Congressional Record, Volume 163 Issue 5 (Monday, January 9, 2017)

[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 5 (Monday, January 9, 2017)]
[House]
[Pages H220-H227]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

IMPACT OF CABINET NOMINATIONS

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of
January 3, 2017, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Veasey) is recognized
for the remainder of the hour as the designee of the minority leader.
Mr. VEASEY. Mr. Speaker, I want to welcome you to tonight's
Congressional Black Caucus Special Order hour that will examine the
negative impact of President-elect Trump's nominations for the position
of U.S. Attorney General, Secretary of Education, and Secretary of
Health and Human Services.

[[Page H221]]

Let's be honest here, the 2016 Presidential election showed us both
the worst and the best of American politics. The most disturbing
development of the election season, of course, was the President-
elect's campaign that was an ``us versus them'' type of campaign that
really divided the Nation. It was really sad for people to see that on
display.
On November 9, after winning the Presidency, the President-elect
tweeted: ``Such a beautiful and important evening! The forgotten man
and woman will never be forgotten again. We will all come together as
never before.''
But will he keep his promise of doing all that he can to repair our
divided nation? So far he has been very disappointing. And when you
look at the nominations of Senator Sessions, Betsy DeVos, and Tom Price
to key positions in his administration, it seems like he has forgotten,
that he has forgotten and ignored our Nation's dark history of
oppression, particularly to the African American community.

{time} 1930

The President-elect's nominees represent everything that the
Congressional Black Caucus has vehemently fought against. As a caucus,
we fought to ensure that the African American community is empowered
with the tools it needs to achieve the American Dream. Mr. Trump's
Cabinet nominations are set to push the dream back so far out of reach
for millions and millions of Americans.
Mr. Speaker, we have a list of Members that would like to speak
tonight.
I yield to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Conyers), the dean of the
United States House of Representatives.
Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Louisiana (Mr.
Veasey) for opening up this part of our Special Order for which the
Congressional Black Caucus has come together to more critically examine
the nomination of Senator Jeff Sessions.
As the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, I led a joint
statement in November that was signed by every Democratic member of the
Judiciary Committee opposing Senator Sessions' nomination for United
States Attorney General. The Attorney General is the chief law
enforcement officer of the United States, charged with the
administration of the criminal justice system and the enforcement of
our civil rights. Senator Sessions is clearly unsuitable to lead the
Department of Justice.
In 1986 testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, witnesses
said that Mr. Sessions had referred to the NAACP, the National
Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the Southern
Christian Leadership Conference, and other civil rights groups, as both
un-American and communist inspired. One prosecutor in the Alabama
United States Attorney's Office testified that Mr. Sessions referred to
him as ``boy'' and counseled him to be careful of what you say to White
folks.
His appointment to the Federal branch was opposed by the Leadership
Conference on Civil Rights, the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People, and other organizations. Senator
Sessions has criticized the section 5 preclearance provisions in the
Voting Rights Act, which I and many others have been fighting to
restore since the 2013 Supreme Court Shelby County v. Holder decision.
In the 114th Congress, Senator Sessions opposed bipartisan criminal
justice reform efforts. He has also opposed the reauthorization of the
bipartisan Violence Against Women Act and nearly every immigration
reform bill that has come before the Senate.
A vote to confirm Jeff Sessions as Attorney General is a vote against
freedom and equality. So I join with many of my colleagues today in
urging the Senate to oppose his nomination, and I thank my colleague
for yielding to me.
Mr. VEASEY. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Conyers very much for his words
as the dean of the House.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Maxine
Waters).
Ms. MAXINE WATERS of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to
encourage opposition to the nomination of Jeff Sessions to the Attorney
General's Office by this President-elect.
We have been asked and we are constantly asked: Are you saying he is
a racist? He defined himself. He defined himself long ago when he was
denied a Federal judgeship in 1986 after having been appointed by
Ronald Reagan. He was denied because his colleagues said they heard him
use the N-word.
Also, it was very well documented that after two of the members of
the KKK killed an African American man, he said: Oh, I thought the KKK
was okay until I learned they smoked marijuana. This is the same man
that said, again, that the NAACP and the SCLC were un-American, that
they were communist inspired, and it goes on and on and on. And it is
not whether or not we are calling him or we think of him as a racist;
he defined himself in that manner. He was denied the appointment to the
Federal judgeship, including by Republicans who voted against him.
So here we have a man who is going to be considered for the Attorney
General's Office where we have the Civil Rights Division. Should we be
worried about that? You bet your bottom dollar we should be worried
about that. Not only has he defined himself as a racist, but this is a
throwback. This is a man who is a setback. This is a man who does not
agree with his colleagues on criminal justice reform. This is a man who
loves mandatory minimum sentences. This is a man who does not want the
Justice Department to work with local police departments who are in
trouble, like what happened in Ferguson. This is a man who is against
voting rights. This is a man who has shown himself to be against women.
This is a man who does not support the LGBT community. Why would we
want him to have this very important, prestigious position as the
Attorney General overseeing civil rights? I don't think so.
I advise everybody who is listening and all of our colleagues to
support him not being appointed to that position and to get the word
over to the Senators that they should not support him, they should not
vote for him.
Mr. VEASEY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from California (Ms.
Maxine Waters).
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr.
Thompson), the ranking member of the Committee on Homeland Security.
Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Veasey for
helping organize this Special Order on a topic that is of great concern
to me and many of my constituents.
The Attorney General, as we know, serves as the United States' chief
law enforcement official. He or she does not serve certain States,
certain classes of people, nor is their service limited to a particular
party. The Attorney General is there to serve all of us.
With that in mind, I stand here on the floor of the House concerned
with Senator Sessions' nomination to become the next Attorney General.
Based on his record, there are a number of reasons why I believe that
Senator Sessions is unfit to lead the Department of Justice.

