Political Quotes

“the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights is the face of civil rights law enforcement in America. I will support Wan Kim's nomination for this important post. For nearly 50 years, the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division has enforced Nation's civil rights laws and combated racism, discrimination, and other civil rights abuses. And during the past 50 years, our Nation has made important strides in the fight for civil rights. The recent death of Rosa Parks is a reminder of how far we have come, and of the courageous acts it took to get here. I am concerned, however, about the Bush Administration's commitment to civil rights law enforcement and especially voting rights. As Chief Justice Roberts testified at his confirmation hearing, the right to vote is the ``preservative'' right of all other rights. Without that fundamental right, citizens are voiceless and powerless. At his nomination hearing, I asked Wan Kim about the Civil Rights Division's August 26 preclearance of a voter identification law in the state of Georgia that is discriminatory and ``a national disgrace,'' in the words of the New York Times. The law requires people without a driver's license--a group disproportionately consisting of the poor, the elderly, and minorities to pay $20 or more for a State ID card in order to vote. There isn't a single place in the entire city of Atlanta where the cards are sold.…”