Cory Booker: “I rise today to speak in opposition to the nomination of Kenneth Marcus to serve as the Assistant Secretary for Civil…”

“I rise today to speak in opposition to the nomination of Kenneth Marcus to serve as the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights at the Department of Education. One of the most critical functions of the Department of Education is the role in enforcing Federal civil rights and upholding the protection of students' civil rights in schools. The Office for Civil Rights within the Department of Education is a particularly important instrument in enforcing civil rights in schools, protecting those precious rights of our children, and ensuring that schools provide students with access to equal educational opportunities and a nondiscriminatory environment in which to learn. It is an idea we have in our country that it is fundamental that we have a level playing field and abundant opportunity for all kids, no matter what their background is. The continued need for this office is clear. In fact, during the Obama administration, the Office for Civil Rights and the Department of Education handled 76,000 complaints over 8 years and issued dozens of policy guidance documents to help schools better protect and preserve civil rights of students. In the last year alone, or year and a half, we have seen what is clearly an abdication of this leadership in the Trump administration and what that has meant for the protection of civil rights for our country's children and for our country's students.…”