Members call on all Senators to Defeat Brown and Pryor

Washington, D.C. - After reviewing the Senate filibuster "deal" agreed to by fourteen U.S. Senators, U.S. Rep. Melvin L. Watt (D-N.C.) issued the following statement on behalf of the Congressional Black Caucus:


"The Congressional Black Caucus strongly opposes the "deal" that trades judges who oppose our civil rights for a temporary filibuster ceasefire. This deal is more of a capitulation than a compromise. Two of the three judges in the agreed to in the "deal", Janice Rogers Brown and William Pryor, have documented histories of opposing the rights of African Americans and of hostility to the broad mainstream of law and rights enacted by the Congress over the past 75 years. The only way to make a bad deal worse would be for these judges to succeed in getting the 51 percent of the Senate votes they will need for confirmation. Even under the terms of this deal, these nominees can go on the bench only if they get the majority of the Senate to approve them. We will be looking closely at the votes as they occur and expect any Senator who seeks our support and the support of our constituents to reject the judges who have rejected the obligation to protect our rights."