May 12, 2009 - Congressman Trent Franks (AZ-02) gave the following statement today after the Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 12-to-5 to nominate Harold Koh as the State Department legal adviser to the full Senate.  Koh's nomination will now go before the full Senate.

“Koh will be a disaster if confirmed to the position of Legal Advisor to the State Department, as the position will provide a worldwide platform from which to undermine U.S. sovereignty, which he clearly does not respect.  Koh has stated that that the Iraq war is a violation of international law because the U.S. acted without ‘explicit U.N. authorization,' and that as a violator of international law, the U.S. makes up part of an 'axis of disobedience' with countries like North Korea and Saddam Hussein’s Iraq. 

"Koh has criticized America’s “distinctive rights culture” which he complains gives 'First Amendment protections for speech and religion…far greater emphasis and judicial protection in America than in Europe or Asia.'

"Such statements alone are seriously disturbing, but the legal opinions such beliefs would surely yield would do irreparable harm to American sovereignty and would undermine Americans' Constitutional rights in a profound way. I strongly urge my colleagues in the Senate to vote against his nomination."