Janet Reno Quotations

There are days where I thought if I could have just spent a little bit more time on a certain issue I might have handled it differently.

There are some bad police officers like there are bad people in every walk of life, ... When we see officers cross the line and tarnish the reputation and violate the laws, it's important that we take action when the jurisdiction of the federal government is invoked.

When you think of all that he's been through, getting him situated where he should be situated, where he knows that he can pursue a future, is very important, ... And I would hope it would be before the end of the year.

We're going to pursue every last murderer until justice has been done,

very difficult to deal with . . . She was not as objective as she could be in presenting her positions. If she'd been more objective, she'd have been more effective.

We're not here to generate controversy. We're here to do what's right and to make sure that the voice of the American people that has spoken is heard fairly,

We want to try to apprehend those people and take action against them for the most serious crime for which they are eligible for prosecution,

Microsoft is unlawfully taking advantage of its Windows monopoly to protect and to extend that monopoly and undermine consumer choice.

The diesel engine industry has illegally poured millions of tons of pollution into the air, .. It's time for the industry to clean up its act, and it's time for it to clean up the air.

But it is not our place to punish a father for his political beliefs or where he wants to raise his child. Indeed, if we were to start judging parents on the basis of their political beliefs, we would change the concept of family for the rest of time.

We have the authority to take action, ... But responsible authority means not only being able to take action, but knowing when and how to take that action.

If somebody thinks I have an integrity problem, then the honest thing to do is to tell me what they think it is and let me address it.

I just try to do my best and make the best judgments I can.

The president really shouldn't be involved in terms of dictating what course the investigation should take.

I was personally opposed to the death penalty, and yet I think I have probably asked for the death penalty more than most people in the United States.

We have initiated programs for re-entry offenders, since some 500,000 to 600,000 offenders will come out of prison each year for the next three or four years. We want to have positive alternatives when they come back to the community.

My earnest hope is that what we started in terms of building partnerships with communities across America will continue, that we will continue our efforts to reduce crime and violence.

These tanks were like a good rent-a-car.

Haters are cowards. When confronted they often back down. We must resist haters.

It doesn't matter to criminals if the event is called a gun show or a flea market -- if they can buy guns.

I always wait until a jury has spoken before I anticipate what they will do.

If America's tv and movie producers are unwilling to clean up their act... when it comes to sex, bloodshed and violence in their programming... the government stands ready to step in.

America has become numb to violence because it just drowns in it, day in and day out.

Vengeance is a personal reaction. But not one that government can indulge in.

Nothing can make me madder than lawyers who don't care about others.

The Department of Justice is committed to asking one central question of everything we do: What is the right thing to do? Now that can produce debate, and I want it to be spirited debate. I want the lawyers of America to be able to call me and tell me: Janet, have you lost your mind?

I'm just an awkward old maid with a very great affection for men.

Everybody should want to make sure that we have the cyber tools necessary to investigate cyber crimes, and to be prepared to defend against them and to bring people to justice who commit it.

The U.S. government alleges that for the past 45 years, the companies that manufacture and sell tobacco have waged an intentional and coordinated campaign of deceit

I have inquired for most of my adult life about studies that might show that the death penalty is a deterrent. And I have not seen any research that would substantiate that point.

I have been surrounded by some of the smartest, brightest, most caring lawyers, by agents who are willing to risk their lives for others, by support staff that are willing to work as hard as they can.

Hate crimes based on sexual orientation are among the three top reported hate crimes after race and religion, ... Our laws should not ignore that reality.

I'm not fancy. I'm what I appear to be.

The most effective means of fighting crime in the United States is to outlaw the possession of any type of firearm by the civilian populace.

We are trying to identify employers that might be [hiring illegal aliens] and to take effective action against them. We're trying to make sure that employers that want to cooperate have a system whereby they can verify the employment status of a person that they are seeking to hire. It is part of a comprehensive initiative in which we look both at the border, at the workplace, at criminal aliens, in an attempt to have a comprehensive effort aimed at stopping illegal immigration while at the same time promoting legal immigration according to principles of due process.

There is so much to do, and I want to continue my efforts.

I made the decision. I'm accountable.

I don't think that the economy can absorb a massive flow of immigration that does not relate to the issue of persecution.

Gun registration is not enough.

I had concluded when I was the prosecutor that I would vote against the death penalty if I were in the legislature but that I could ask for it when I was satisfied as to guilt.

We're building on an international network with many others for the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act. There are so many things we can do to carry forward policies.

At this moment I do not have a personal relationship with a computer.

I worked with some wonderful people, tried my best and I feel comfortable.

The Department of Justice transcends party because we're building on the Weed and Seed program.

Nobody should be owning a gun which does not have a sporting purpose.

The prohibition of private firearms is the goal.

They have computers, and they may have other weapons of mass destruction.

This is a serious problem of major concern, and we have got to approach it in a way that is consistent with this nation's tradition as a nation of immigrants, focusing on legal immigration, supporting that in the right way and doing everything possible consistent with the Constitution to control illegal immigration, and we will continue in those efforts.

It might be that some day I shall be drowned by the sea, or die of pneumonia from sleeping out at night, or be robbed and strangled by strangers. These things happen. Even so, I shall be ahead because of trusting the beach, the night and strangers.

Based on my experience as a prosecutor in Miami, illegal immigration is one of the most critical issues facing this country. As a prosecutor, I felt the burden of it. I think what's important... is for the state and the federal government and for local governments to work together to do everything possible to control illegal immigration in a comprehensive way.

