Washington (January 13, 2017) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) released the following statement opposing the nomination of the Senator Jeff Sessions to be Attorney General of the United States.

“When the nomination of Jefferson Beauregard Sessions, III to be Attorney General of the United States reaches the floor of the United States Senate, I will be voting no. I have heard from and listened to the thousands of my constituents who have contacted my office with fears about a Justice Department headed by Senator Sessions. I have told them that Senator Sessions must be judged based on the totality of his record. A review of that record, including two days of hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee, demonstrates anything but the type of commitment to the equal and impartial administration of justice that we must demand from the nation’s top law enforcement officer.

 

“Senator Sessions’s record as a United States Attorney, Alabama’s Attorney General, and United States Senator reflects hostility to important Constitutional rights intended to protect people of color, women, the LGBTQ community, and immigrants against discrimination and violence. Senator Sessions has fought against civil rights efforts, against protecting voting rights, against comprehensive immigration and criminal justice reform, against commonsense gun control measures, and against a woman’s right to choose.

 

“Based on the totality of Senator Sessions’s record, I have no confidence that he shares a commitment to justice for all Americans or that he will fight to defend the most vulnerable in our society. I will be voting no on Senator Sessions’s nomination.”