Liberal Race-Card Tactics Condemned in Loretta Lynch Attorney General Confirmation Process

Black Conservatives Call Senator Durbin’s “Back of the Bus” Comment “Truly Shameful”

“True Racial Harmony Is Holding This Woman’s Feet to the Fire”

Washington, D.C. – Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) last week injected the issue of race into the Senate confirmation process of Attorney General nominee Loretta Lynch. Members of the Project 21 black leadership network are condemning those seeking to advance the troubled nomination through bullying tactics while other Senate proceedings are being delayed and serious questions remain.

cooper_sm“This is truly shameful. Instead of letting Loretta Lynch’s nomination rise or fall on the merits, Washington liberals in the House and Senate are trying to use her race and gender as a tool to prevent any examination of her record or agenda,” said Project 21 Co-Chairman Horace Cooper, a former constitutional law professor at George Mason University and former leadership staffer in the U.S. House of Representatives. “When these same so-called progressives opposed women and minorities who were conservative, such as Janice Rogers Brown for a federal judgeship, no one claimed they were bigots. Liberals should abide by this same standard when they nominate one of their own. Furthermore, rather than clouding the issue with racist charges, Loretta Lynch should be encouraged to be forthcoming on her positions on gun control, executive amnesty and perpetuating a politicized Justice Department.”

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said liberal filibustering of legislation to combat human trafficking will prevent the Lynch nomination from being scheduled. Senator Durbin chose to take the fact that Lynch is a black woman to claim the procedural delay was akin to abuse of Rosa Parks in Montgomery, Alabama in 1955 and also claimed McConnell was making Lynch “sit in the back of the bus.”

emmett_sm“As a black woman and an attorney, I am sick and tired of race always being the liberals’ default talking point,” added Project 21 member Shelby Emmett, another former Capitol Hill staffer. “Ms. Lynch went through four years of college, three years of law school and has decades of experience to put her where she is today. She is just as qualified as any other candidate, and thus all the scrutiny, questions, procedures and games should be fair game just like with any other nominee during the confirmation process. God forbid that Senator Dick Durbin should see an attorney instead of a black woman who apparently isn’t on the same level as her white male peers and thus worthy of a defense based on her resume instead of her pigmentation. True racial harmony is holding this woman’s feet to the fire just as we would with any white, male candidate. She can handle it.”

Many senators and other critics of the Lynch nomination are concerned about her support of President Obama’s unconstitutional executive action to halt the potential deportation of millions of illegal immigrants.

pittman_sm“As a 25-year veteran of law enforcement, I have worked with many prosecutors who have used prosecutorial discretion to determine if they will pursue a criminal charge. These decisions are usually based on the furtherance of justice, balancing the letter and spirit of the law and the quality of the evidence. At no time did such discretion lead to ignoring the law nor should it,” said Project 21 member Carl Pittman. “In the case of Loretta Lynch’s nomination to become Attorney General, Congress would be wise to tread carefully since she has stated on the record that she agrees with and supports President Obama’s executive action to effectively grant amnesty to millions of illegal aliens. By this admission, she is stating she will not enforce the law. Conduct and ideology, not race or gender, should be the compelling reason to tread carefully regarding the Lynch nomination.”

dupree_sm“We should all want the best candidate available, not the best black woman who will toe the Obama line. Congress wasn’t created to be a rubber stamp for the president, hence we have confirmation hearings and a vote,” said Project 21 member Wayne Dupree, a talk radio host and winner of the 2015 Blogger of the Year Award at the 2015 Conservative Political Action Conference. “Loretta Lynch went through the hearing process, and a few things just don’t jibe. It’s better to take a long hard look at everything and make sure all the t’s are crossed and i’s are dotted. We can’t afford to get this wrong and have another cheerleader for Obama’s destructive policies.”

Project 21 members were interviewed or cited by the media over 2,000 times in 2014, and have been over 300 times so far in 2015. Outlets calling on Project 21 for comment have included Fox News Channel, MSNBC, TVOne, the Philadelphia Inquirer, One America News Network, the Orlando Sentinel, Westwood One, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, SiriusXM satellite radio, WHO-Des Moines, KOA-Denver, WGN-Chicago, WBZ-Boston, KDKA-Pittsburgh and many more. Topics discussed have included civil rights, entitlement programs, the economy, voter ID, race preferences, education, illegal immigration and corporate social responsibility. Project 21 members also have provided substantial commentary regarding the Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown and Eric Garner judicial proceedings, and the organization is currently involved in two cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. Project 21 also defended voter ID laws at the United Nations. Its volunteer members come from all walks of life and are not salaried political professionals.

Project 21, a leading voice of black conservatives for over two decades, is sponsored by the National Center for Public Policy Research (https://nationalcenter.org). Tax-deductible donations are appreciated and can be made online here. The press and public are invited to sign up for Project 21 news alerts here.

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