To the editor:

On the nomination of Sen. Jeff Sessions as Attorney General.

In his victory speech on election night Donald Trump claimed, “Now is the time for America to bind the wounds of division.” He also reiterated that he wanted to be the president for “all” Americans. However, his recent nominations to top positions in his administration belie his will to “bind the wounds of division.”

Of particular concern is the nomination of Sen. Jeff Sessions as Attorney General. Sessions’ history as a lawyer and a politician are blatantly divisive and undermining to our civil rights.

In 1986, Sessions’ nomination to the Federal bench was ultimately withdrawn because of his racist attitudes. Two of his fellow Republicans crossed the partisan divide in the Senate Judiciary Committee to disapprove of his appointment. Sessions had called the work of major civil rights organizations un-American, and had made statements supporting the KKK.

During Sessions’ two decades as a senator, his voting record on human right has been more than bleak. He has aggravated Republicans and Democrats alike with his refusal to consent on popular civil rights legislation. He voted against the reauthorization of the Violence against Women Act. His belief that, “gay service members would have a ‘corrosive’ effect on morale” led him to vote against the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and against several defense authorization bills that included similar provisions.

Other votes to restrict individual rights include: “yes” on a constitutional ban of same sex marriages, “no” on expanding hate crime to include sexual orientation, “yes” on ending special funding for minority and women-owned businesses and “yes” on loosening restrictions for cellphone wiretapping. In 2014, Sessions claimed that a state’s definition of marriage supersedes federal gay marriage policies.

His voting record has earned him a 20 percent rating from the ACLU and a 0 percent rating from the Human Rights Commission.

Although Sessions denies ties to White Nationalist groups, his nomination was praised by former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard David Duke, who tweeted, “The Senate must demand that Sessions as Attorney General stop the massive institutional discrimination of whites.”

For these and other reasons, Sen. Sessions is unfit to be our county’s Attorney General. His confirmation would threaten our freedoms as guaranteed in the Constitution.

Martina Kilgo

Cape Coral