First, at his 1986 confirmation hearing to serve as a Federal judge
for the Southern District of Alabama, it was revealed that Senator
Sessions had called the NAACP and the ACLU un-American and communist
inspired. I am a life member of the NAACP and a participating member in
the ACLU. Neither one of those organizations are un-American or
communist inspired.
A Department of Justice attorney also testified that Sessions said he
believed that the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Operation
PUSH, and the NAACP taught anti-American values. Well, if being free,
if being able to exercise your right to vote, being able to not
determine one's color as a condition for participation, then I am not
certain what Mr. Sessions was talking about; but I do know that he has
called a Black attorney ``boy,'' and he also talked about a White civil
rights attorney as a ``race traitor.''
Also, what I am more concerned about is, in the aftermath of the
shooting at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston,
South Carolina, he opposed taking down the Confederate battle flag.
Now, if there is one symbol that we all understand that represents
hate, it is the confederate

[[Page H222]]

battle flag. I am concerned that Senator Sessions continued to try to
defend that symbol. I can't imagine someone being the Attorney General
having that kind of attitude and that operation.
Mr. Speaker, I join the chorus of other members of the Congressional
Black Caucus who raise their voice in opposition to what would be a
travesty to the Department of Justice if Senator Jeff Sessions is
confirmed.
Mr. VEASEY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr.
Thompson) for his timely comments.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee),
my fellow Texan from Houston.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, let me thank Mr. Veasey for his
leadership. Let also thank the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus,
Mr. Richmond, for his leadership.
Before I start, let me offer my appreciation to law enforcement
officers across America--this is Law Enforcement Appreciation Day--and
join my colleague, Val Demings, particularly acknowledging the sadness
in Orlando today in the loss of two law enforcement officers in the
line of duty.
I rise today for not a personal statement or a statement that has to
do with personality. As the President-elect said of Mr. Sessions, he is
a fine and decent fellow. I have no interest in determining whether
that is true or false. But I do want to hold the President-elect
accountable for the words that he said on election night that he
pledged to the Nation that he would be a President for all Americans.
That pledge, I believe, will ring hollow for tens upon tens of millions
of Americans with the nomination of the Secretary of Education, who is
against public schools, the nomination of the Secretary of Health and
Human Services, who has no plan for health care, and, finally, the
nomination for Attorney General.
Rather than select someone who is championing and protecting, rather
than opposing and undermining the precious right to vote, the
constitutionally guaranteed right of privacy, criminal justice reform,
and the support for reform of the Nation's immigration system, it is
quite the contrary in the nomination of Senator Sessions--a person who
opposed Shelby County v. Holder in terms of the basis of trying to
constructively support voting rights, an individual who is hostile to
comprehensive immigration reform, and certainly someone who has
constantly not sought to fix, but has sought to undermine.
So, for example, as a U.S. attorney, he was the first prosecutor in
the country to bring charges against civil rights activists of voter
fraud. But, Mr. Speaker, listen to this: he didn't just bring charges;
he had 29 counts of voter fraud that resulted in civil rights activists
facing 100 years in prison.
He has repeatedly denied the disproportionate impact of voting
restrictions on minorities and has been a leader in the effort to
undermine the protections of the Voting Rights Act, and he did nothing
to reconstruct the Voting Rights Act and restore section 5 when tens
upon tens of Members of Congress worked diligently to try to fix the
Shelby case.
He criticized Attorney General Eric Holder for challenging State
election laws, claiming they are necessary to fight voter fraud.
Evidence supports that voter fraud is almost nonexistent, with 31
confirmed cases out of more than a billion ballots cast.
Senator Sessions fought to continue practices that harm schools
predominantly attended by African American students. He led the fight
to uphold the State of Alabama's inequitable school funding mechanism
after it had been deemed unconstitutional by the Alabama Circuit Court.
Finally, in the State of Alabama, nearly a quarter of African
American students attend what is called apartheid, or what can be
called apartheid schools, meaning the school's White population is less
than 1 percent.
Now we understand that the Senator has taken credit for desegregation
efforts in the State of Alabama. There is no evidence of his
participation in the desegregation of Alabama schools or any school
desegregation lawsuits filed by then-Attorney General Sessions.

