks to my brother, his husband, my parents along robert and carol, my brother and sister-in-law and my nieces and nephews. i thank the greater taiwanese community in kansas who stood in as our extended family as i grew up. i cannot miss the opportunity to thank the late robert goal who was instrumental in my family's immigration story. i am ever grateful to judge peter merced he remains my mentor and when judge paul friedman opened the doors of the judiciary to me. finally, i would like to take a moment to thank my entire court family in the district of colorado particularly mobile clerks and magistrates whose hard work and dedication has brought me here today. and judge christine who seat for which i am being considered. her contributions to colorado's legal community are truly unparalleled. take you for allowing me to make these introductions and i welcome your questions. >> thank you very much. >> thank you, senator blumenthal. i also want to thank chairman durbin, ranking member grassley and all the committee members here and thanks to senator brown for the very kind introduction and his support. i appreciate the heartfelt words i have heard from the chairman and ranking member grassley about yesterday's tragedy. the pain those families and the whole community and all of us feel especially those families is unimaginable to me. for me and for many last night was a night where parents everywhere hugged their kids a little harder at the end of the day. my thoughts are very much with the community in texas that are suffering so deeply and with other communities because this event can be a catalyst for other people who have gone through this to relive some of the great pain they feel. i also want to thank president biden for nominating me to be the director of the bureau of alcohol, tobacco, firearms and explosives and i will say as a former staff detail leon this committee, i am especially honored to be here today. i spent the majority of my career as a prosecutor. that service of over 20 years is not possible without a really supportive family. i want to thank my wife carol who is here along with my children for their love and support. i lost my mom and my dad not too long ago but i know that they are with me and my mom's kid sister and my dad's big brother are both here to support me and to remind me of the example my folks set for me. my mom who was a teacher, especially poignant today. and my weather -- my wonderful father-in-law who brought his family including my wife to this great country to raise her in texas, almost 50 years ago is here with us as well. finally, especially given the horrible events with saul over the last day, i want to thank again the brave and dedicated women of law enforcement and especially the atf. i have worked with atf agents and seen their work for 30 years and it is not just the agents. the agents who respond to horrific crime scenes and they risked their lives standing shoulder to shoulder. on the street to the analysts and staff who anonymously pour over evidence and data late into the night to try to make a case, to the bomb technician responding to a horrible incident and a dangerous incident to the lab person working against time trying to make a ballistic match. and more. i want those people and the others at the atf to know that i honor that service. and i went and both they and the public they protect to know if i am given the privilege of becoming a senate confirmed atf director, i will work every day to join them as a leader and as a partner in both good times and bad. we face many threats to public safety both new and old. violent crime is increasing. firearms violence and mass shootings are increasing. hate crimes and religious violence are increasing as is violent extremism. if confirmed, i promise to do everything i can to enforce the law, to respect the constitution of the united states and to partner with law enforcement to protect the safety and the rights of innocent and law-abiding americans and i val if i am given the privilege of serving as director, to partner with others to advance the cause of public safety and to approach that task especially now with an open heart, with open ears, and always with an open mind. thank you. >> the chair has returned but with his permission, i'm going to make a brief statement and ask questions. i want to join you in thanking the extraordinary professionals of atf, the agency you have been nominated to lead having been a federal prosecutor of the united states attorney of connecticut i worked with this agency and have followed their work. there is no more dedicated and brave group of professionals and what we have seen over the last 24 hours again, we have seen it repeatedly over these years is the devotion of local law enforcement and state police to stop and gun violence and rescuing the victims and survivors of gun violence in this country. president biden has made it clear his administration is committed to combating the surge in violent crime in communities across the united states but as we know, violent crime cannot be stopped without also stopping can violence. firearms make violent crime all the more violent and all the more likely to be deadly. the best laws on the books are dead letter if they are not enforced effectively and it will be your job to make sure the premier federal agency responsible for gun violence has the mandate and the independence to pursue it diligently, fearlessly and for osha sleep. you come here at -- and ferociously. you come here at a moment of anxiety, anguish and anger in this country. i believe we must move forward with gun violence prevention reforms that will make our laws more effective