April, 07 2017, 12:00pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Email:,press@civilrights.org,Phone: (202) 869-0398
Civil and Human Rights Coalition Denounces Confirmation of Judge Gorsuch
Wade Henderson, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, issued the following statement following the Senate's confirmation of Judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court of the United States:
WASHINGTON
Wade Henderson, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, issued the following statement following the Senate's confirmation of Judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court of the United States:
"The confirmation of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court is an unhappy day to those Americans committed to justice and equality for all. His confirmation will forever be tainted by the Republican Senate majority's callous disregard for the historic rules and traditions of the Senate. Judge Gorsuch's ascension to the Court was abetted by his refusal to answer questions on his views on basic settled law like Brown v. Board of Education.
When it became clear that the nominee, backed by the Heritage Foundation, the Federalist Society and other right-wing special interest groups, could not meet the 60-vote threshold, Leader McConnell kowtowed to President Trump and altered the protections of the minority party by changing the rules in the middle of the game. This action may pave the way for ending the legislative filibuster in order to allow Trump's agenda to move forward, unfettered by input from the Democrats.
Republicans demanded a 60-vote threshold for many of President Obama's lower court judicial nominations. Leader McConnell determined that a lifetime appointment to the highest court in the land was not worthy of that same standard. The change in the long-standing Senate rules on Supreme Court nominations is a far cry from the action taken by Democrats in 2013, which only came after years of obstruction by the Republicans.
It is patently unfair and deeply disappointing that those who abused Senate rules to block President Obama's nomination of Merrick Garland and then changed Senate rules to approve Judge Gorsuch will be rewarded for their bad behavior. The American people should long remember these alarming and unprecedented actions."
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 200 national organizations to promote and protect the civil and human rights of all persons in the United States. Through advocacy and outreach to targeted constituencies, The Leadership Conference works toward the goal of a more open and just society - an America as good as its ideals.
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United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said Thursday that he is "deeply concerned" by Israel's "recent and extensive violations of Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity," including a ground invasion and airstrikes carried out by the Israel Defense Forces in the war-torn Mideastern nation.
Guterres "is particularly concerned over the hundreds of Israeli airstrikes on several locations in Syria" and has stressed the "urgent need to de-escalate violence on all fronts throughout the country," said U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric.
Israel claims its invasion and bombardment of Syria—which come as the United States and Turkey have also violated Syrian sovereignty with air and ground attacks—are meant to create a security buffer along the countries' shared border in the wake of last week's fall of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and amid the IDF's ongoing assault on Gaza, which has killed or wounded more than 162,000 Palestinians and is the subject of an International Court of Justice genocide case.
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Addressing the assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson and conversations it has sparked about the country's for-profit system, longtime Medicare for All advocate Sen. Bernie Sanders on Wednesday condemned the murder and stressed that getting to universal coverage will require a movement challenging corporate money in politics.
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In addition to highlighting Sanders' interview on social media, Congressman Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) pointed out to Business Insider on Wednesday that "you've got thousands of people that are sharing their stories of frustration" in the wake of Thompson's death.
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Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.)—a co-sponsor of Sanders' Medicare for All Act—similarly toldHuffPost in a Tuesday interview, "The visceral response from people across this country who feel cheated, ripped off, and threatened by the vile practices of their insurance companies should be a warning to everyone in the healthcare system."
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Reporters Without Borders' (RSF) 2024 roundup, which was published Thursday, found that at least 54 journalists were killed on the job or in connection with their work this year, and 18 of them were killed by Israeli armed forces (16 in Palestine, and two in Lebanon).
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