Advocates Deliver 1 Million Petition Signatures to the Senate to Stop Jeff Sessions
WASHINGTON – On Tuesday, February 7, Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), member of the Judiciary Committee, accepted 1 million petitions calling for the Senate to reject the nomination of Jeff Sessions for Attorney General in advance of Wednesday’s expected vote.
The petitions were collected and delivered by groups including The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, People For the American Way, Daily Kos, MoveOn, UltraViolet, Color of Change, Common Cause, the Center for American Progress, Friends of the Earth, NARAL Pro-Choice America, Rock the Vote, Faith in Public Life, Voto Latino, Free Press, Asian Americans Advancing Justice, and the Bill of Rights Defense Committee.
The leaders of many of the nation’s civil and human rights organizations representing people of color, immigrants, religious minorities, women, the LGBT community, and people with disabilities gathered to discuss their key concerns in advance of the expected vote for Attorney General nominee Jeff Sessions.
Below are quotes from some of the groups who collected and delivered the petitions:
Wade Henderson, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
“The million Americans who signed these petitions are but a small fraction of the Americans who believe that Senator Sessions would be a disaster for civil rights, for the rule of law, and for an independent Justice Department. Senator Sessions has built his career on demonizing people of color, women, the LGBT community, people with disabilities, immigrants and refugees, and we’re standing here today because that type of record renders Senator Sessions entirely unfit to be the Attorney General.”
Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and member of the Judiciary Committee:
“Make no mistake, the Attorney General of the United States has sweeping powers and responsibilities. He decides whom to charge and perhaps not to charge, and which laws to enforce most vigorously, and perhaps which not. And that comes to my central complaint and my reason for opposing Senator Sessions. At a time when our rights and liberties are threatened – and they have never been more threatened than right now – we need a champion of those core rights and principles that are not only the basis for our rule of law and our constitutional freedoms, but also our American values.”
Allegra Chapman, Director of Voting and Elections for Common Cause
“The Voting Rights Act protects the right of every American to cast their ballot, but Senator Sessions has repeatedly voiced contempt for the historic and still vital piece of legislation. The Attorney General must uphold and enforce all the laws, not just the ones with which he agrees. Further, the A.G. must serve as a check to the Administration when it oversteps its legal rights but the record of Senator Sessions and his role shaping the policy priorities of the Trump White House does nothing to reassure anyone that he is up to the task.”
Shaunna Thomas, Co-Founder of UltraViolet
“Senator Sessions is a threat to women, a threat to people of color and simply put: a threat to the rule of law. The Attorney General should be independent from the President in matters of law enforcement, but Sessions already proved that he is little more than a Trump lapdog when he wouldn’t even characterize Trump’s actions in the Access Hollywood tapes as sexual assault. It’s clear Sessions will only weaken programs that already struggle to end the epidemic of sexual assault and we can’t trust him to be Attorney General”
Marge Baker, Executive Vice President for People For the American Way
“We’re here representing over one million Americans who have a clear message for Senators: Jeff Sessions’ record in Alabama and in the Senate shows he’s unfit for the task of protecting the most fundamental constitutional rights. As a senator, Sessions has voted and spoken out against the very laws he’ll be tasked to enforce as attorney general: that’s a threat to civil rights, voting rights, women’s rights, and more. Senators need to know that over one million people who took actions to oppose him are standing at the ready to hold him—and them—accountable. The Attorney General and Senators all have a responsibility to uphold the rights of all Americans, not to defend unconstitutional actions from the President.”
Jessica Reeves, Chief Operating Officer of Voto Latino
“Voto Latino has grave concerns that as the nation’s top law enforcement official, Sen. Sessions would fight on behalf of all Americans and not just allow President Trump’s radical agenda to fly through the Justice Department. The Justice Department will determine the fate of the 16.3 million Americans in mixed-status families, including the shaping of the federal immigration enforcement strategy, and Sen. Sessions’ anti-immigrant and extremist views will undermine due process in our immigration courts and further criminalize immigrants. Also, Sen. Sessions has been a strong proponent of voter suppression policies, including restrictive voter ID laws that only serve to disenfranchise our country’s most vulnerable citizens. Our next attorney general must be committed to upholding and restoring the Voting Rights Act (VRA) and protecting the National Voter Registration Act.”
Rashad Robinson, Executive Director of Color Of Change
“Donald Trump is an unhinged bully whose cabinet nominees have been handpicked to help him advance a corrupt agenda that will endanger all Americans. In Senator Jeff Sessions, Trump has found a dangerous partner to help him destroy the Justice Department’s role in protecting our rights and turn his white nationalist vision for America into a reality. Sessions’ nomination as Attorney General must be stopped. The decision of eleven members of the Senate Judiciary Committee to advance the Sessions nomination is a scandal. Sessions is a career racist who has opposed the Voting Rights Act, taken extreme views on immigration and free speech, and referred to a Black federal prosecutor as ‘boy.’ In allowing his confirmation to move forward, each one of these Senators is rubber stamping this White House’s racist, right wing agenda to steal our rights, our freedoms, and our country. They have voted to sell off the legacy of the civil rights movement. Now that Sessions’ confirmation vote is up to the full Senate, we call on all Senators to follow in the footsteps of Senators Charles Schumer, Dianne Feinstein and the eight other members of the Judiciary Committee who have rejected Sessions’ nomination and courageously defended the Department of Justice from a racist takeover. Our question for members of the Senate is simple: do they support racism, or do they not? In 1986, the Republican-controlled Judiciary Committee refused to confirm Sessions to the federal bench. In 2017, the Senate should be just as unequivocal: ‘no’ to racism means ‘no’ to Jeff Sessions.”
###