by Michael P. Norton, Fall River Herald News
As protesters rallied against his pick for chief strategist, President-elect Donald Trump’s plan to nominate Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions as attorney general also immediately came under fire Friday from Massachusetts elected officials.
Urging Trump to change his mind, Sen. Elizabeth Warren and others noted the U.S. Senate 30 years ago rejected Sessions’ nomination for a federal judgeship. “In doing so, that Senate affirmed that there can be no compromise with racism; no negotiation with hate. Today, a new Republican Senate must decide whether self-interest and political cowardice will prevent them from once again doing what is right,” Warren said.
“Instead of embracing the bigotry that fueled his campaign rallies, I urge President-elect Trump to reverse his apparent decision to nominate Senator Sessions to be Attorney General of the United States. If he refuses, then it will fall to the Senate to exercise fundamental moral leadership for our nation and all of its people. Thirty years ago, a different Republican Senate rejected Senator Sessions’ nomination to a federal judgeship.
“His past comments – particularly around race – are cause for serious alarm and were reason enough for the Senate to deny him a judicial appointment under President Reagan,” Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey said in a statement about Sessions. “If you are ‘OK’ with the Ku Klux Klan, you shouldn’t run the Justice Department. I hope this pick is rejected and leaders make clear he is unacceptable in such a critical role on behalf of the people.”
Calling him a “world-class legal mind,” Trump announced he would nominate Sessions, who advised Trump during his campaign and is an ardent opponent of illegal immigration. “Jeff has been a highly respected member of the U.S. Senate for 20 years … Jeff is greatly admired by legal scholars and virtually everyone who knows him,” Trump said.
An Eagle Scout and the son of a country store owner, Sessions was nominated by President Ronald Reagan in 1981 and confirmed as U.S. Attorney for Alabama’s Southern District. He held that post for 12 years. In 1995 he was elected attorney general of Alabama, a job he held until 1997 when he was elected to the U.S. Senate.
Project Vote on Friday urged the Trump to reconsider and if he doesn’t for the Senate Judiciary Committee to reject Sessions. Michael Slater, president of the national voting rights group, cited allegations of racism that spurred the Senate Judiciary Committee in 1986 to reject his bid for a judgeship.
“Mr. Sessions is a throwback to a shameful era which I know both black and white Americans thought was in our past,” the late Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy said at the time, according to Project Vote. “It is inconceivable to me that a person of this attitude is qualified to be a U.S. Attorney, let alone a U.S. federal judge. He is, I believe, a disgrace to the Justice Department, and he should withdraw his nomination and resign his position.”
As a senator, Sessions has opposed marriage equality, abortion rights, the Affordable Care Act, hate crimes legislation, and bills to prohibit torture of U.S. prisoners, according to Project Vote, and called the Voting Rights Act a “piece of intrusive legislation.”
On his website, Sessions touts his efforts to open up for energy exploration 8.3 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico that contains an estimated 1.3 billion barrels of oil and 6 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. He says his focus has been on “maintaining a strong military, upholding the rule of law, limiting the role of government, and providing tax relief to stimulate economic growth and empowering Americans to keep more of their hard-earned money.”
“My previous 15 years working in the Department of Justice were extraordinarily fulfilling,” Sessions said in a statement on Friday released by Trump’s transition team. “I love the Department, its people and its mission. I can think of no greater honor than to lead them. With the support of my Senate colleagues, I will give all my strength to advance the Department’s highest ideals. I enthusiastically embrace President-elect Trump’s vision for ‘one America,’ and his commitment to equal justice under law. I look forward to fulfilling my duties with an unwavering dedication to fairness and impartiality.”