Rev. Sharpton Calls For Senate Confirmation Hearing For Attorney General Nominee
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Rev. Al Sharpton and other national civil rights activists are urging U.S. Senate leadership to immediately call for a vote to confirm Loretta Lynch as U.S. attorney general.
At the National Action Network's annual convention Saturday in New York City, a crowd chanted "call the vote," 1010 WINS' Roger Stern reported.
Sharpton said given the use of deadly force by police around the nation in recent months, including the recent death of a black motorist in South Carolina, there needs to be a confirmation vote on Lynch.
"We call on today, Mitch McConnell head of the Senate, to give America a fair prosecutor to look at these cases," Sharpton said.
President Obama appointed Lynch 5 months ago and she has waited longer for a confirmation vote than any other attorney general nominee in recent history, Stern reported.
Lynch is the top federal prosecutor for New York's Eastern District, which includes Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island and Long Island. She also held the position under President Bill Clinton.
If confirmed by the Senate, Lynch would be the first African-American woman to hold the position.