{time} 1945

I would say to you as I close, we who are vulnerable look to the
Department of Justice as the solid rock of justice for the Nation.
Whether we are immigrant, whether we are a woman who is trying to fight
against violence, whether we need civil rights, whether we are LGBT,
whether we are those who are seeking religious freedom or freedom of
expression, the Department of Justice is a solid rock of justice for
this Nation.
With that in mind, I believe that this nominee, who now stands with
the criteria evidenced by the record, stands not prepared, not fit to
hold this position of the Attorney General of the United States--a
sacred position of law and justice.
Mr. Speaker, as a senior member of the House Committees on the
Judiciary and Homeland Security Committee; Ranking Member of the
Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and
Investigations, and the Congressional Voting Rights Caucus, I rise
today to express my views regarding the President-Elect's nomination of
U.S. Senator Jefferson Beauregard ``Jeff'' Sessions III of Alabama to
be the next Attorney General of the United States.
On Election Night the President-Elect pledged to the nation that he
would be a president to all Americans.
That pledge will ring hollow to tens of millions of Americans in
light of his announced intention to nominate one of the U.S. Senate's
most far-right members, Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) to be the next
Attorney General of the United States.
Perhaps nothing would do more to reassure the American people that
the President-Elect is committed to unifying the nation than the
nomination and appointment of a person to be Attorney General who has a
record of championing and protecting, rather than opposing and
undermining, the precious right to vote; the constitutionally
guaranteed right of privacy, criminal justice reform, and support for
reform of the nation's immigration system so that it is fair and
humane.
The nomination of Alabama Senator Sessions as Attorney General does
not inspire the necessary confidence.
As a U.S. Senator from Alabama, the state from which the infamous
Supreme Court decision in Shelby County v. Holder originated, Senator
Sessions has failed to play a constructive role in repairing the damage
to voting rights caused by that decision.
He was one of the leading opponents of the reauthorization of the
Violence Against Women Act.
He is one of the Senate's most hostile opponents of comprehensive
immigration reform and was a principal architect of the draconian and
incendiary immigration policy advocated by the President-Elect during
the campaign.
And his record in support of efforts to bring needed reform to the
nation's criminal justice system is virtually non-existent.
In 1986, ten years before Senator Sessions was elected to the Senate,
he was rejected for a U.S. District Court judgeship in view of
documented incidents that revealed his lack of commitment to civil and
voting rights, and to equal justice.
And his Senate voting record and rhetoric has endeared him to white
nationalist websites and organizations like Breitbart and Stormfront.
As a U.S. attorney, Senator Sessions was the first federal prosecutor
in the country to bring charges against civil rights activists for
voter fraud.
Senator Sessions charged the group with 29 counts of voter fraud,
facing over 100 years in prison.
Senator Sessions has repeatedly denied the disproportionate impact of
voting restrictions on minorities and has been a leader in the effort
to undermine the protections of the Voting Rights Act.
Senator Sessions has spoken out against the Voting Rights Act,
calling it ``a piece of intrusive legislation.''
Senator Sessions criticized Attorney General Eric Holder for
challenging state election laws, claiming they are necessary to fight
voter fraud.
However, evidence supports that voter fraud is almost nonexistent,
with 31 confirmed cases out of more than 1 billion ballots cast.
As Attorney General of the state of Alabama, Senator Sessions fought
to continue practices that harmed schools predominantly attended by
African-American students.
Senator Sessions led the fight to uphold the state of Alabama's
inequitable school funding mechanism after it had been deemed
unconstitutional by the Alabama circuit court.
In the state of Alabama nearly a quarter of African-American students
attend apartheid schools, meaning the school's white population is less
than one percent.
Although Senator Sessions has publically taken credit for
desegregation efforts in the state of Alabama, there is no evidence of
his participation in the desegregation of Alabama schools or any school
desegregation lawsuits filed by then Attorney General Sessions.

[[Page H223]]

