Sen. Cory Booker , D-N. J., delivered unprecedented testimony today against the nomination of his Senate colleague, Sen. Jeff Sessions , R-Ala., for attorney general, saying that his \u00ab\u00a0conscience\u00a0\u00bb outweighed Senate tradition.
\u201cI know that some of my many colleagues aren\u2019t happy that I am breaking with Senate tradition to testify on the nomination of one of my colleagues, but I believe, like perhaps all of my colleagues in the Senate, that in the choice of standing with Senate norms or standing up for what my conscience tells me is best for our country, I will always choose my conscious and country,\u00a0\u00bb Booker said.
Booker said he believed President-elect Trump’s pick for attorney general has \u00ab\u00a0not demonstrated a commitment\u00a0\u00bb to a central prerequisite of the job — to demand equal rights and justice for all citizens.
\u00ab\u00a0In fact, at numerous times in his career, he has demonstrated a hostility towards these convictions,\u00a0\u00bb Booker said of Sessions.
The New Jersey senator said he was \u00ab\u00a0deeply motivated\u00a0\u00bb by the many issues the next attorney general will influence, especially the crisis of mass incarceration.
Booker said that while he and Sessions disagreed on the issues, they have always exercised a \u00ab\u00a0collegiality and a mutual respect. \u00a0\u00bb In fact, Booker spoke of legislation that he and Sessions co-sponsored to award the Congressional Medal of Honor to the \u00ab\u00a0foot soldiers who marched at Selma. \u00ab\u00a0
It was an emotional plea in which Booker said that those marchers in Selma inspired him as a young lawyer to seek justice for all in New Jersey, and begin representing black families looking to integrate white neighborhoods who were turned away and denied housing.
\u00ab\u00a0I am literally sitting here because of people, marchers in Alabama,\u00a0\u00bb he said.
Booker said that his colleague’s record \u00ab\u00a0indicates that he won’t\u00a0\u00bb pursue justice for women, defend the equal rights of gay and lesbian and transgender Americans, defend voting rights or defend the rights of immigrants as attorney general.
This was the first time a sitting senator testified against another sitting senator in a cabinet confirmation hearing, according to Booker’s office, which contacted the Senate Historian’s office for the records.
Civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis, D-Georgia, who helped lead the 1965 march in Selma, and Cedric Richmond, D-Louisiana, leader of the Congressional Black Caucus, also expressed concern about Sessions’ nomination at today’s hearing.
\u00ab\u00a0It doesn\u2019t matter how Senator Sessions may smile, how friendly he may be, how he may speak to you, but we need someone who is going to stand up, speak up and speak out. For the people that need help for people who have been discriminated against,\u00a0\u00bb Lewis said.
He told the senators that after decades of progress, many Americans are concerned that some leaders want to return to the \u00ab\u00a0dark past, and the power of the law will be used to deny freedoms protected by the Constitution. \u00ab\u00a0
\u00ab\u00a0We need someone as attorney general who is going to look out for all of us and not just for some of us,\u00a0\u00bb Lewis said.
However, others on today’s panel came to the Alabama senator’s defense.
\u00ab\u00a0A lot has been said about Senator Sessions’ character. We have seen people who have never met Senator Sessions claim to know him and know his heart. We have seen members of this body and members of the House of Representatives just now who have worked with Senator Sessions and praise him for his work and now attack him. This should not be,\u00a0\u00bb said Sessions’ former staffer William Smith.
Smith, the former Chief Counsel on the Administrative Oversight and the Courts Subcommittee, said that his former boss had fought for civil rights and against the Ku Klux Klan and fought for people regardless of the color of their skin.
\u00ab\u00a0I’m not testifying to someone who just met him yesterday. I’ve known his family, I’ve dined at his house. We’ve eaten Johnny Rockets burgers together,\u00a0\u00bb Smith added. \u00ab\u00a0I’ve been in every political situation with him. Senator Sessions is unquestionably qualified for the job for which he has been nominated. He is a good Christian man, and a good family man. He is a man who has dedicated his public life to service. \u00ab\u00a0
ABC News’ Hayley Walker and Ben Siegel contributed to this report.<\/p>\n

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