[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 28 (Tuesday, March 5, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H1687]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           THE CIVIL RIGHTS COMMISSION AMENDMENTS ACT OF 1996

  (Mr. FOLEY asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. FOLEY. Mr. Speaker, last year the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights 
subpoenaed members of the Florida proposition 187 committee, a 
grassroots organization interested in curbing illegal immigration. The 
Commission went so for as to subpoena all of the group's internal 
documents, including reports, memos, and computer-generated printouts. 
In the words of one housewife who was paid a visit by a U.S. marshal, 
she felt intimidated and harassed by the Commission and felt like she 
was living in the land of the Gestapo.
  By statute, the Commission is granted subpoena power to conduct fact-
finding hearings on discrimination and racial tensions. But whose civil 
rights are they protecting? It certainly does not appear to be the 
rights of those Floridians who were exercising their constitutional 
rights of free speech and free association.
  Regardless of any individual's personal beliefs or political 
associations, no one should be subjected to this type of intimidation 
by Federal agencies. It is for this reason that I am introducing the 
Civil Rights Commission Amendments Act of 1996 to prevent further 
fishing expeditions at the expense of law-abiding citizens. The bill 
would allow the Commission to subpoena only government officials, or in 
cases where a person's right to vote has been violated.

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