CAMPAIGN TO ‘CONFIRM LYNCH FAST’: WOMEN CIVIL RIGHTS LEADERS JOIN NATIONAL ACTION NETWORK IN LAUNCHING FAST TO CONFIRM LORETTA LYNCH AS ATTORNEY GENERAL AFTER HISTORIC DELAY

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Apr 15, 2015

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

National Action Network

April 15, 2015

CAMPAIGN TO ‘CONFIRM LYNCH FAST’: WOMEN CIVIL RIGHTS LEADERS JOIN NATIONAL ACTION NETWORK IN LAUNCHING FAST TO CONFIRM LORETTA LYNCH AS ATTORNEY GENERAL AFTER HISTORIC DELAY

Women civil rights leaders and NAN mount fasting campaign calling for a full Senate vote to confirm first African American female as country’s chief law enforcement officer

More than 150 days have passed since Lynch was nominated to be Attorney General, making delay longest in three decades

WASHINGTON, DC – As Senate leadership continues a historic delay in failing to confirm Loretta Lynch as U.S. Attorney General, the National Action Network (NAN) founded by Reverend Al Sharpton and women civil rights leaders will today launch a fasting campaign, Confirm Lynch Fast. Confirm Lynch Fast is a fast inspired by the examples of leaders like Dr. Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi and Cesar Chavez, who used fasting or hunger strikes as a nonviolent approach to resolving conflict. The Confirm Lynch Fast campaign will call attention to the needs of the people who need the assistance of the Justice Department most, like the family of Walter Scott, the most recent victim of police brutality in South Carolina or those who face new legal challenges that threaten their right to vote.

“These outstanding women leaders are taking an exemplary moral stand that should shake the conscience of the nation as to how unfairly this qualified woman is being treated by Senate leadership,” said Reverend Al Sharpton, president and founder of NAN. “As long as the Senate refuses to take fifteen minutes to confirm someone for Attorney General that they have already confirmed twice for U.S. Attorney, NAN and our allies will do everything in our power to draw attention to this completely unfair and unnecessary delay to vote to confirm Loretta Lynch.”

It has been five months since Loretta Lynch, a twice-confirmed United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, has been nominated by President Obama to replace outgoing Attorney General Eric Holder. Since that time, the confirmation of this qualified woman who would become the first female African American Attorney General in the country’s history has been blocked and held as ransom for anti-abortion provisions in an unrelated piece of legislation. Reports indicate Lynch has the votes necessary to be confirmed as Attorney General.

“Senate leaders must hear the call of the people who want to see a vote called for Loretta Lynch,” said Janaye Ingram, NAN National Executive Director. “She is a twice unanimously confirmed United States Attorney and the fact that she has yet to be confirmed, five months after the nomination is nothing more than partisan politics. We stand with Loretta Lynch and are so in support of this cause that we are willing to sacrifice our daily meals to impress upon the U.S. Senate that it’s time to call a vote.”

During Confirm Lynch Fast effort, participating fasters will refrain from eating for one day at a time until Loretta Lynch is confirmed as Attorney General. Each day, a new group of people will replace the fasters from the day before. NAN members and partners across the country have already pledged their participation. Additionally, NAN and its members and allies will be calling on and heading to Capitol Hill and state offices to ask Senators to support Loretta Lynch’s nomination and encourage Senate leadership to call a vote. The effort will be bolstered by letter-writing and op-ed campaigns and people across the country can show their support on social media with the #ConfirmLynchFast hashtag.

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