[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 84 (Tuesday, June 17, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1223]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1997

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. RICHARD A. GEPHARDT

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 17, 1997

  Mr. GEPHARDT. Mr. Speaker, just this past weekend the President gave 
a commencement address in San Diego, CA, in which he announced the 
beginning of his race initiative that over the next year will seek to 
engage the American people in an honest and open dialog on race 
relations. Through this initiative, the President has set a goal of 
focusing national attention on lessening the barriers that divide our 
nation along racial lines and developing concrete policy solutions that 
will unite us as one America. I commend the President and his advisory 
panel, chaired by the distinguished scholar Dr. John Hope Franklin, as 
they begin a journey, that if successful, will bring us closer to 
realizing our fullest potential as a nation. It is a journey on which I 
hope they will be joined by all of the American people.
  But unlike the President who has chosen to lead us down a path toward 
racial reconciliation, today, once again Republicans in Congress have 
chosen to take the hackneyed and politically expedient path of 
exploiting racial division by reintroducing legislation that seeks to 
erase the gains that many women and minorities have made toward 
achieving equal opportunity. Today, Representative Canady and Senator 
McConnell introduce what they call the ``Civil Rights Act of 1997,'' a 
bill that would abolish affirmative action in Federal Government 
employment and contracting.
  Those who support the Canady-McConnell bill claim that affirmative 
action is unfair because it uses ``quotas'' and gives ``preferences'' 
to undeserving and unqualified women and minorities. But they could not 
be further from the truth. The majority of American people support 
affirmative action because they know that it is a moderate and 
effective remedy for providing equal opportunity to those who have 
historically been treated unfairly. Affirmative action, like other 
Federal civil rights laws, is a bipartisan solution that has enjoyed 
the support of Democratic and Republican Presidents, Democratic and 
Republican Members of Congress, and continues to have the support of 
Republican Governors like Christine Todd Whitman of New Jersey, Jim 
Edgar of Illinois, Bill Weld of Massachusetts, Tom Ridge of 
Pennsylvania, and others including Retired Gen. Colin Powell.
  We as a Congress must reject the path of racial divisiveness 
represented by the Canady-McConnell bill and chart our own path that 
will complement the efforts of the President's race initiative. As we 
begin the appropriations process, let us provide the funding necessary 
to the agencies of the Federal Government that enforce our 
antidiscrimination laws. This is an action that we must take to 
demonstrate our continued commitment to the full enforcement of these 
laws.
  If we are to realize the potential of our democracy, then the choice 
is clear. We must continue to open the doors of opportunity in the 
classroom and the workplace to all our citizens and come to fully 
appreciate that the growing diversity of our great Nation is truly our 
greatest resource. Let us heal the wounds of race, not reopen them. Let 
us not abandon affirmative action.

                          ____________________