Congressman Hank Johnson's Statement on the Selection of Sen. Jeff Sessions for Attorney General

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Hank Johnson (GA-04) released the following statement regarding the selection of Alabama junior Senator Jeff Sessions for Attorney General:

“Senator Session’s history of racist and xenophobic animus and his hardline stance against critical legal reform issues makes his selection for Attorney General exceedingly worrisome in a time when Americans are still recovering from a racially divisive election.

“Senator Sessions voting record reflects a politician without commitment to equal rights for all Americans. In addition to his vote against reauthorization of the landmark Violence Against Women Act and against expanding the list of federally recognized hate crimes, Sen. Sessions published 23-page hardline manifesto on immigration policy that provided no meaningful proposals to reform the process. He advocates the ripping apart of innocent families and supports policies that would detrimentally impact America’s ability to attract the world’s best talent. He has also vehemently opposed bipartisan efforts to end mandatory-minimum sentencing for federal offenders, and he voted in favor of loosening restrictions on wire-tapping.

“Senator Sessions has also repeatedly sought to undermine agencies' attempts to enforce public health and safety laws. If we cannot trust Senator Sessions to enforce the laws on the books, he cannot be entrusted with the ultimate responsibility of fairly and responsibly leading the nation’s top enforcement agency on behalf of all Americans."

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