I call upon the Senate Judiciary Committee to subject the nomination
to the most comprehensive, searching, and withering examination.
The United States has been blessed to have been served as Attorney
General by such illustrious figures as Robert Jackson, Robert Kennedy,
Herbert Brownell, Ramsey Clark, Nicholas Katzenbach, Eric Holder, and
Edward H. Levi.
The duty of the U.S. Attorney General is to lead the Department of
Justice in protecting and expanding the civil rights of all Americans
and the pursuit of equal justice for all, not to turn back the clock on
hard won rights and liberties.
No senator should vote to confirm the nomination of Jeff Sessions as
U.S. Attorney General if there is the slightest doubt that he possesses
the character, qualities, integrity, and commitment to justice and
equality needed to lead a department, the headquarters building of
which is named for Robert F. Kennedy, one of the nation's greatest and
most indefatigable champions of civil rights and equal justice for all.
Mr. VEASEY. I thank very much Ms. Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas.
Mr. Speaker, I now yield to the gentlewoman from California, Ms.
Barbara Lee.
Ms. LEE. Let me thank Representative Veasey for hosting this
important discussion on President-elect Trump's disturbing nomination
and for the gentleman's commitment to defend civil and human rights for
all Americans. Now, more than ever, the voices of the CBC's are so
important in this fight.
I would also like to recognize our new chair, Cedric Richmond, as he
takes the helm of the CBC during these very challenging times; but I
know that, under his leadership, our caucus will continue to fight in a
very strong and aggressive way for equality and justice.
The President-elect, Mr. Speaker, ran one of the most divisive and
racially tinged campaigns we have witnessed in modern history. Since
winning the Presidency, President-elect Donald Trump has nominated
individuals to serve in his Cabinet, proving that he will govern just
as he campaigned. There is no greater example of this disturbing
reality than in Senator Jeff Sessions' nomination to serve as our
country's Attorney General. The Justice Department is our best tool in
protecting civil and human rights and voting rights. By appointing
Senator Sessions to lead this department, President-elect Donald Trump
is making it clear that he will abandon these fundamental values.
Senator Sessions has a long history of opposing civil rights and
equality. He has called the Voting Rights Act a piece of intrusive
legislation. He said that the Supreme Court's disastrous decision to
gut voting rights was good news for the South. In the 1980s, he was
rejected from serving as a Federal judge due to his blatantly racist
comments.
Any one of these statements should be disqualifying. In the proposed,
bigoted Trump administration, frankly, I am not surprised; but I am
appalled that the President-elect would choose such an extreme and
divisive figure to serve as Attorney General. Clearly, someone who has
publicly displayed prejudice and intolerance is not qualified to serve
as our chief law enforcement officer for our civil rights laws.
By that standard alone, one thing is clear: Senator Sessions is
wholly unfit to serve as Attorney General. Senator Sessions has
forcefully degraded the LGBT community, has voted against the Violence
Against Women Act, and has undermined the cornerstone of the civil
rights movement and the Voting Rights Act. His nomination really is a
chilling indication of how a Trump administration intends to govern.
This country has made tremendous progress in the fight to protect,
preserve, and expand civil rights for all Americans. We will not allow
a Trump administration to drag us back into the past.
As the conscience of the Congress, the Congressional Black Caucus is
a voice for the marginalized. Our message to the Trump administration
and to President-elect Donald Trump is simple: A vote to confirm
Senator Jeff Sessions is a vote against justice. We will fight to
protect any rollback on civil or human rights. We will not be silent.
I call on all of my colleagues to oppose Senator Sessions' nomination
as the United States Attorney General because his history disqualifies
him for this important position.
Mr. VEASEY. I thank very much Representative Lee. I really appreciate
the gentlewoman's remarks.
Mr. Speaker, I now yield to someone who, over the last 20 years, has
been in nearly every battle in the United States Congress when it comes
to the issue of civil rights. He is Representative Bobby Scott of
Virginia.
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for
organizing this Special Order.
I will be brief. There are a lot of people who want to speak. I will
just speak to the jurisdiction of the Education and the Workforce
Committee, on which I have the honor of serving as the ranking member.
Mr. Speaker, as we consider appointments to the Departments of Labor,
Education, and Health and Human Services, we shouldn't just look at
people's personalities, but at what the policy implications are of
their appointments. The Senate must reject those nominees who will fail
to stand up to the goals and aspirations of America's children and
workers.
The first nominee I will speak to is that of Secretary of Labor, Mr.
Puzder, who was the CEO of CKE Restaurants. He has spoken out many
times in opposition to an increase in the minimum wage. Many States
have recognized that the minimum wage is so low that people who work
full time fail to make a wage that exceeds the poverty level.
What is his position going to be on increasing the minimum wage? With
overtime, are people entitled to work overtime after 40 hours?
The regulation is in place. Will he enforce that new regulation? Or
will he try to overturn the regulation that recognizes and honors the
40-hour workweek, whereby those who work more than 40 hours will get
time and a half?
If you look at CKE's retirement plan, it leaves a lot to be desired
in terms of fees.
What will his position be?
When you look at the fiduciary rule--which requires financial
advisers, when they are looking at somebody's retirement fund, to have
the worker's best interest in the forefront, not their personal profits
and what they can rip off from someone but to look at the worker's
views as paramount--will he change that so that we can go back to the
days in which people could take advantage of unsophisticated workers
and sell them products that are not in their best interests?
What are his positions going to be on enforcing Federal regulations?
CKE Restaurants has been found in violation of many wage regulations.
Will he vigorously enforce those?
Those are the kinds of things that we need to look at when we look at
the Secretary of Labor.
The Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos, is best known for her
support of vouchers. Vouchers in Michigan have shown that they fund
schools that are actually worse than the average, so they have not done
any good.
Will she support public education? Or will she support the
privatization of education?
Finally, Health and Human Services: Will we privatize Medicare? Will
we repeal without replacing the Affordable Care Act?
A lot has been said about repeal and then replace later. Let me tell
you, until you have seen a plan, you can just count on the repeal;
there will probably never be a replace.
What will happen to everybody if there is no plan?
Twenty million people--maybe 30 million--will lose their insurance,
and the insurance market for everybody else will be in chaos. We need
to make sure that we look at this and get these decisions straight
before we confirm anybody.
All of the nominees and others should be reviewed not on their
personalities, but on the policy decisions they will be making. The
next generation of Americans will base their education, their jobs, and
their health care on the decisions these nominees will make. The Senate
should reject any of the nominees that will take us in the wrong
direction.
Mr. VEASEY. I thank Mr. Scott of Virginia very much.
Mr. Speaker, I inquire as to how much time I have left.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman has 32 minutes remaining.
Mr. VEASEY. Mr. Speaker, I next yield to the lone voice in the State
of

[[Page H224]]

Wisconsin, someone who is always speaking out on these issues not just
for her district, but for the many people around her State who want
that voice from the CBC: Ms. Gwen Moore of Wisconsin.
Ms. MOORE. I thank Mr. Veasey so much, and I thank our new chair of
the Congressional Black Caucus for his tremendous effort in putting
this very important Special Order hour together.
Mr. Speaker, I rise this evening because I am extremely concerned
about the nomination of Senator Jeff Sessions.
Certainly, President-elect Trump has a right to nominate people and
have them be presented before our Senate, and, certainly, you don't
expect a Republican to necessarily agree with all of your positions;
but I am concerned about Senator Sessions because I think he has
aligned himself with extreme ideological views that won't best serve
all of the people of the United States.
During the last 7 years, the Department of Justice has investigated
at least 23 law enforcement agencies in response to rampant civil
rights abuses. I fear that, under an Attorney General Jeff Sessions,
those consent decrees and that very important work in resolving the
conflicts between, particularly, African American communities and
police officers will be lost.
I am extremely concerned, as are at least 70 civil rights
organizations and organizations that serve women, with an Attorney
General Jeff Sessions. They are concerned about not just the anti-
abortion views that Senator Sessions has displayed, but about the
zealous anti-choice positions that he has taken--his association and
alignment, again, with extreme anti-abortion organizations. They
believe that he is not capable of fair and impartial action as Attorney
General.
What is so chilling, as an example, is when Senator Sessions was
asked about President-elect Trump's Access Hollywood scandal in that he
said he didn't characterize the grabbing of a woman's genitals as
necessarily a sexual assault. Very, very chilling and disturbing.
In being from Wisconsin, where we have fought egregious and unfair
voter ID laws that were designed to disenfranchise, particularly,
African Americans, Mr. Sessions has indicated that the gutting of the
Voting Rights Act has actually had no impact and that no one has been
denied the right to vote. He seems to be tone deaf to the cries of
African Americans across this country to protect their voting rights.
I encourage the Senate to look very carefully at this nominee,
because, in fact, the United States Attorney General's only charge is
to protect the civil rights of all of the citizens. I don't know that
he will be willing or able to do that.
Mr. VEASEY. I thank Representative Moore. I appreciate the
gentlewoman's comments and I thank her for mentioning some of the
issues with voter ID in Wisconsin, which may have tilted the election
results in that State.
Mr. Speaker, I now yield to my good friend from Brooklyn in the
Empire State, Representative Yvette Clarke.
Ms. CLARKE of New York. I thank Mr. Veasey for his leadership this
evening. I thank our chairman, Cedric Richmond, for his vision and his
timeliness in bringing this to the floor today.
Mr. Speaker, I rise on behalf of the people of the Ninth
Congressional District of New York in opposition to Donald Trump's
nominee for the position of Attorney General of the United States,
Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama. I stand with my colleagues in the
Congressional Black Caucus as we raise our voices on behalf of the
millions of Americans who depend on this caucus to speak as the
conscience of the Congress--speaking truth to power.
Mr. Speaker, I struggle to understand how Senator Sessions can even
be considered to lead the Department of Justice when time and time
again throughout his political career he has actively opposed the
mission and purpose for which the Department of Justice was created.
For the better part of my life--at least a half a century--the
Department of Justice has assumed a position of leadership in the fight
for the civil rights of African Americans who seek the uninhibited
right to vote, for young women who seek protection against sexual
assault on college campuses, for disabled individuals who fight for
equitable access to basic services, and for immigrants who aspire to
pursue their visions of the American Dream.
The nomination of Senator Sessions does not support the legacy of
progress that has been made under the auspices of the modern-day
Department of Justice. As a young prosecutor, he directed racial slurs
at his African American colleagues. Senator Sessions spoke highly of
the Ku Klux Klan. He actively targeted and persecuted activists like
Mr. Albert Turner--one of Dr. Martin Luther King's advisers--for simply
trying to register disenfranchised voters.

