NOW President Says Lott Replacement No Improvement

December 23, 2002

"Trent Lott made the right decision to step down as Senate Majority Leader," said National Organization for Women (NOW) President Kim Gandy. "But if he thinks that stepping down will save his party more embarrassment, he couldn't be more wrong—especially since his successor is Bill Frist." Sen. Frist (R-Tenn.) was elected December 23rd, after garnering widespread support from conservatives who have always considered Lott too moderate.

"Few senators have a worse voting record on civil rights than Trent Lott—but Bill Frist is one of them," Gandy noted. "Frist has voted against sex education, international family planning, emergency contraception (the morning-after pill), affirmative action, hate crimes legislation and the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. This is the man who is supposed to save face for the GOP in the Senate? Think again."

"The Republican Party is making a huge mistake if they are assuming that reluctant apologies and a different face will camouflage their record of undermining civil rights," Gandy said.

"Karl Rove, credited by insiders with engineering the exchange of Lott for Frist, will be the de facto Senate leader—and the idea of the U.S. Senate being run from the White House ought to give every Senator pause," Gandy said.

###

Sign up to receive press releases by email.