Rep. Meeks Blasts Trump’s Nomination of Sen. Sessions for AG

Rep. Meeks Blasts Trump’s Nomination of Sen. Sessions for AG

Queens, New York—This morning, U.S. Representative Gregory W. Meeks issued the following statement after President-elect Donald Trump announced his nomination of Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama to be his Attorney General:

"Trump’s nomination of Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions to be Attorney General is deeply troubling. Trump has asked a man to lead the Justice Department who has a pattern of supporting an unfair, imperfect, and punitive criminal justice system at a time when most Republicans and Democrats agree that our criminal justice system needs to be fairer, more just, and more rehabilitative.

“Senator Sessions was nominated in the 1980s for federal judge but he could not obtain Senate confirmation due to his history of racial insensitivity. It came to light that Sessions called the NAACP and ACLU ‘un-American’ and ‘communist-inspired’ and he’s the same man who once remarked that the Ku Klux Klan was “O.K. until [he] found out they smoked pot.” Senator Sessions applauded the Supreme Court’s decision in Shelby v. Holder, which gutted the Voting Rights Act, thereby allowing states to enact voter suppression legislation. He welcomed the Citizens United decision, which enhanced the ability of big corporations and wealthy individuals to dominate our electoral process. And frighteningly, he’s the same man, who would, as Attorney General, preside over civil rights investigations, protect Americans from discrimination, and defend citizens’ voting rights.

“Coming on the heels of the President-elect’s selection of a white nationalist to a senior position in the White House, it’s clear he is continuing to surround himself with people who will divide America and take us backwards as a nation. I urge the Senate to reject Mr. Sessions’ confirmation once again.