and give you more tools that you need in saving communities and individual lives. i believe in the second amendment. it is the law of the land. there are measures we can take that are consistent with the second amendment that will separate people from firearms if they are dangerous to themselves to a red flag statutes, baked -- background checks. ghost guns. and others. when it comes to tackling these kinds of problems, we need an agency that is not only independent but will be perceived as independent beyond the influence and grip of the gun lobby which all too often has been perceived as having undue impact on the atf. that perception itself can undermine an agency's effectiveness. as much as i feel will bring new leadership, i think it is important we move forward to give you that opportunity as quickly as possible particularly seizing this moment of extraordinary challenge to make sure you have a mandate from the united states congress to do your job. let me ask you how you will draw on your background as a prosecutor to make sure that you are effective in this job. >> senator, i have spent the vast majority of my career as a prosecutor. over 20 years i have worked -- it is a core value of mine, something i have lived with, politics complain no role in law enforcement. none at all. i have worked under republican administrations and i worked under democratic administrations as a federal prosecutor. i have lived that credo and i vowed to continue to do it because people need to have confidence that people in law enforcement's only agenda is to enforce the law and if you are at the atf, to catch the bad guys and protect the public. i would like to thank my record doing that is one of the reasons i have support of over 140 senior justice department officials and bipartisan support support from deputy attorney general for donald trump and deputy attorney general for president bush as well as the deputy attorney general for president obama. from assistant attorney generals from both side of the aisle and i val to never let -- i vow to never let politics influence my actions as atf director. >> you have a track record of combating extremism. particularly religion motivated violence. you are praised by both republicans and democrats for combating that kind of violent extremism. we know that a number of gun violence incidents, some of the most deadly, most recently in buffalo but also creek, charleston and charlottesville, it's berg, el paso were motivated by this kind of white supremacy anti-religion, particularly religious faith kind of violence. how will that experience be part of your motivation here? >> i have seen in my -- 30 years ago, i have seen the incidents and audacity of anti-religious violence grow over time. it was there when i started but things have seemed to unfortunately go in the wrong direction i will say this as someone who is a process are and raising jewish children as a religious minority in this country. i spent time in pittsburgh. i talked to people at tree of life. the largest mosque in my state was torched. an african-american church was torched. we caught a fellow in toledo who had stockpiled -- this is somebody who had shot three people, killed one, had a felony record for that we found him in toledo with 18 weapons, 40,000 rounds of ammunition, a kevlar vest and surveillance evidence he was scouting out and following the head of the jewish community federation in detroit and the head of the naacp in detroit and the joint terrorism task force talk -- caught that person to this part of who im and it is a core american value to have religious freedom and worship without fear of violence . we have to make sure we protect that. >> thank you senator blumenthal. last year in chicago, my wife and i attended a memorial service for a chicago policewoman. her name was ella french. she was gunned down in the streets of chicago in her squad car and her partner was shot in the head as well. he lost his sight in one eye. the death of ella french grip to let city like nothing i've ever seen. at the memorial service there were uniform policemen from all over ella noy and the midwest and beyond. standing in the heat for hours to show their respects. it turned out the weapon that was used to kill her was a straw purchase meaning a person with a clean record went to the gun dealer, federally licensed gun dealer and legally purchased a gun to hand it over to a person who took ella french's life. this so-called straw purchase has been viewed in the past as a bookkeeping manner, a misdemeanor type matter or at least level on the priority list. when it came to the life of this policewoman, it was certainly not a misdemeanor matter. it was a matter of life and death. alcohol, tobacco and firearms agency has as one of its responsibilities the administration of the laws applying to these federally licensed gun dealers. what is the proper approach when it comes to prosecution? what is the proper approach when we instruct federal licensees selling guns that they have a duty to accurately and honestly ascertain whether a person is eligible to buy gun? >> senator, the proper approach to enforcing these laws which are on the books, it is illegal to straw purchase. the proper approach is a team approach. are the things i have seen in law enforcement and i know they are trying and chicago is to make sure we are working together with state and local law enforcement and task forces and i'm a big fan of the task force approach to make sure we are in the communities listening to local police officers about the threats they are facing. if they see a certain threat, a straw purchase threat, we are listening to them. with respect of