Gonzales Confirmed, Sworn In

Former White House counsel Alberto Gonzales won Senate confirmation as attorney general Thursday despite Democratic complaints that he helped craft questionable U.S. policies on the treatment of foreign prisoners.

The 60-36 vote made Gonzales the first Hispanic attorney general ever.

All 36 "no" votes came from Democrats, who also complained that Gonzales was too beholden to President Bush to be the nation's top law enforcement official.

Gonzales was sworn in in the Roosevelt Room by VP Dick Cheney at about 6 p.m., a Department of Justice spokeswoman told CBS News. Just after he was sworn in, Department of Justice employees reported seeing him up on the 5th floor and his furniture is being moved in.

Gonzales will replace John Ashcroft, who four years ago won confirmation by an even smaller margin, 58-42.

Republicans and some Democrats praised Gonzales' life story: the grandson of Mexican immigrants who worked his way up to being President Bush's top lawyer in the White House.

Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla., the first Cuban-American senator, even broke with Senate tradition and praised Gonzales in Spanish on the Senate floor on Wednesday. "This is a breakthrough of incredible magnitude for Hispanic-Americans," he said in English.

Some Democrats praised Gonzales as well. Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., said he expected Gonzales, a former Texas judge, "to help lead the way for the creation of an America that despises hate and bigotry and recognizes that every human being deserves a government that will fight for the dignity and equality of all."

The opposition to Gonzales crystallized during his confirmation hearings, reports CBS News Correspondent Bob Fuss, when Democrats said he wouldn't back down on memos he wrote telling military officials they could get around laws and international treaties banning torture.

"He was so circumspect in his answers, so unwilling to leave a micron of space between his views and the president's, that I now have real doubts whether he can perform the job of attorney general," said Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.

"In short, Judge Gonzales still seems to see himself as counsel to the president, not attorney general, the chief law enforcement officer of the land," continued Schumer.

Senate Democrats have used the nomination — as they did with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice — to criticize the Iraq war and the treatment of foreign prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, in Afghanistan and at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

"I simply cannot support the nomination of someone who, despite his assertions to the contrary, obviously contributed in large measure to the atrocious policy failures and the contrived and abominable legal decisions that have flowed from this White House over the past four years," said Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., and the Senate's senior senator.

During his confirmation hearing, some Democrats charged that Gonzales' January 2002 memo as White House counsel led to the abuse of suspected terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan. The memo argued that the fight against terrorism "renders obsolete Geneva's strict limitations on questioning of enemy prisoners and renders quaint some of its provisions."

Pressed by senators on the issue, Gonzales defended the memo and that the treaty's protections did not extend to al Qaeda and other suspected terrorists, but declared, "Torture and abuse will not be tolerated by this administration.,"

He told senators that as attorney general he would "ensure the Department of Justice aggressively pursues those responsible for such abhorrent actions."

Salazar said Gonzales made his position torture clear. "Torture is illegal and wrong and that will be the position of Judge Gonzales as attorney general," said Salazar.

Democrats also have peppered Homeland Security secretary nominee Michael Chertoff on whether he had a role in approving interrogation methods used on terror suspects while he served as a top Justice Department prosecutor. Chertoff, now a federal appeals court judge in Newark, N.J., maintained he gave the CIA only broad guidance and never addressed the legality of any specific interrogation technique.

Chertoff also is expected to be easily confirmed, probably next week. Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., who posed the toughest questions to Chertoff during his confirmation hearing, said he knew of no senator who planned to oppose him.

The 60-36 roll call by which the Senate voted to confirm 
Alberto Gonzales as attorney general. On this vote, a 
"yes" vote was a vote to confirm Gonzales and a "no" 
vote was a vote not to confirm him. Voting "yes" were 
6 Democrats and 54 Republicans. Voting "no" were 35 
Democrats and one independent.
Democrats, Yes:
Landrieu, La.; Lieberman, Conn.; Nelson, Fla.; Nelson, 
Neb.; Pryor, Ark.; Salazar, Colo.
Democrats, No:
Akaka, Hawaii; Bayh, Ind.; Biden, Del.; Bingaman, N.M.; 
Boxer, Calif.; Byrd, W.Va.; Cantwell, Wash.; Carper, Del.; 
Clinton, N.Y.; Corzine, N.J.; Dayton, Minn.; Dodd, Conn.; 
Dorgan, N.D.; Durbin, Ill.; Feingold, Wis.; Feinstein, 
Calif.; Harkin, Iowa; Johnson, S.D.; Kennedy, Mass.; 
Kerry, Mass.; Kohl, Wis.; Lautenberg, N.J.; Leahy, Vt.; 
Levin, Mich.; Lincoln, Ark.; Mikulski, Md.; Murray, Wash.; 
Obama, Ill.; Reed, R.I.; Reid, Nev.; Rockefeller, W.Va.; 
Sarbanes, Md.; Schumer, N.Y.; Stabenow, Mich.; Wyden, Ore.
Democrats, Not Voting:
Baucus, Mont.; Conrad, N.D.; Inouye, Hawaii.
Republicans, Yes:
Alexander, Tenn.; Allard, Colo.; Allen, Va.; Bennett, 
Utah; Bond, Mo.; Brownback, Kan.; Bunning, Ky.; Burr, 
N.C.; Chafee, R.I.; Chambliss, Ga.; Coburn, Okla.; 
Cochran, Miss.; Coleman, Minn.; Collins, Maine; Cornyn, 
Texas; Craig, Idaho; Crapo, Idaho; DeMint, S.C.; 
DeWine, Ohio; Dole, N.C.; Domenici, N.M.; Ensign, 
Nev.; Enzi, Wyo.; Frist, Tenn.; Graham, S.C.; Grassley, 
Iowa; Gregg, N.H.; Hagel, Neb.; Hatch, Utah; Hutchison, 
Texas; Inhofe, Okla.; Isakson, Ga.; Kyl, Ariz.; Lott, 
Miss.; Lugar, Ind.; Martinez, Fla.; McCain, Ariz.; 
McConnell, Ky.; Murkowski, Alaska; Roberts, Kan.; 
Santorum, Pa.; Sessions, Ala.; Shelby, Ala.; Smith, 
Ore.; Snowe, Maine; Specter, Pa.; Stevens, Alaska; 
Sununu, N.H.; Talent, Mo.; Thomas, Wyo.; Thune, S.D.; 
Vitter, La.; Voinovich, Ohio; Warner, Va.
Republicans, No:
None
Republicans, Not Voting:
Burns, Mont.
Independents, No:
Jeffords, Vt.