{time} 2000

When he became Attorney General of Alabama, Senator Sessions, a
product of segregated education, worked tirelessly to prevent
predominantly African American public schools from accessing an equal
share of resources that had been long denied to Black students.
As a Member of the Senate, Senator Sessions has been an outspoken
opponent of criminal justice reforms that many of his Republican
colleagues support. He is a leader in the effort to define undocumented
Americans as ``the other'' and forcibly separating families in the
United States.
The women and men who lead the Department of Justice are called upon
to pursue justice; but with such a documented history of hostility
toward the most vulnerable populations--people of color, women,
disabled individuals, and immigrant families--we cannot expect Senator
Sessions to pursue justice on their behalf.
I absolutely and unequivocally oppose the nomination of Senator
Sessions. He has demonstrated his disdain for the most basic of human
principles: equality, justice, and fairness. These principles represent
the promise of our Constitution. The Senate considering and confirming
Mr. Sessions would break that very promise.
Mr. Speaker, I stand with the CBC today asking the Senate of the
United States to uphold the virtues of the Constitution and reject this
divisive nomination.
Mr. VEASEY. Mr. Speaker, I would also like to remind Members that we
have 3 minutes per Member left of speaking time. I wanted to just
remind Members of that so everyone will have an opportunity to speak on
this very important matter.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Johnson).
Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I congratulate Representative
Cedric Richmond as he takes the helm of the CBC and manages this
exercise tonight; and also Representative Marc Veasey, who will be the
point man for doing these Special Orders.
We are called upon tonight at a critical time in the Nation's
history. We have a new President coming in who is polarizing, divisive,
inexperienced, and immature. He is making some selections for his
appointments, and the Senate has the opportunity to weigh in on those
appointments.
So what is happening is that there are incomplete and missing answers
to the Senate questionnaires that appointees like Senator Jeff
Sessions, who I rise in opposition to, have completed and sent in. This
puts the Office of Government Ethics that vets these candidates at a
severe disadvantage of not having the information that they need in
order to vet these appointees, like Senator Jeff Sessions. They don't
have the information that they need.
So we also have a compressed schedule of nominees to be considered
over the next few days. This, combined with the incomplete answers,
puts us in a position of not having enough information to conduct full,
fair, thorough, and sifting analysis and vetting for the American
people. These are the people who are going to serve them into the
future.
So I am very concerned, especially about a guy like Senator Sessions
who has a history of being opposed to civil rights for certain
Americans. Now, there are those who would say that this took place 30
years ago, all of the things that he said and did prior to becoming a
Senator 20 years ago. Some will say that all of these things that have
been cited about Senator Sessions are 30 years old.
We have to look at what has occurred in the life of Senator Sessions
to make

[[Page H225]]