how to handle them, it is not a paperwork offense when somebody intentionally lies and buys. and is able to get a firearm unlawfully for another person. you check the box that says it's for you and is really for somebody else. so should be prosecuted to the extent of the law. >> if a gun is purchased without a background check, there is no way to know what the circumstances are for the buyer or with the ultimate purchase of the gun might be. >> that is correct. >> in the course of your practice, you have dealt with law enforcement. you have represented law enforcement and those charging police misconduct. tell me your view of the role of law enforcement today in common conversation about reforming police. >> senator, -- thank you, chair durbin. my role in those issues have primarily been as a litigator. both representing law enforcement officers who are excelling in their jobs that are facing legal conditions at work and also representing people who se clearly established constitutional rights have been violated and congress provided a remedy for that. my role as an attorney, i have looked at my specific cases and the legal claims and specific evidence from my clients in advancing their interests and i have been proud to represent all of those clients and the important interest those cases play in our constitutional order. >> thank you. senator lee. >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr. dettelbach, let's start with you. every time one of these tragedies occurs, i think we far too long felt to look back at the root causes of rampage violence. questions involving things like why -- why is our culture suddenly producing so many young men who want to murder innocent people? raises questions like things like fatherlessness, the breakdown of families, isolation from civil society or the glorification of violence. achieving factors. -- contribute in factors. the left is calling for more gun control. they want to crackdown on ball but -- on law-abiding americans instead of armed criminals. for example, as i recall, we have called for every type of gun control and under your leadership as u.s. attorney for the northern district of ohio, the number of prosecutions of firearms and explosives cases filed by the office decreased by almost half from 123 cases filed in 2008 to 65 cases filed in 2016. there may be reasons for that. i'm not familiar with all the operations of the office at the time but i think it is worth inquiring into . more outrages is gun groups wasted no time in attempting to this horrific tragedy. every town's fundraising in mill attempts to play on the emotions of those whose lives have been ripped apart by this tragic shooting is troubling. there email says this crisis will only end if we been together and demand action from our lawmakers. i need you in this fight. at the end of the letter is a large button that says contribute to end gun violence. you are endorsed by every town. is that so? >> i believe so. >> are you willing to disavow all their shameless immediate fundraising off of the texas tragedy hours after this tragedy occurred? >> senator, and i want to repeat and promise you, as atf director, politics have no place in law enforcement. they have no place as an atf director. i don't view this as a democratic or republican issue. >> i appreciate that and that is as it should be. >> do disavow these efforts? >> i have not seen these efforts you're referring to. it is not for me to get involved in political argument. i'm going to be a law enforcement as i have done for 20 years if i'm fortunate enough to be confirmed. i would never be involved in political aspect of that kind of thing. >> i appreciated that and that is as it should be. i do think it is unfortunate they are doing this literally hours after the shooting at don't think that is difficult to disavow. apparently you are not inclined to do that. do you support the biden administration zero-tolerance policy for firearms licensees? >> i was not at the atf when those policies were developed. i have not had a chance to speak with the people of vhf about all the things behind them. i represent businesses who deal with regulators. to me, the three key things of good regulation is it has to be fair. number two, it has to be consistent. number three, it has to be effective. in my experience representing clients when you cannot do those things, it creates an uncertain business atmosphere for people trying to follow the law and i will tell you that would be very important to me to find out. you can do those things at the same time. it is not always easy but you can because it is important for people who have second amendment rights and who are business people. >> do you believe federal firearms licensees should have their licenses revoked for simple paperwork errors on form 4473 or for missing outreach from atf or a tracing request? >> senator, i would have to look at any individual case but i will tell you people have to know if they have a minor violation, it is going to be treated one way to people have to know if it is more significant, it is going to be more significant -- is going to be another. every time. that would be very important to me to do that. lawyers that argue about what happened, this was intentional. it was not intentional. that is where we can have discussions as a regulated industry but people should understand and have some predictability. when you do this, this is what happens. >> i would like you to answer that question. i appreciate your willingness to say there should be clarity. i would like to know whether a federally licensed firearms dealer should lose his or her license based on simple paperwork errors in