The Cleveland chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Cleveland) today joined Ohio faith leaders in delivering a “Declaration of Moral Resistance” signed by more than 100 Ohio clergy leaders to the Cleveland offices of US Senator Rob Portman calling on him to reject the nomination of Jeff Sessions for Attorney General.
The faith leaders assembled under the banner of Faith in Public Life, a non-profit strategy center for the faith community advancing faith in the public square as a powerful force for justice, compassion and the common good.
The faith leaders held a solemn gathering in the lobby of the Anthony J. Celebrezze Federal Building and offered statements rejecting Senator Sessions on the basis of his hostile record on civil rights. Leaders then delivered the Declaration to the office of Senator Portman urging him to vote “no” on Sessions’ nomination.
SEE: Ohio Declaration of Moral Resistance
As part of CAIR’s statement, Julia Shearson, Executive Director of CAIR-Ohio, Cleveland Chapter said:
“Senator Sessions’ past statements and troubling views on issues impacting American Muslims and other minority communities make him unfit to serve as attorney general. Indeed, his past anti-Muslim statements and his current associations with anti-Muslim hate groups and his views on many key civil rights issues put him well outside of the mainstream of American society and would set him on a collision course with our American values of equality and dignity for all under the law.
“I am here today to urge our US Senator Rob Portman, to make a difficult but honorable choice to go against the grain of his party to take what may perhaps be an uncomfortable stance in declining to advance the nomination of a fellow senator. I assure you, Honorable Senator Portman, by rejecting this nomination, you may indeed win the disapproval of your colleagues, but you will win the approval of history.”
CAIR is America’s largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.