WASHINGTON, June 30, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, LULAC expressed disappointment over the House vote holding Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress. LULAC has long opposed Congressman Darrell Issa's politically motivated effort to have Attorney General Holder held in Contempt of Congress. LULAC declared that the clear purpose of such an action was a blatant attempt to limit the effectiveness of Attorney General Holder and the Department of Justice.
"LULAC has strongly supported the work the Department of Justice has done in enforcing the rights of the disenfranchised," said LULAC National President Margaret Moran. "We appreciate for example, the Department of Justice's work to ensure that the Voting Rights Act and other federal voting rights laws are followed in federal elections. These efforts help ensure that Hispanics and other minorities have an equal opportunity to participate in the democratic process by voting. We also appreciate the Department of Justice's efforts to limit the states' ability to regulate immigration activity. As we all know and as the Supreme Court agreed anti-immigration laws like the one past in Arizona are discriminatory and bad for all Americans."
At a press briefing held, today, at the 83rd Annual LULAC Convention, Executive Director Brent Wilkes said, "This is a trumped up politically motivated charge. Holder's career has consistently protected our citizens since his days at the NAACP. Furthermore, he submitted nearly 8,000 documents in response to the committee's investigation."
The Department of Justice's enforcement activity may not be consistent with Chairman Issa and the Republican leadership's political views. Today, the House voted to limit this activity through confrontational political means. The Attorney General took a principled position to a law enforcement issue and the Republican leadership should have resolved the issue through negotiations. Continuing to reject such an approach in favor of issuing a vote holding the Attorney General in Contempt of Congress was reckless political theater and not in the interest of the American people.
The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) is the nation's largest and oldest civil rights volunteer-based organization that empowers Hispanic Americans and builds strong Latino communities. Headquartered in Washington, DC, with 900 councils around the United States and Puerto Rico, LULAC's programs, services and advocacy address the most important issues for Latinos, meeting critical needs of today and the future. For more information, visit www.lulac.org.
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