Executive Session
Floor Speech
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. SANDERS. Mr. President, I oppose the confirmation of Kenneth Marcus to be Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights at the Department of Education. Mr. Marcus has a long record of targeting First Amendment- protected speech and scholarship of people with whom he disagrees. His history also reflects a hostility towards civil rights, including making racially charged accusations and opposing affirmative action. In addition, Mr. Marcus has not publicly committed to upholding the civil rights protections of every student in the country, without regard to LGBTQI status, race, home language, gender, religion, disability, or immigration status.
I am particularly concerned with Mr. Marcus's nomination, given the important role that the Office of Civil Rights--OCR--plays in protecting students from discrimination in schools and on campuses, as well as holding schools accountable for their sexual assault prevention policies. As we are all aware, Secretary DeVos and Acting OCR Director Candice Jackson have already taken very concerning steps to roll back guidance and investigations of potential civil rights violations. Given his testimony before the Senate HELP committee, I fear Mr. Marcus will likely contribute to this troubling pattern of neglect at the Department.
According to a joint statement by UnidosUS and National Urban League: ``Kenneth Marcus' troubling record with regard to enforcing the rights of immigrant students and English learners, and past attempts to undermine critical policies aimed at remedying racial discrimination, including affirmative action. Mr. Marcus [also] has a demonstrated history of hostility toward affirmative action and all race-based remedies to discrimination. He lacks a commitment to enforcing civil rights protections for students of color, and does not believe in disparate-impact or unintentional discrimination. J Street released a statement expressing its concerns with Kenneth Marcus' nomination, stating that ``[s]tudents deserve an assistant secretary who will uphold all of our community's values and priorities--including support for the fight against sexual violence and all forms of discrimination. We need government officials who will defend women and all those impacted by sexual violence, and who will fight this epidemic on college campuses and in our society. It's evident that Marcus would be an obstacle and not an ally in this work. His record shows that he is not prepared to take a stand against the many forms of discrimination based on gender, race, sexual identity and disability that harm students today.''
In addition, the following various education, civil and disability rights groups oppose the nomination: American Association of University Women, AAUW; American Federation of Teachers; American-Arab Anti- Discrimination Committee; Americans for Peace Now; Arab American Institute; Asian Americans Advancing Justice; Autistic Self Advocacy Network; Center for Law and Social Policy, CLASP; Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund; End Rape on Campus; Feminist Majority Foundation; Hispanic Federation; Human Rights Campaign; J Street; Jewish Voices for Peace; Lambda Legal; Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law; The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights; League of United Latin American Citizens; Middle East Studies Association of North America; Muslim Advocates; NAACP; NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund; National Alliance for Partnerships in Equity, NAPE; National Bar Association; National Center for Lesbian Rights; National Center for Transgender Equality; National Council of Jewish Women; National Education Association; National Urban League; National Women's Law Center; Know Your IX; People for American Way; Policy Link; Poverty & Race Research Action Council; Southeast Asia Resource Action Center; Southern Poverty Law Center; TASH; UnidosUS, formerly NCLR; and YWCA USA.
Given the widespread opposition to Mr. Marcus's nomination, his troubling testimony in support of his confirmation, I cannot support his nomination. I urge my colleagues to likewise oppose it.
(At the request of Mr. Durbin, the following statement was ordered to be printed in the Record.)
The U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights, OCR, was established to address discrimination that prevents all students from receiving an equal opportunity to learn. No student should experience harmful discrimination because of their race, gender, disability, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or gender identity.
Based on Mr. Marcus's record and performance during his confirmation process, I have no confidence that he is ready to effectively lead OCR and robustly enforce civil rights protections throughout the country. Mr. Marcus's demonstrated lack of commitment to the mission of OCR and his failure to understand that all children, regardless of citizenship status, have a right to attend public schools, are warning signs that the nominee is not the right person to lead OCR.
Students in Illinois and across the Nation deserve a leader of OCR who will actively investigate and enforce civil rights protections, particularly in cases where there is evidence of systemic discrimination. An unwillingness or inability to address comprehensive, systemic discrimination in education is disqualifying, and I must oppose Mr. Marcus's confirmation.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Source