Tammy Baldwin: “I rise to urge my colleagues to join me in opposing the confirmation of our colleague Jeff Sessions to be Attorney…”

“I rise to urge my colleagues to join me in opposing the confirmation of our colleague Jeff Sessions to be Attorney General of the United States. I have great respect for Senator Sessions' long history of public service, and I am pleased to have had the opportunity to work with him where we have found common ground. However, Senator Sessions and I have frequently and sometimes vehemently disagreed on important issues, including matters like civil rights and voting rights, hate crimes laws, immigration, and criminal justice reform. I want to acknowledge that Senator Sessions' nomination is supported by many, including many in the law enforcement community in my home State of Wisconsin. It is vital that the Attorney General have a good working relationship with the law enforcement community, and I have no doubt that Senator Sessions will be a strong voice for law enforcement, if he is confirmed. But the role and the responsibility of our Attorney General is bigger than any one group. Our Attorney General must work on behalf of all Americans. The Department of Justice has a broad jurisdiction. So I have also heard from over 16,000 Wisconsinites who are opposed to his confirmation, many of whom expressed profound concerns about what it would mean for racial and ethnic minorities, immigrants, including DREAMers, and others, were he to become our Attorney General.…”