[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 149 (Thursday, October 30, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H9734]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       BILL LANN LEE'S NOMINATION

  (Mr. ROYCE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to encourage the Senate to 
reject the nomination of Mr. Bill Lann Lee to head the Justice 
Department Office of Civil Rights.
  Mr. Lee's career has shown him to be little more than an ideolog, 
intent on bending the words and meaning of the law to suit his 
purposes. In response to last year's California civil rights initiative 
barring racial preferences by government, Mr. Lee made the preposterous 
argument that it was unconstitutional to treat all individuals equally 
before the law. A Federal court swiftly rejected such reasoning on the 
ground that the 14th amendment does not require what it barely permits.
  Similarly, with mind-bending reason, Mr. Lee argued that the decline 
in minority enrollment establishes that the use of grades and 
standardized tests as admissions criteria is discriminatory.
  Radicals like Mr. Lee are swimming against the tide of court opinions 
and popular sentiment in standing up for race-based government 
preferences, and they know it. He must not be furnished with the power 
of the Federal Government to further pursue his out-of-touch agenda. I 
urge the Senate to block this nominee.

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