Janet Reno Quotes
We cannot forget the need to use the law as a shield, but we must remember other forces of the law.
Reno, Janet. "Speech to the American Bar Association." American Bar Association Journal, vol. 79, Oct. 1993.
The Egyptian Army, responding to huge demonstrations, ordered the Muslim Brotherhood President to step down in what appeared to be a coup d’etat. There was an American law that required a cut off of foreign aid to any government that had come to power. The American Administration and most of Congress did not want to terminate foreign aid to Egypt, and announced that it could not come to a conclusion as to whether or not there was a coup. They did not say that there was no coups—they just decided not to decide. Since there was no finding of a coups, there was no cutoff. Senator Paul and a few other Senators, observing that there had been a coup, wanted the administration to cut off the foreign aid even though it would be detrimental to our foreign policy. The government must obey the law they argued, regardless of the consequences.
Americans are divided as to whether this should be encouraged and helped or not.
Janet Wood Reno was an American lawyer who served as the Attorney General of the United States from 1993 until 2001. President Bill Clinton nominated Reno on February 11, 1993, and the Senate confirmed her the following month. She was the first woman to serve as Attorney General and the second-longest serving Attorney General in U.S. history, after William Wirt.
