Senators should reject Tillerson for human rights violations
WASHINGTON, D.C. – As the full Senate prepares to debate the nomination of former Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson for Secretary of State, Friends of the Earth President Erich Pica issued the following statement:
After only one week in office, the Trump presidency has bared its teeth and what we have seen has been nakedly inane and inept, deeply inhumane, and to be frank, insane. That Trump would want the head of Exxon Mobil to be the head of the State Department fits this mold. Only a morally bankrupt President would choose for the top diplomat of the United States an Oil Baron who not only refused to condemn serious human rights violations throughout his Senate hearing. Tillerson also spent 41 years at a corporation globally renowned for the terror and destruction it has wrought on the people and the land that stood between Big Oil and profit.
The Senate must not allow this to be the new normal. Senators who claim to care about human rights must reject the Tillerson nomination. Senators who know climate change is real must reject the Tillerson nomination. Indeed, Senators who want to keep the world safe for future generations must reject the Tillerson nomination.
The Senate must not condone the Trump administration’s Islamaphobic, racist, and xenophobic foreign policy, which this weekend had devastating consequences on the lives of vulnerable people and has made the world a more dangerous place. The Senate must vote down Rex Tillerson for Secretary of State.
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Friends of the Earth fights to create a more healthy and just world. Our current campaigns focus on promoting clean energy and solutions to climate change, ensuring the food we eat and products we use are safe and sustainable, and protecting marine ecosystems and the people who live and work near them.
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