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For Immediate Release: June 4, 2009
Contact: Adrienne Ammerman or Mary Robbins, 202-588-5180
NWLC SUPPORTS THE NOMINATION OF TOM PEREZ
(Washington, DC) The Senate Judiciary Committee voted today to approve the nomination of Thomas Perez to be Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division for the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) with a bipartisan vote of 17 to 2. The National Women’s Law Center (NWLC) strongly supports his nomination.
Marcia Greenberger, Co-President of NWLC, stated: “The National Women’s Law Center is proud to support the nomination of Tom Perez. He is extraordinarily qualified for this position, bringing as he does twenty years of experience enforcing and supporting this nation’s civil rights laws.”
Mr. Perez has spent his entire career in public service. He worked as a career prosecutor in the Civil Rights Division, where he was quickly promoted to Deputy Chief of the Criminal Section. He was appointed to be Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights in 1998, and during the final two years of the Clinton Administration, he served as the Director of the Office for Civil Rights at the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
At various points in his career, Mr. Perez worked for Senator Edward Kennedy, advising the Senator on civil rights, criminal justice, and constitutional issues, and taught law and public health. Mr. Perez currently serves as Secretary of the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation (DLLR).
The Civil Rights Division enforces legal protections of critical importance to women, including Title VII, which prohibits sex discrimination in employment; Title IX, which protects women against sex-based discrimination in educational programs; and the prosecution of hate crimes and crimes of human trafficking. In addition, the Civil Rights Division is responsible for the enforcement of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, which allows women to safely exercise their constitutional rights to reproductive health. The recent murder of Dr. George Tiller, a physician who provided abortion services, underscores the importance of this Act.
Mr. Perez’s nomination could not come at a more critical time. The Civil Rights Division was seriously undermined by the last Administration: its hiring processes were hijacked for political ends; the ranks of its dedicated and outstanding career prosecutors have been decimated; and its record of federal law enforcement has failed to live up to its historic mission. As a result, civil rights protections have been eroded over the past eight years. For example:
“For the past eight years, the women of this country failed to receive the full protection of this nation’s civil rights laws that they deserve,” Greenberger stated. “The next Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division faces the tremendous challenge of restoring the Division’s historic role as guardian of civil rights, and of making the enforcement of the rights and legal protections of women a priority once again. We believe strongly that Tom Perez is the right person to meet this challenge.”
Mr. Perez has the background and demonstrated commitment to the enforcement of civil rights protections to ensure his success in this key position. The National Women’s Law Center and our coalition partners commend the Senate Judiciary Committee for their swift approval of Mr. Perez to be Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division, and urge the full Senate to quickly vote on this important nomination.
To interview Marcia D. Greenberger, or for more information, contact Adrienne Ammerman at aammerman@nwlc.org or at 202-588-5180.
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