FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 30, 2018

CONTACT: Elliot Levy, [email protected], 202-800-7409

New York – In response to Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ announcement that the Department of Justice has created  a “Religious Liberty Task Force,” Stosh Cotler, CEO of Bend the Arc: Jewish Action, released the following statement:

“This Task Force is a farce intended to carry out the Trump Administration’s warped and narrow view of what it means to be a person of faith in America. The U.S. Constitution already protects our right to worship as we choose, and this charade has nothing to do with protecting ‘religious liberty’ and everything to do with pandering to the Religious Right.

Given its track record under Sessions, the Department of Justice seems bent on picking favorites: loathe to protect the Constitutional rights of Muslims, all too eager to support those who would deny broad swaths of Americans access to healthcare and basic civil rights, and committed to enshrining one particular religious view as the law of the land.

As Jews and as progressives, we will continue to demand  an end to the Trump Administration’s pandering to the extreme agenda of the Religious Right.”