{"database": "lobbying", "table": "lobbying_activities", "rows": [[1974242, "4a08e4f3-ff66-4c7c-ada3-f2168c8df659", "Q1", "INSTITUTE FOR SCIENCE AND HUMAN VALUES, INC", 400908651, "INSTITUTE FOR SCIENCE AND HUMAN VALUES, INC", 2017, "first_quarter", "CIV", "We write to express our profound concerns about a number of President Trumps recent executive orders\nand policy statements and their connection to the nomination of Senator Jeff Sessions as\nAttorney General. In his first week in office, President Trump has made extraordinary claims\nof executive authority, has called for a major investigation into voter fraud, and has outlined\nnumerous policy changes that pose grave dangers to civil liberties and civil rights. Given the\nreported involvement of Senator Sessions in advising President Trump on some of these\nmatters, we believe you have a profound duty as Chairman and ask that you do everything\nnecessary to ensure that Committee members are fully informed about the role of Senator\nSessions in developing these new orders and proposals and his plans to implement and\nexecute them.\n\nWe are writing to express our views on the factors we urge you to consider in\nselecting the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights.\nThe Department of Justices Civil Rights Division was created by passage of the Civil Rights\nAct of 1957, and this year marks its 60th anniversary. The Civil Rights Division and its\neleven sections have the critical responsibility of enforcing our nations federal civil rights\nlaws. Its mission is to provide equal treatment and equal justice under the law by enforcing\nand defending the civil rights of all Americans in such areas as voting, criminal justice,\neducation, employment, housing, and public accommodations. Our federal civil rights laws\nhave transformed the nation, outlawing discrimination in nearly every facet of American life.\n\nWe are writing to express our strong opposition to the confirmation of Senator\nJefferson B. Sessions (R-AL) to be the 84th Attorney General of the United States.\nSenator Sessions has a 30-year record of racial insensitivity, bias against immigrants,\ndisregard for the rule of law, and hostility to the protection of civil rights that makes him\nunfit to serve as the Attorney General of the United States. In our democracy, the Attorney\nGeneral is charged with enforcing our nations laws without prejudice and with an eye\ntoward justice. And, just as important, the Attorney General has to be seen by the public -\nevery member of the public, from every community - as a fair arbiter of justice.\nUnfortunately, there is little in Senator Sessions record, or learned from his confirmation\nhearing and supporting documents, that demonstrates that he would meet such a standard.\n\nWe write to remind you in 1986, when then-U.S. Attorney Sessions was nominated by former President Ronald\nReagan to serve as a judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama,\nthe Republican-controlled Senate upheld its constitutional duty, undertaking a careful and\ncomprehensive review of his record at that time. The Judiciary Committee was presented\nwith compelling evidence that then-U.S. Attorney Sessions had a deeply troubling record as\nan opponent of civil rights enforcement, a champion of voter suppression tactics targeting\nAfrican Americans, and a history of making racially-insensitive statements. This record\nincluded warning an African-American colleague to be careful about what he said to white\nfolks, and speaking favorably about the Ku Klux Klan, as well as his prosecution of three\nAfrican-American voting rights activists on dozens of charges that were promptly rejected\nby a jury. \n\nWe are writing to express our opposition tothe confirmation of Judge Neil M. Gorsuch to be an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. The Supreme Court is the final arbiter of our laws, and its rulings can dramatically impact the\nlives and rights of all Americans. Judge Gorsuchs decade-long record on the federal bench, as well as\nhis writings, speeches, and activities throughout his career, demonstrate he is a judge with an agenda. His\nfrequent dissents and concurrences show he is out of the mainstream of legal thought and unwilling to\naccept the constructs of binding precedent and stare decisis when they dictate results he disfavors.\n\nWe write in strong opposition to H. J. Res. 83/ S.J. Res. 27, a Congressional Review Act Resolution of Disapproval that would repeal an Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) rule that clarifies an employers responsibility to maintain accurate records of serious work related injuries and illnesses. This resolution will undermine workplace health and safety in the most dangerous industries.\nThis OSHA clarifying rule does not impose any new costs nor any new obligations to covered employers, nor does it affect small businesses. It simply clarifies OSHAs authority to hold employers accountable for their longstanding obligation to maintain accurate injury records, a requirement that has been in effect since the Nixon Administration. Further, the rule only covers larger employers in the most dangerous industries.\n\nWe write to strongly oppose H.R. 985, the Fairness in Class Action Litigation Act of 2017. The bill will undermine the enforcement of this nations civil rights laws and upend decades of settled class action law. This sweeping and poorly drafted legislation will create needless chaos in the courts without actually solving any demonstrated problem. In this letter, we highlight the most egregious of its many harms.\n\nThank you for the opportunity to provide comments on the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commissions (EEOC or the Commission) Proposed Enforcement Guidance on Unlawful Harassment (Proposed Enforcement Guidance). Protection against workplace harassment, including sex-based harassment, is key to achieving equal treatment. The undersigned organizations committed to workplace equality have joined to express strong support for the Proposed Enforcement Guidance and believe it will promote the reduction of discrimination and harassment in the workforce. The EEOC last issued policy guidance on harassment in 1999; since then, the law has evolved significantly. One-third of all EEOC charges include an allegation of harassment,1 demonstrating the need for current and robust guidance for employers and EEOC investigators. \n\nWe write to call on you to recuse yourself from all Department of Justice investigations and actions regarding any interactions between President Donald Trump, his campaign staff or other individuals supporting his campaign and Russian actors during Trumps 2016 presidential campaign, any Russian interference with the 2016 presidential election, the activities of former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn and Russian actors, and leaks concerning these matters.\n\nWe are writing to urge that you conduct a thorough review of the prior record of Alex Acosta as you\nconsider his nomination for U.S. Secretary of Labor.\nAs organizations that are committed to advancing the civil and human rights of all workers\nin America, we believe it is essential for this Committee to scrutinize Mr. Acostas tenure as\nthe Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights at the Department of Justice.", "Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC),Homeland Security, Dept of (DHS),HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,Justice, Dept of (DOJ),Office of Management & Budget (OMB),President of the U.S.,SENATE,U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE)", null, null, 0, 0, "2017-04-20T16:25:43.290000-04:00"]], "columns": ["id", "filing_uuid", "filing_type", "registrant_name", "registrant_id", "client_name", "filing_year", "filing_period", "issue_code", "specific_issues", "government_entities", "income_amount", "expense_amount", "is_no_activity", "is_termination", "received_date"], "primary_keys": ["id"], "primary_key_values": ["1974242"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 112.772743916139, "source": "Federal Register API & Regulations.gov API", "source_url": "https://www.federalregister.gov/developers/api/v1", "license": "Public Domain (U.S. Government data)", "license_url": "https://www.regulations.gov/faq"}