Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch

On January 13, 2001, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that President-elect George W. Bush's transition office released a speech given by John Ashcroft when he received an honorary degree from Bob Jones University in 1999. Democrats requested the release of the speech, "looking for incendiary quotes that could damage Ashcroft's nomination to be attorney general." Ashcroft's remarks "could fuel concern expressed by some senators that Ashcroft's religious convictions might supersede his enforcement of laws on subjects like abortion. 'When you have no king but Caesar, you release Barabas - criminality, destruction, thievery, the lowest and the least,' Ashcroft said in his speech. 'When you have no king but Jesus, you release the eternal, you release the highest and best, you release virtue, you release potential.'...The Anti-Defamation League and Americans United for Separation of Church and State criticized Ashcroft's words." In a 1998 speech, Ashcroft said, "We must embrace the power of faith, but we must never confuse politics and piety. For me, may I say that it is against my religion to impose my religion." Ashcroft supporters say he "would fully enforce all federal laws, even those he disagrees with."