AMHERST, Mass. — The former attorney general Jeff Sessions said on Wednesday that the special counsel’s report into Russian interference in the 2016 election “deserves respect” but contended that the country should move on.

“I think it’s about time to accept the results, and let’s get on with the business of America,” Mr. Sessions said in a speech at Amherst College.

While Congress has the power to oversee investigations of possible wrongdoing by the president, Mr. Sessions said he believed lawmakers should accept that the inquiry, led by the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, found insufficient evidence to determine that President Trump or his associates engaged in a criminal conspiracy with Russia.

The public should rest assured that the investigative process worked as it was intended, Mr. Sessions said.