Rep. Ellison and Alabama NAACP President Bernard Simelton Release Statement on Jeff Sessions’ Confirmation Hearing

Washington –Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) and Alabama NAACP President Bernard Simelton released the following statements as the Senate Judiciary Committee considers Senator Jeff Sessions for the position of United States Attorney General.

“There’s a reason Jeff Sessions was blocked from being appointed to be a federal judge in 1986: he has a long history of racism,” Rep. Ellison said. “The past remarks and political views that disqualified him for the federal bench 30 years ago should disqualify him from the cabinet today. I stand with the NAACP in calling for his withdrawal from the nomination process.

“If confirmed, Jeff Sessions will roll back civil rights protections, deport millions of undocumented immigrants, and defend the Republican efforts to suppress the votes of millions of eligible voters, primarily people of color. 

“Jeff Sessions had no place in the federal judiciary in 1986. He has no place in the federal government today.”

“Alabamians know all too well the dangerous and divisive past of Sen. Jeff Sessions,” President Simelton said. “That's why it was important for me and members of my organization to uphold the NAACP's legacy of standing on the front lines of the fight for racial and social justice by calling for him to withdraw his nomination as U.S. Attorney General. At a time when there is a renewed assault on voting rights in this country, we must collectively fight against the confirmation of Sen. Sessions, who for more than 30 years, has compromised the gains we've made as a nation in the fight for civil and human rights.”