"Civil rights groups opposing....John Ashcroft, are demanding that Democratic senators abandon
the tradition of supporting former colleagues and vote against
the nomination. "
Groups to Campaign Against Ashcroft
By LARRY MARGASAK, Associated Press Writer
From: The Las Angeles Times
January 2, 2001
WASHINGTON--Civil rights groups opposing
President-elect Bush's choice for attorney general, John
Ashcroft, are demanding that Democratic senators abandon
the tradition of supporting former colleagues and vote against
the nomination.
The organizations will join with organized labor to confront
Democrats at public events in their home states to win
commitments of a "no" vote, the Rev. Jesse Jackson said in an
interview Monday.
He said the campaign also would target New Jersey Gov.
CHRISTIE WHITMAN, Bush's nominee to head the Environmental
Protection Agency.
Jackson said Democratic senators "will be challenged very
publicly" at events such as Martin Luther King Day
celebrations this month. "Those who are with the civil rights
agenda must not choose collegiality over civil rights and social
justice," he said.
Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle signaled a willingness
Tuesday to "ask all the tough questions that need to be asked"
of Ashcroft.
"The most important question is" whether Ashcroft will
enforce laws that "he's acknowledged publicly he disagrees
with," said Daschle, appearing on ABC's "Good Morning
America." The Democratic senator cited laws on women's
rights and civil rights.
Ashcroft is a conservative Republican senator from
Missouri who lost re-election on Nov. 7 to Democratic Gov.
Mel Carnahan, whose name remained on the ballot after he
was killed in a plane crash. Carnahan's widow, Jean, was
appointed to the seat.
Senators are known for supporting nominations of former
colleagues -and Jackson's comment about collegiality was
aimed at that tradition. The new Senate will be split 50 -50
between Republicans and Democrats, although the vice
president-to-be, Dick Cheney, will be able to break any tie
votes in his role as president of the Senate.
Ashcroft has drawn opposition for his anti-abortion views
and for leading a drive to defeat the nomination of a black
Missouri Supreme Court judge, Ronnie White, to the federal
bench.
WHITMAN has drawn the ire of blacks because of racial
profiling by the New Jersey state police and because of a
photograph of the governor personally frisking a black youth.
Ashcroft has countered the criticism by noting he supported
23 of the 26 nominations of black judges that came up for a
vote during his Senate tenure.
As Missouri governor from 1985 to 1993, he signed into
law a state holiday honoring King; established musician Scott
Joplin's house as Missouri's only historic site honoring a black
individual; created an award honoring black educator George
Washington Carver; named a black woman to a state
judgeship; and led a fight to save Lincoln University, which
was founded by black soldiers.
Whitman is a moderate Republican who supports abortion
rights. Regarding racial profiling, she repeatedly has defended
her administration by saying hers was the first to admit to the
practice and to take steps to eliminate it.
Critics said minorities
were involved in a disproportionate number of traffic stops,
searches and arrests by state troopers.
Last year, a picture was released showing her (Whitman)frisking a
black youth during a police tour in Camden, N.J., in 1996.
"Did I step over a line from being an observer to a
participant that I shouldn't have and didn't need to in that
instance? Yes," Whitman said in an interview last July. "But,
unfortunately, that is my nature. When they said, 'Do you want
to do it?' I said 'Sure,' without thinking, and I should have
thought."
latimes.com |
