[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 6 (Tuesday, January 10, 2017)]
[House]
[Page H247]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     OPPOSING THE CONFIRMATION OF JEFF SESSIONS AS ATTORNEY GENERAL

  (Mr. ESPAILLAT asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. ESPAILLAT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to voice my strong 
opposition to the confirmation of Jeff Sessions as Attorney General.
  In a 2006 speech, then-Senator Sessions wrongfully misstated: 
``Fundamentally, almost no one coming from the Dominican Republic to 
the United States is coming here because they have a provable skill 
that would benefit us and that would indicate their likely success in 
our society.''
  When I was 9 years old, Mr. Speaker, I immigrated to the United 
States from the Dominican Republic without any papers, and now I am a 
Member of the U.S. Congress. Mr. Sessions, have I not succeeded in 
America?
  On behalf of millions of Dominican Americans and notable Americans 
such as fashion designer Oscar de la Renta, Pulitzer Prize winner Junot 
Diaz, Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez, and baseball giant Big Papi, I 
stand here on the floor of the United States House of Representatives 
as a proud Dominican American. I say to Mr. Sessions: you are wrong, 
wrong in thinking, and wrong for our country.
  I urge my colleagues to join me in opposing the confirmation of Jeff 
Sessions as Attorney General. Hateful speech and racist rhetoric have 
no place in our American society.

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