I'm just an old maid with an attraction to men.

Until the day I die, or until the day I can't think anymore, I want to be involved in the issues that I care about.

I made the decision long ago that to be afraid would be to diminish my life.

People have it so good in America that they get bored very easily. And when people get bored they start protesting things.

Just remember, strength and courage. If you stand on principle, you'll never lose.

A Cultist is one who has a strong belief in the Bible and the Second Coming of Christ; who frequently attends Bible studies; who has a high level of financial giving to a Christian cause; who home schools his children; who has accumulated survival foods and has a strong belief in the 2nd Amendment, and who distrusts Big Government.

Waiting periods are only a step. Registration is only a step. The prohibition of private firearms is the goal.

The good lawyer is the great salesman.

We tried our best for the longest time to negotiate a peaceful resolution to the matter, and at each step, we were thwarted by those that said, No, we will not turn the boy over to his father.

Yes, I've been cussed at, fussed at and figuratively beaten around the ears, but after eight years in this job, after seeing America, I know two things... I have never believed so strongly in this nation's future, in the righteousness of its ways as I do and I have never believed so strongly that we must continue to fight so that the law issues from all of the people and not just some,

There is a little 6-year-old boy who survived one of the most traumatic events that any child could experience -- to lose his mother there in the Gulf Stream, to float for as long as he did, and live to come ashore under the circumstances that he did. We've just got to think about that little boy,

We have initiated programs for re-entry offenders, since some 500,000 to 600,000 offenders will come out of prison each year for the next three or four years. We want to have positive alternatives when they come back to the community.

When we see some of these copycat events, it is because people want attention and they want to have a focus on them. I think this is indicative of again the need to reach out to young people and to try to address what causes this,

When to shoot and when not to shoot is one of the most difficult decisions in some circumstances that anybody could make,

making all necessary documents and personnel available to the committee.

Let all those who flout the nation's immigration laws be warned we plan to take swift and decisive action against you, ... defend the integrity of this nation's immigration laws.

Many other nations, not knowing who their president might be, I think might be in a more difficult situation. But this nation has a strength, it has the ability to come together to work through issues. And, as the night unfolded, and then as we've addressed 'What next,' I'm so impressed, again, with how strong democracy is, but how we must never take it for granted,

So far the operation has gone very smoothly,

should send a message to would-be computer hackers all over the world that the United Sates will treat computer intrusions as serious crimes.

should be completely independent and have no current ties to the Justice Department.

She had the ability to get to the heart of the issue,

She ... almost went down but was grabbed (by another agent) and was also able to pull herself up.

One of the things that I can tell you is, having come in on the heels of no confirmed attorney general for a month and a half, this department is a great institution. The people who work here do one heck of a job for the American people,

One of my missions is to let the American people know how many dedicated men and women work with them and for them in the Department of Justice.

One will never know what the right answer was, because one doesn't know what Koresh would have done two weeks later without any provocation.

Money laundering is a very sophisticated crime and we must be equally sophisticated, ... an essential front in the war on narcotics.

Money laundering is a problem for the whole world, ... We're here to work with you to be as effective a partner as we can.

Now that the court has conclusively upheld our decision, I am hopeful that this father and son will soon be able to move on with their lives together,

Next week I expect us to take steps to transfer the custody and the parole and care (of Elian),

next few days or the next few seconds.

Obviously, if I had thought that the chances were great for mass suicide, I never would have approved the plan,

one of the most critical issues that law enforcement has ever faced.

I was surprised that there were so many

I would refer you to the language of the law, ... It depends on the circumstances.

If we're compelled to enforce our order, we intend to do so in a reasoned, measured way,

If we got into a situation where if American children ended up abroad, and American parents wanted them returned, and a foreign country made them a citizen so they did not return, I don't think people in the United States would be very happy about it,

If they go back to the apartment over the open-air drug market where they started out in the first place, that's not very conducive to staying out of trouble,

I have heard an awful lot in the last seven years, but that's about the worst rhetoric that I have heard,

I have conducted an initial inquiry to determine whether I have received information sufficient to constitute grounds to investigate,

I have come to believe, after much reflection and with great reluctance, that the independent counsel act is structurally flawed and that those flaws cannot be corrected within our constitutional framework,

I don't know what the resolution will be, ... We're trying to review all of the issues, obvious among them is the security and the safety of the president of the United States.

I am stunned that less than one month after the worst school shooting in our nation's history, the Senate has decided to make it easier for felons, fugitives, and other prohibited purchasers to buy guns,

But we do want to raise consciousness ... that such attacks are growing increasingly likely,

But we can't rest now, we cannot become complacent,

I look forward to working with him to figuring out how we assure the people of Florida just, fair, timely and accurate elections, ... The present governor of Florida has had two shots at it now, and he's not met either opportunity.

I felt joyful at the public's criticism. People come to the country for free speech. It's what America is all about,

I don't think you endorse something by purchasing it if it's the only game in town ... in terms of an effective machine, and the lowest price available,

I explained to Chairman Burton that I had made no decision on these recommendations yet, ... To ask for a document I am reviewing while I have still not made a decision is a form of political tampering that no prosecutor in America can accept.

I explained I was leaving the matter in Mr. Ashcroft's hands.

I encouraged the people in the Department of Justice to be their best. They are really wonderfully dedicated public servants. They care.