William Barr

Public Servant

1950-05-23

Quotes by William Barr

• I believe deeply that the first duty of government is providing for the personal security of its citizens. Therefore I would naturally place the highest priority on strengthening law enforcement.

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• An attorney general's duty is to render her opinion and honest advice; she cannot set herself up as a judge overruling the president's decision. The president need not 'convince' his subordinate that his decision reflects the best view of the law.

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• The central genius of the American Constitution lies in its use of structure to protect individual liberty. It does not rely solely, or even primarily, on grants of substantive rights.

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• Everyone dies, and I am not, you know, I don't believe in the Homeric idea that, you know, immortality comes by, you know, having odes sung about you over the centuries, you know?

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• A Supreme Court justice must convince at least four colleagues to bind the federal government nationwide, whereas a district court judge issuing a nationwide injunction needn't convince anyone.

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• Nationwide injunctions undermine the democratic process, depart from history and tradition, violate constitutional principles, and impede sound judicial administration, all at the cost of public confidence in our institutions and particularly in our courts as apolitical decision-makers dispassionately applying objective law.

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• Proponents of nationwide injunctions argue that they are necessary to ensure that the law is uniform throughout the country. But the federal judiciary wasn't made to produce instant legal uniformity.

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• The Medal of Valor is this nation's highest and most prestigious award for public safety officers.

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• Every Medal of Valor recipient has confronted life-threatening danger. Each had their fight-or-flight moment. But each one stood their ground for our safety. We hold them up as examples to other first responders - and to all Americans.

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• Established in 2001, the Medal of Valor is our nation's highest public safety award. Officers across the nation are nominated by their peers, but only a handful are selected to receive this honor. Traditionally, this process occurs only once a year.

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• In so many areas, it is critical to our Nation's future that we restore and preserve in their full vigor our Founding principles. Not the least of these is the Framers' vision of a strong, independent Executive, chosen by the country as a whole.

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• Freedom of religion requires not only freeing religion from undue government regulation and interference. It also requires freeing religion from discrimination and from vile acts of hatred and persecution.

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• If you destroy the presidency and make it an errand boy for Congress, we're going to be a much weaker and more divided nation.

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• While the DOJ and the SEC must be vigilant in investigating and prosecuting white-collar misconduct, we must also ensure that we are acting fairly and prudently.

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• Nationwide injunctions not only allow district courts to wield unprecedented power, they also allow district courts to wield it asymmetrically.

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• Valor' is a word we don't commonly hear. People can show courage and bravery confronting many different challenges in life. But 'valor' connotes willingly putting oneself in mortal danger to protect others.

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