Coalition fighting Bush nominations

Coalition fighting Bush nominations

All indications are that president-elect George W. Bush's selection of John Ashcroft as US attorney general is sure to face stiff opposition in the US Senate.

But a coalition of Massachusetts civil rights activists and elected officials is leaving nothing to chance. Staging a press conference at the State House last week, the activists, calling themselves the Coalition for Justice, called on the Massachusetts congressional delegation to strenuously oppose Ashcroft and other ultra-conservative nominees for the Bush cabinet.

"We are committed to doing everything in our power to fight the confirmation of John Ashcroft," said state Sen. Dianne Wilkerson. "Our delegation will not be able to chose congeniality over civil rights."

Wilkerson also cited Bush's choice of New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman, who has been nominated to head the Environmental Protection Agency. Whitman is currently being sued for personally participating in a pat-down of an unarmed black motorist.

Joining the coalition were progressive organizations including the NAACP, the National Organization for Women, the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law as well as progressive Massachusetts lawmakers.

In a letter addressed to Sen. Edward Kennedy, a ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, the coalition cites Ashcroft's record of opposing affirmative action, gun control, workers' rights to organize, hate crime laws and collecting data on racial profiling.

"We stand ready to support you in defending the rights of your constituents in Massachusetts and those across America," the letter reads. "These nominations must be defeated."

Kennedy is already taking a hard line on the Ashcroft nomination. Before hearings began Tuesday, Kennedy expressed concerns about Ashcroft's record on civil rights and women's issues in a statement to the press.

The Massachusetts coalition is one of numerous efforts by progressives across the country to oppose Bush's more conservative nominations to top secretarial posts. Ashcroft, more than any other nominee, has drawn fire.

In the Senate, Ashcroft has left a record of conservative votes on issues ranging from hate crime laws to affirmative action laws. While courting presidential votes in South Carolina in 1998, he hailed Confederate war heroes as "patriots" and called it "revisionist nonsense" to depict slave-owning early Americans as racists.

"We have someone who is hostile to every single civil rights law that the the attorney general of our country is mandated to uphold," said Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights interim director Nadine Cohen.

While Ashcroft's nomination may prove untenable for Bush, coalition members say they plan to keep pressure on the Bush administration.

"We oppose any candidate for any office who is shown to be against basic human rights," said State Rep. Gloria Fox. "We are here, we are organized and we will remain organized. We're here for the long haul."