us think that he has changed. It takes a courageous person like George
Wallace to come forward and say: I was wrong for being a racist. It
takes a strong person like Lee Atwater to say: I was wrong.
Senator Sessions has not said he was wrong. There is nothing that
Senator Sessions has written that says: I apologize for what I did back
then. There is nothing that he said. Certainly his legislative record,
which is only nine bills over the last 20 years--three of which were
ceremonial in nature--there is nothing in that legislation that would
lead us to conclude that he has changed. So he is going to be bad for
the Attorney General's office.
I conclude by asking my Senate colleagues to think carefully about
what you are about to do and say ``no'' to Senator Jeff Sessions.
Mr. VEASEY. Mr. Speaker, I now yield to the gentleman from New York
(Mr. Payne), my classmate and a voice from the New York area.
Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Fort Worth (Mr.
Veasey). I was looking forward to a potential clash with his team next
week, but I guess you have to get out of Green Bay before you can go to
Dallas.
Mr. Speaker, the job of the U.S. Attorney General is to protect the
rights and freedoms of every single American. Senator Sessions' record
and public statements suggest that, if confirmed, he will not uphold
our Constitution's values of fairness, justice, and equality for all.
Since the election, President-elect Trump's victory has been marred by
allegations of voter intimidation and suppression in key States.
It is clear that we need to restore the full protections of the
Voting Rights Act. Yet, Senator Sessions has called the Voting Rights
Act an intrusive piece of legislation. When he was the United States
Attorney in west Alabama, Senator Sessions used the power of his office
to intimidate and dissuade African American voters.
Americans recognize the need for Congress to find a bipartisan
solution to immigration reform. Yet, Senator Sessions has been one of
the loudest opponents of comprehensive immigration reform. He has even
fought against legal immigration, arguing, instead, for immigration
moderation.
Americans also recognize the dire need for criminal justice reform.
Yet, Senator Sessions has opposed bipartisan legislation to modernize
prison sentencing for low-level drug offenders.
On every measure, Senator Sessions has shown that he will be
detrimental to African Americans and other minority communities as our
Nation's next Attorney General.
The next Attorney General must build on the progress of the last few
years under Attorney General Lynch and Attorney General Holder. He or
she must safeguard civil rights, prosecute hate crimes, protect the
right of due process, and uphold the Constitution and our basic values
and freedoms.
Every indication is that Senator Sessions is too extreme and
unwilling to protect the safety and the rights of every American. If
confirmed as U.S. Attorney General, Senator Sessions will pose a grave
threat to our justice system and to the communities that system is
meant to protect. His ideologies are in direct contrast with the
Justice Department's mission.
Mr. VEASEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Ohio (Mrs.
Beatty), my classmate from the Buckeye State, representing the
Columbus, Ohio, area.
Mrs. BEATTY. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague and chair of this
Special Order hour (Mr. Veasey) and the chair of the Congressional
Black Caucus (Mr. Richmond). It is indeed an honor, Mr. Speaker, for me
to stand here with these colleagues tonight.
We come tonight with a strong message. We are here to speak out
against President-elect Trump's Cabinet nominations who, based on their
records, are, in my opinion, too divisive, too extreme, too out of
touch, and unable to protect the interests and the safety of all
Americans--individuals like Jeff Sessions and Betsy DeVos.
Trust me, Mr. Speaker, these nominees need to be vetted. The American
people deserve to know who will be in charge of these critically
important Federal agencies.
We are extremely concerned with Senator Jeff Sessions' nomination to
be the U.S. Attorney General. Sessions, as you have heard tonight and
you will continue to hear, has continuously obstructed the progress we
have made with the enactment of the historic civil rights legislation
of the 1960s.
He has consistently, Mr. Speaker, fought to block legislative efforts
to ensure racial equality, including his staunch opposition to full
enforcement of the Voting Rights Act--the very bill, Mr. Speaker, if
confirmed, he would be in charge of enforcing and protecting.
Mr. Speaker, I join my colleagues. We cannot allow that to happen.
Next up in Trump's Cabinet of cronies is his nominee for Education
Secretary, Betsy DeVos, who has pushed to expand taxpayer-funded
vouchers for private and religious schools and has absolutely zero
experience as an educator or an educational leader. She has, however,
Mr. Speaker, spent millions of dollars lobbying for school choice
proposals which harm disadvantaged and at-risk communities.
Now, I am from the great State of Ohio, and to have someone owe our
Ohio Elections Commission $5.3 million, we cannot allow that to happen.
We have to be the voice for the people. Especially those people who are
voiceless.
Mr. Speaker, let me end by saying that as a member of the
Congressional Black Caucus, I stand here tonight wanting the public to
know that we are concerned and we are exercising our right and our
voice.
Mr. VEASEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from New York, the
Empire State, (Mr. Jeffries).
Mr. JEFFRIES. Mr. Speaker, I thank my distinguished colleague and
classmate, Representative Marc Veasey, for his leadership today; and
the chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, Representative Cedric
Richmond, for convening us and for the leadership that he has already
shown.
We have a President-elect who, for 5 years, perpetrated the racist
lie that Barack Obama was not born in the United States of America, and
who ran one of the most divisive campaigns in the Nation's history and
then promised that he was going to bring all of us together.
Then you have got his colleagues on the other side of the aisle who
have said: Well, Democrats, people in the civil rights community,
African Americans, we should give the new President a chance.
This is the same group of people who declared war on Barack Obama on
day one of his Presidency and governed themselves under the following
approach: Obstruction today, obstruction tomorrow, obstruction forever.
That should sound familiar to folks from Alabama and the Deep South.
Now they want us to give them a chance. You can't lecture us on
Presidential etiquette. You have no credibility in that area. We will
decide how we want to engage. As it relates to your pick to head the
Department of Justice, it is totally unacceptable, unreasonable,
unjust, and unconscionable, not because of anything that he may have
said 30 years ago, as offensive as that may be, but because of the
positions that Senator Jeff Sessions has taken today.
Today, in 2017, based on his recent track record, he supports the
Confederate battle flag, not 30 years ago, but today. Today he supports
voter suppression efforts that are advanced by his unwillingness to
repair section 4 and section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. That is not 30
years ago. I don't care that you showed up in Selma, Alabama, for a
photo op. Your position on the Voting Rights Act is unacceptable today.

