Leonardo M. Rapadas has been confirmed by the US Senate as Guam's next United States Attorney and the only person to be confirmed to the position since 1984. The nomination to confirmation process in this case took two years.

9:58 a.m.: A source called that Rapadas' name was reported out of committee.

10:44 a.m. We got another call that Rapadas was confirmed.

12 Noon: Confirming With Rapadas:

RL: I am calling to confirm your appointment by the US Senate as the next US Attorney for Guam. Rapadas: "Yes, someone from the Department of Justice called to tell me and sent an email confirming it. I checked the Judiciary page on the Senate's site and found the Executive Business meeting page and that's where I saw my name. I am excited. I'm going into a different phase of my career, my law enforcement career and I want to hit the ground running."

RL: When you say that Lenny, what do you mean? Rapadas: "I don't want to sit there and obviously have a lot to learn, but I don't want to go there and the first thing I do is decorate my office and look out the window and say, 'Wow! I think I have to get into the nuts and bolts of the office right away and that is what I intend to do."

RL: Are you ready to make the change? Rapadas: "It hasn't sunk in yet, cause like I said, I still have a lot of things to do to wrap up. And, I have been actually wrapping up things over the last month or so."

RL: What if you don't have a chance to finish it off before you go over? Rapadas: "Well, I think the commission will be signed mid next week.

RL: One of the things some people were critical of Len, was that Fred Black needed to be kept in that spot because of all the indictments coming out, any comment to that? Rapadas: "I have no intention of slowing anything down, obviously I have to review everything just to get myself up to speed on a lot of things. And, there is a legitimate concern for conflicts of interest. I don't know if it's widely reported that there is a mechanism for screening me from those cases, but it's a process, a valid working process that happens in every single US Attorney's office... every single prosecutor's office, government lawyers... everywhere there's lawyers. Private law firms have ways of shielding and walling off individuals. You have people from government going into private and private going into government and there are ethical rules and statutes that deal with that. So, that's never been a problem for me, and I have no intention of slowing anything down or stopping anything. My concern is following the rule of law, and there are a lot of priorities that I am going to have to deal with. Part of my meeting out there (D.C.) was meeting with the Attorney General, and we talked about his and the president's priorities so there is a lot of work to be done. Obviously with the war on terrorism, drugs, firearms, like that, those are the things we have to look at. And, on the civil side - there are a lot of other issues that I should be dealing with, but like I said, I don't intend to slow anything down at this point. If things are moving along, I'm the last one people should think about when it comes to road blocks."

RL: You've had enough time to reflect on the importance of you being the first Chamorro US Attorney. What can you comment about that? Rapadas: "You know, I don't think of it that way. I don't think of it as the first Chamorro US Attorney. I don't know, maybe it's selfish. I think of it in terms of me being appointed US Attorney."

RL: You are the first Chamorro in that position. Rapadas: "I am. I am. But, I don't want that to be an issue. Its never been an issue for me. I'm hoping that when I was nominated that, that wasn't an issue for the President or for Congress."

RL: And if it was? Rapadas: "We'll I can't say. I can't speculate on that because I am hoping that they also looked at my credentials, my years of service, my years of government service and dedication to the island, and the people."

RL: What about the recommendation from the Republican Party? Did they make it a matter of being Chamorro, saying they wanted a Chamorro in that position? Rapadas: "I am trying to remember, I don't think that was ever a consideration. I don't think it's ever been a serious discussion."

RL: It's come up in other discussions, particularly in arguments against your appointment; that you shouldn't be the US Attorney because you are Chamorro. Rapadas: "Yeah, yeah, I know. I think it's brought up by people who wanted it to be a concern."

RL: I see. Rapadas: "I don't want it to be a concern. That is the way I've always dealt with my cases and how I've... I don't look at concerns other than the rule of law and was the law broken."

RL: Do you know any history of the office? Rapadas: "I just know a little of the recent history. Fred was court appointed, maybe Vanier was court appointed too? But prior to that I have no history of that, because you know, (chuckling) Rlene!, I was in high school. I had no concern about that."

RL: Yes I know, but I thought I'd ask, because no one has been confirmed since O'Conner. Is it significant that your name will now be added to the history of the US Attorneys. Rapadas: "What should be significant is after four years or eight years. I want to look at the end, I don't want to look at now. To me this is the beginning and I hope to do a good job. It's not one of these things that you know for sure. It's one thing if I was an AUSA, (Assistant US Attorney) and already in the system and had intimate working knowledge of things. But, coming from the local government side is an exponential rise in responsibilities since I'll now be representing the United States."

RL: What do you hope to do in the office? Rapadas: "Specifically, I can't tell you, but in a general sense I just want to do the best job I can. At this point, because I am so new to the system, that is really all I can say right now."

RL: Cleaning up white collar crime is something many are interested in what is your position on white collar crime? Rapadas: "Well, I think when people talk about white collar crime they are really talking about government corruption. To me, white collar crime is any crime that doesn't involve a gun. Government corruption is going to be a priority with me."

RL: What is your feeling of people who commit government corruption? Or who plot government corruption? Rapadas: "I've handled these government corruption cases and people who are employed in the government, especially in higher areas where they have greater responsibility - not just with individuals and programs - but a greater responsibility to the people. From that follows a greater accountability to the people. And, a lot of times people lose sight of that fact - they lose sight of the fact that they have the people's trust when they are in their position. People who destroy that trust to me, are just as bad as the guy who pulls out a gun. And, I intend to actively pursue that."