“Today’s U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the troubling nomination of Senator Jeff Sessions for attorney general of the United States is a critical opportunity for senators and the public to examine his record. Anyone who takes a hard look will quickly realize that Sessions is the wrong choice for this position and that he poses a direct threat to the future of our nation’s civil rights protections. Senators should vote against his confirmation without hesitation.

Over the past 30 years, Sessions has shown appalling disregard for civil, human and women’s rights. The Judiciary Committee deemed him unfit to serve as a federal judge in 1986 after reviewing his extremist background, and his policy record has only gotten worse since then. He has consistently tried to undermine and roll back the rights of women, immigrants, LGBTQ people, people with disabilities and people of color. He opposes voting rights, criminal justice reform and environmental protections that affect low-income families and communities of color in particular. His confirmation would be an insult to these communities and would do grave harm to our nation’s commitment to fairness and equality.

As a senator, Sessions has repeatedly voted against efforts to protect the health, safety and economic well-being of America’s women and families. He has voted against measures that would reduce the gender-based wage gap, including the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and the Paycheck Fairness Act; voted against protecting abortion providers from violence; opposed funding for contraception, breast cancer screening and the critical women’s health services Planned Parenthood provides; and voted against reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act in 2013. He also called Roe v. Wade one of the most ‘colossally erroneous Supreme Court decisions of all time.’ This blatantly anti-women aspect of Sessions’ disturbing record is a clear sign that he cannot be trusted to enforce the rights of women – or anyone who faces discrimination.

Every senator who reviews Senator Sessions’ record will immediately see that he is not fit to fulfill the essential duties of attorney general because he shows no signs of a commitment to enforcing our nation’s civil rights laws or promoting equal justice under the law. The choice facing senators is abundantly clear: A vote for Sessions would be a vote against equal rights, opportunity and justice for all. The country deserves much better.”