{time} 2015

Today you support mass incarceration, the failed drug war, and the
prison industrial complex. And because of your position today,
reasonable Americans should oppose your ascension to the Department of
Justice.
Mr. VEASEY. I thank the gentleman.
Mr. Speaker, I now yield to the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms.
Adams).
Ms. ADAMS. Mr. Speaker, I thank all of my colleagues from the
Congressional Black Caucus for coming out and speaking out.
I rise today to express concern and strong opposition to President-
elect Trump Cabinet nominations for Attorney General, Secretary of
Education,

[[Page H226]]

and Secretary of Health and Human Services. President-elect Trump chose
not to practice what he preached, and he didn't drain the swamp.
Instead, he nominated politically divisive individuals to serve in his
administration.
Throughout a public service career spanning more than 30 years,
Senator Sessions used the power of the courts to discriminate against
civil rights leaders. He allegedly used racially charged language to
disparage minorities, expressed support for the KKK, and then tried to
dismiss it as a joke. He celebrated the gutting of the Voting Rights
Act and opposed same-sex marriage. He denied the constitutionality of
Roe v. Wade and voted against greater access to health care for
veterans. He blocked the Paycheck Fairness Act and voted against the
reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act. He does not respect
the rights of minorities or women, and he has proven himself to be
unfit to serve as United States Attorney General.
Education is the great equalizer. One of the most important
investments families make is in their children. The Secretary of
Education must be committed to providing a free, world-class education
to all students regardless of race, gender, ability, status, financial
means, or geography.
Unfortunately, Betsy DeVos has consistently fought for private school
vouchers that divert funds from public schools, our communities, and
our children who need these investments the most. She has even used her
personal wealth to lobby against important transparency and
accountability measures that would have provided necessary safeguards
for Michigan students.
DeVos' track record of undermining public education and her lack of
commitment to defending the civil rights of students causes me great
pause in her quest to become Secretary of Education. I can't support
it. Betsy DeVos, absolutely no.
Finally, Chairman Price. He has made it clear that his budget
priorities are highly partisan. We can expect that if he is confirmed,
he will strip 20 million people of affordable health care, women would
be denied their right to contraception and reproductive health care,
and devastating cuts would be levied against Medicaid funding. We can't
go back to a time when being a woman is a preexisting condition for
insurance coverage. Chairman Price's nomination offers just that.
These folks will not unite the American people, and they cannot be
trusted to advocate for our most vulnerable populations, so I urge my
Senate colleagues to oppose the confirmations of Senator Jeff Sessions,
Betsy DeVos, and Chairman Tom Price.
Mr. VEASEY. I thank the gentlewoman.
Mr. Speaker, I now yield to the gentlewoman from Michigan (Mrs.
Lawrence).
Mrs. LAWRENCE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to take a stand against
those who seek to further divide our Nation. We face the greatest chaos
not by the acts of outsiders or foreign intruders, but by the division
and war with each other. The nomination of Jeff Sessions as our
Attorney General threatens our strength as Americans. Over three
decades of a career in public service, Jeff Sessions' words and actions
lead to one question: Who is included and excluded from the public he
chooses to serve?
Jeff Sessions has referred to the Voting Rights Act as a ``piece of
intrusive legislation.'' The first Federal prosecutor in the country to
bring charges against civil rights activists for voter fraud since the
passage of the VRA in 1965, Sessions has called the Shelby v. Holder
case, which eliminated the preclearance formula, ``good news . . . for
the South.''
Sessions has referred to the NAACP and ACLU civil rights groups
saying they have done more harm than good by trying to force civil
rights down the throats of the good people of the United States. He has
referred to these organizations as un-American and communist inspired.
African Americans and other people of color are disproportionately
affected by acts of voter suppression and the criminal justice system.
Those, among others, are the key areas in which Sessions has shown
deliberate disregard for the justice and equality of all Americans.
This is a pivotal moment in our Nation's history, and we simply
cannot treat the American people like a social experiment. History will
reflect on this moment in time, and our action and inaction will be
accounted for.
Mr. VEASEY. I thank the gentlewoman.
Mr. Speaker, I now yield to the gentlewoman from New Jersey (Mrs.
Watson Coleman).
Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleagues who have
spoken this evening.
As I have said, I would have liked to have spent this transition
period working with the President-elect on ways to solve our Nation's
issues. I would have liked to have been reassured that, despite
disparaging and divisive rhetoric, his actions would have worked to
unite us all. Instead, we are battling against a nominee who has
already been deemed unfit for a Federal judgeship. So what can possibly
make him fit to serve as our Nation's top law enforcement officer?
The definition of justice is the quality of being just, impartial, or
fair. Synonyms include equity, objectivity, and neutrality. Senator
Sessions has built a reputation and a voting record that does not align
with justice. I do not wish to relitigate the past, and while it cannot
be ignored, we don't have to look too far back to identify Senator
Sessions' priorities. In 2006, he voted to renew the Voting Rights Act.
In 2013, he supported the Supreme Court decision to strike key
provisions of that law.

