SEN. TIM KAINE

On Nov. 8, 2014, President Obama nominated an outstanding prosecutor from the Eastern District of New York to be our nation’s next attorney general. It now has been more than four months since Loretta Lynch was nominated to lead the U.S. Department of Justice — a period longer than any attorney general nominee in the last three decades.

On Feb. 28, 2015, her nomination was approved by a bipartisan majority of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Yet Senate Republicans continue to stand in the way of a full Senate vote to confirm her to this critical post.

When I think about what an important role our attorney general plays, I immediately flash back to my time as mayor of the City of Richmond when our city had one of the highest homicide rates in the country. It became very clear that in order to tackle a major public safety challenge like ours, you needed strong relationships between the community and local law enforcement and a strong Department of Justice.

As mayor, my office and the City Council relied heavily on our partnerships with the Justice Department — from the U.S. attorney from the Eastern District of Virginia, all the way up to Attorney General Janet Reno.

If there is ever a time to avoid needless uncertainty around the top government official charged with handling the fragile relationship between local communities and law enforcement agencies, it’s now. In 2013, an unarmed man named John Geer was shot by police in the doorway of his Fairfax County home. Last August, Michael Brown, an unarmed 18-year-old, was shot during a confrontation with an officer in Ferguson, Mo. A month prior, Eric Garner died as a result of a police chokehold in New York when he was confronted over the selling of untaxed cigarettes.

There have been similar incidents in Cleveland and Madison, Wis., that have raised serious concerns. It’s not limited to one part of the country. It’s not limited to North, South, East or West. There also have been horrible crimes committed against members of the law enforcement community — two New York City police officers shot point blank while they sat in their patrol car, and two other officers shot just last week in Ferguson.

These incidents in cities across the country demonstrate a significant level of tension between the police and communities they serve, often minority communities or communities of color. These tensions do not have to exist. They can be solved. But to do so, it’s critical that we confirm President Obama’s nominee for attorney general.

Loretta Lynch understands the significance of the attorney general’s role in these situations. She has testified that one of her key priorities would be to work to strengthen the bonds between law enforcement personnel and the communities they serve.

Ms. Lynch is a no-nonsense, hard-working prosecutor, known for her demeanor, intelligence and ability to work with a wide variety of stakeholders. And I am absolutely confident that she will approach these issues with the same focus, fairness and expertise that she has displayed throughout her career.

Justice delayed is justice denied. The refusal to confirm a leader to head the most important law enforcement agency in the United States is a delay of justice that, for many, seems to be a denial of justice. We can rectify that concern in communities across this country if we act with dispatch to confirm a person who is eminently qualified to hold the nation’s highest law enforcement position.

Sen. Tim Kaine represents Virginia in the U.S. Senate.