Congressman Cohen Statement on Confirmation of Loretta Lynch to be 63rd Attorney General of the United States

[WASHINGTON, DC] – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice, released the following statement regarding the Senate’s confirmation of Loretta Lynch to be the next Attorney General of the United States by a vote of 56-43:

“Today’s confirmation of Loretta Lynch as our nation’s first African-American female Attorney General is both historic and long-overdue. I am disappointed that it took a nearly-unprecedented 166 days for Senate Republicans to allow a vote on the President’s nomination, but I am pleased with the outcome of today’s vote. I look forward to Ms. Lynch continuing the good work of Attorney General Eric Holder, encouraging expanded use of just commutations based on the Fair Sentencing Act, fighting to protect the civil rights and voting rights of all Americans, and focusing our limited enforcement resources on crimes that actually harm people by helping bring our nation’s outdated drug laws into the 21st century.”