Following being denied a Federal judgeship, Senator Sessions
cosponsored legislation to honor Rosa Parks with a Congressional Gold
Medal while also voting against legislation in 2009 to extend Federal
hate crime protections against people targeted because of their sexual
orientation. Further, he has been the ringleader to immigration reform.
How can we in good faith recommend, nominate, or confirm a person to
a post that is solely responsible for protecting the civil rights of
all Americans, including those who are vulnerable, disadvantaged, and
discriminated against?
This administration is continuing to ask us to put aside our
intellect and to trust their intentions. I refuse. This administration
would like us to support a man who, throughout his career, has
determined the rights of those who look like me, like constituents I
serve, as inferior. I refuse, and I ask the Senators to please consider
this as they listen to whether or not this gentleman deserves to be
confirmed.
Mr. Speaker, as I've said before, I would have liked to have spent
the transition period working with the President-Elect, Trump, on ways
to solve our Nation's issues.
I would have liked to have been reassured that despite disparaging
and divisive campaign rhetoric--President-Elect Trump's actions would
work to unite us all.
Yet, instead we're here battling against the nominee for the 84th
attorney general of the United States who was already rejected as a
federal judge.
His disqualification was rooted in allegations that he called a black
attorney ``boy'' and his suggestions that a white lawyer working for
black clients was a race traitor.
Not only that but Senator Sessions found humor in his only issue with
the Ku Klux Klan was their drug use, and accused civil rights groups as
being ``un-American'' organizations trying to ``force civil rights down
the throats of people who were trying to put problems behind them.''
So what could possibly make him fit to serve as our Nation's top law
enforcement officer at the Department of Justice?
The definition of justice is the quality of being just, impartial, or
fair.
Synonyms for justice include equity, objectivity and neutrality.
Senator Sessions has built a reputation and, most importantly, a
voting record that does not align with that definition.
I do not wish to re-litigate the past as I would not want to be
judged on my actions and thoughts of 30 years ago. However, Senator
Sessions' growth and commitment to inclusivity--even 30 years later--
remains to be seen.
Following being denied a federal judgeship, in the early 90s, Senator
Sessions co-sponsored legislation to honor Rosa Parks with the
Congressional Gold Medal, while also voting against 2009 legislation
that extended federal hate crime protections to people targeted because
of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
While in 2006 he voted to renew the Voting Rights Act, just years
later in 2013 he supported the Supreme Court's decision to strike key
provisions of the law.

[[Page H227]]

Furthermore, he has been the ringleader of opposition for immigration
reform.
How can we in good faith recommend, nominate, or confirm this person
to the post that is solely responsible for protecting the civil
liberties of all Americans--including those who are vulnerable,
disadvantaged, and discriminated against.
This administration is continually asking us to put aside our
intellect and to trust their intention. I refuse.
This administration would like us to support a man who throughout his
career has determined the rights of those who look like me and the
constituents I serve are inferior. I refuse.
This administration would like us to sit idly by as Donald Trump
tries to overwhelm us into tacit submission to his dangerous agenda. I
refuse.
A Trump-Sessions Department of Justice would be not only an attack on
our civil rights and equality; it would be an insult to the
intelligence of the American people.
Mr. VEASEY. I thank the gentlewoman.
Mr. Speaker, I now yield to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr.
McEachin).
Mr. McEACHIN. I thank the gentleman from Louisiana for organizing
this hour today.
Mr. Speaker, I stand here today because I believe that confirming
Jeff Sessions as Attorney General for the United States would
jeopardize the progress we have made for equal rights and against
discrimination.
Mr. Speaker, it is an affront to common sense to confirm someone who
has criticized the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and believes that this
landmark law, which provides all Americans with the right to cast a
ballot for candidates in our democratic process, is intrusive. It is an
affront to common sense, Mr. Speaker, to confirm a nominee who views an
old advertisement calling for the death penalty of people who are later
exonerated as a mark of conservatism.
Mr. Speaker, it is an affront to common sense to confirm someone who
was previously rejected as a choice for a Federal judgeship to lead a
Department that, in part, vets future Federal judges. It is an affront
to common sense, Mr. Speaker, to confirm someone who does not believe
in justice for all to lead the Department of Justice.
Mr. Speaker, it is clear that this nominee would not act in the best
interest of all Americans, regardless of color, gender, country of
origin, sexual orientation, or economic status. Mr. Speaker, it is my
fervent hope that the Senate of the United States will deny the
confirmation of this nominee.
Mr. VEASEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, President-elect
Donald Trump's cabinet nominations are nothing short of alarming. With
the United States Senate expected to begin nomination hearings this
week, we need to ensure that Congress follows a fair and thorough
vetting process as we evaluate the suitability of these individuals to
fill the various cabinet positions.
One source of concern is the process by which Republicans in Congress
are choosing to conduct these nominations. The recent Republican effort
to rush the nominees through the process does not invite confidence in
our ability to properly consider each individual on their merits.
Walter Shaub, Jr., Director of the Office of Government Ethics, raised
his concerns of this very fact given that his office is charged with
conducting ethics screening reviews of the nominees. The aggressive
hearing schedule to consider these nominees is unprecedented and has
placed an undue burden on the Office of Government Ethics (OCE) and its
ability to conduct thorough ethics reviews. These ethics reviews are
essential to the process and help us to identify potential conflicts of
interest or other ethical considerations before we confirm these
individuals to serve in public office. Director Shaub has stated that
it is unprecedented for the Senate to conduct a confirmation hearing
before the ethics review process has concluded. This is simply
unacceptable and undermines the democratic process.
The nominees themselves are also cause for concern. Namely, I believe
that the nomination of Senator Jeff Sessions for Attorney General of
the U.S. Department of Justice threatens the best interests and safety
of the American people. Senator Sessions has served in the United
States Senate for twenty years, during which his record on civil rights
and other national issues was questionable at best. For example, he
voted several times against the reauthorization of the Violence Against
Women Act, which aimed to hold offenders of violence against women
accountable for their actions. He has also taken a very clear position
against rights for the LGBT community, which would deny these Americans
basic human rights. His positions on criminal justice and government
reforms are also disturbing.
Mr. Speaker, I have serious concerns about the means by which my
Republican colleagues are approaching the nomination process this
Congress. If we are to properly evaluate the qualifications and the
ethical suitability of these nominees, we must conduct an exhaustive
examination of each nominee based on their merits--not on their
politics. The Republicans are failing to uphold these basic principles
through their recent actions. In the name of protecting the American
people and doing what is best for our country, I urge my Republican
colleagues to return to normal order and delay these nomination
hearings until OCE can conclude its ethics reviews of the nominees.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Comer). Members are reminded to refrain
from engaging in personalities against Members of the Senate and the
President-elect.

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