319 Quotes by John Ashcroft

People want to see other people who have 'non-negotiables,' things for which they're willing to say, 'This is it' we take our stand right here.' That's a leadership quality which people respect.

Richard Reid, like any defendant, is free to plead guilty to criminal charges. The Justice Department has not entered into any plea agreement with Reid.

The strong presence and commitment of Department of Justice officials resulted in a smooth election with far fewer complaints than have been reported in recent years,

The goal of terror is not traditional territorial enlargement; rather the war target of the terrorist is the dismemberment of the will of the community it terrorizes.

If we ever make an inquiry about any kind of record or business record, ... it has the judicial supervision, so that a federal judge would look carefully and simply not allow it if it were not a part of a case that merited the involvement of the authorities.

So, rather than security being something that challenges rights and that diminishes rights, security makes those rights safe and strong.

Frankly, the president, during the first opportunity I had to be in a Cabinet meeting, before we started the meeting, he said, Folks, before we begin this meeting, I'm going to call on General Ashcroft and ask him invite the wisdom and presence of God in what we do. And I thought to myself how ashamed I'd been that so many times in my life I had entered upon great important tasks and I had cheated myself and those that I had served of a blessing.

I have directed and will do everything possible to ensure a professional, thorough, prompt and complete investigation.

Prevention being our No. 1 objective, we decided we would be best served with him detained as an enemy combatant.