Congressman Cohen Presides at Hearing on Oversight of the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division
Despite its righteous history, says the Division has become “a twisted shadow” of former self
WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), Chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, today presided over a hearing on Oversight of the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice.
In his opening statement, Chairman Cohen spoke of the division's failure to defend and, on some occasions, active efforts to erode Americans' voting rights. He said in part:
"These efforts are not without precedent in our country. In the past, literacy tests, grandfather clauses, and poll taxes had been used to silence the voices of Black Americans and other minorities that those in power did not want to hear. Today, we see different methods intended to achieve the same end, such as voter roll purges -- which include the removal of voters we know for a fact are qualified -- or the requirement of particular forms of voter identification that we know some segments of the population are less likely to possess.
"Yet where is the Civil Rights Division? Where is the guardian of our civil rights?
"It pains to me to say it, but despite its righteous history and traditional role, the Civil Rights Division appears under the Trump Administration to have abandoned its historical mandate to protect voting rights…
"The Civil Rights Division has become a twisted shadow of its former self in Bill Barr's Justice Department and under this Administration. The Division must answer for its inaction, or, in some cases, its active opposition to civil rights enforcement."
See Chairman Cohen's entire opening statement here and his questions to expert witnesses here and here.
Chairman Cohen also was critical of Attorney General William Barr for not permitting the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, Eric Dreiband, who had been scheduled to testify, to appear at the oversight hearing.