Sanders Applauded for Vow to Vote No on Pompeo Hundreds of Groups Urge Senate to Reject Unfit Choice

"His repeated advocacy for war, Islamophobia, climate change denial, hostility to human rights, including reproductive and LGBT rights, and support for torture make him dangerous and unfit to be a chief architect of U.S. foreign policy."

by Julia Conley, staff writer

Excerpts:

Anti-war and civil rights advocates applauded Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) after he announced Monday that he would oppose CIA Director Mike Pompeo's nomination for Secretary of State—and urged Americans to tell their senators to do the same.

Sanders's tweeted statement came after nearly 70 national organizations including Americans for Peace Now, Peace Action, and Win Without War signed a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) demanding that the Senate reject Pompeo's nomination. His confirmation hearing is scheduled to begin on Thursday.

As Sanders noted, Pompeo has denied the consensus by scientists that human activity has contributed to the climate crisis and has called the notion that climate change presents a national security threat—promoted by lawmakers on both sides of the aisle—"ignorant, dangerous and absolutely unbelievable."

The CIA Director has also defended the use of torture and has argued against the closing of Guantanamo Bay, which human rights groups say has violated the human rights of detainees since it opened in 2002.

Also on Monday, more than 200 civil rights groups signed a separate letter to senators highlighting Pompeo's history of racism, xenophobia, and hostility to human rights, including reproductive and LGBT rights, as reasons for their objection to the former congressman.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/04/10/sanders-applauded-vow-vote-no-pompeo-hundreds-groups-urge-senate-reject-unfit-choice


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Sanders Statement on Pompeo

Monday, April 9, 2018
WASHINGTON, April 9 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) issued the following statement Monday ahead of the confirmation hearing for Mike Pompeo, nominee for secretary of state:

"We need a secretary of state who will represent the best principles of the United States to the rest of the world. Mike Pompeo is not that person. He is a supporter of the Global Gag Rule, which hurts our ability to promote women’s reproductive health around the world. He opposes LGBTQ rights. As the top recipient of campaign donations from the Koch brothers, he has stymied action on one of the world’s most serious security threats: global climate change. He supports the use of torture. He has longstanding relationships with anti-Muslim extremists. And his hawkish views on Iran and North Korea could very well lead us into another disastrous war. For all of these reasons, Mike Pompeo is absolutely the wrong choice to serve as the United States’ top diplomat, and I will vote against him."

https://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sanders-statement-on-pompeo