[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 511 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

113th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 511

Establishing best business practices to fully utilize the potential of 
                           the United States.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 22, 2014

Mr. Scott (for himself, Mr. Paul, Mrs. Fischer, Mr. Portman, Mr. Pryor, 
 and Mr. Rubio) submitted the following resolution; which was referred 
       to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Establishing best business practices to fully utilize the potential of 
                           the United States.

Whereas the Rooney Rule, formulated by Daniel Rooney, chairman of the Pittsburgh 
        Steelers football team in the National Football League (referred to in 
        this preamble as ``NFL''), requires every NFL team with a coach or 
        general manager opening to interview at least 1 minority candidate;
Whereas the Rooney Rule has been successful in increasing minority 
        representation among the higher leadership positions in professional 
        football, as shown by the fact that in the 80 years between the hiring 
        of Fritz Pollard as coach by the Akron Pros and the implementation of 
        the Rooney Rule in 2003 there were only 7 minority head coaches but 
        since 2003 there have been 13 minority head coaches;
Whereas the Rooney Rule has shown that once highly qualified and highly skilled 
        diversity candidates are given exposure during the hiring process their 
        abilities can be better utilized;
Whereas the RLJ Rule, formulated by Robert L. Johnson, founder of Black 
        Entertainment Television (commonly known as ``BET'') and of The RLJ 
        Companies, and based on the Rooney Rule from the NFL, similarly 
        encourages companies to voluntarily establish a best practices policy to 
        identify minority candidates and minority vendors by implementing a plan 
        to interview a minimum of 2 qualified minority candidates for managerial 
        openings at the director level and above and to interview at least 2 
        qualified minority businesses before approving a vendor contract;
Whereas, according to Crist-Kolder Associates as cited in the Wall Street 
        Journal, at the top 668 companies in the United States, only 27 Chief 
        Financial Officers are African-American, Hispanic, or of Asian descent;
Whereas underrepresented groups contain members with the necessary abilities, 
        experience, and qualifications for any position available;
Whereas business practices such as the Rooney Rule or the RLJ Rule are neither 
        an employment quota nor Federal law but rather a voluntary initiative 
        instituted by willing entities to provide the human resources necessary 
        to ensure success;
Whereas experience has shown that people of all genders, colors, and physical 
        abilities can achieve excellence;
Whereas increased involvement of underrepresented workers would improve the 
        economy of the United States and the experience of the people of the 
        United States; and
Whereas ensuring the increased exposure and resulting increased advancement of 
        diverse qualified candidates would result in gains by all people of the 
        United States through stronger economic opportunities: Now, therefore, 
        be it
    Resolved, That the Senate encourages corporate, academic, and 
social entities, regardless of size or field of operation, to--
            (1) develop an internal rule modeled after a successful 
        business practice such as the Rooney Rule or RLJ Rule and, in 
        accordance with title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 
        U.S.C. 2000e et seq.), adapt that rule to specifications that 
        will best fit the procedures of the individual entity; and
            (2) institute the individualized Rooney Rule or RLJ Rule to 
        ensure that the entity will always consider candidates from 
        underrepresented populations before making a final decision 
        when searching for a business vendor or filling leadership 
        position.
                                 <all>