[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 139 (Wednesday, December 8, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Pages S12015-S12017]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                     NOMINATION OF WILLIAM SANCHEZ

  Mr. DURBIN. Today the Senate confirmed William Sanchez to be the 
Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices in 
the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. I do not 
oppose his confirmation, but I have serious concerns about the Justice 
Department's decision in September to postpone an important, 
statutorily-authorized grant program until Mr. Sanchez's confirmation. 
Now that Mr. Sanchez has been confirmed, I urge the Justice Department 
to reinstate the grant program at once.
  This Civil Rights Division grant program plays a critical role in 
protecting the rights of immigrant workers. Every year since 1991, 
nonprofit organizations throughout the Nation have received these 
grants to educate workers about their rights to a workplace free of 
discrimination and abuse. These organizations play a vital role in 
educating employers and the public about the civil rights and 
immigration laws Congress has passed to protect U.S. citizens, lawful 
permanent residents, refugees, and asylees.
  In July, the Justice Department publicly announced that 13 
organizations from around the country would receive a grant in 2004. 
Several of the intended grantees, including Chicago-based Heartland 
Alliance for Human Needs & Human Rights, acted in good faith reliance 
on the Justice Department's grant announcement and made hiring and 
resource allocation decisions accordingly.
  In September, however, the Justice Department announced that it had 
decided to postpone the grant program without explanation. Senator 
Leahy, Senator Kennedy, and I wrote to the Justice Department seeking 
an explanation for their decision and requesting that they reconsider 
it.
  In October, the Justice Department responded with a letter indicating 
that the grant program would be reinstated once the Senate confirmed 
Mr. Sanchez, who would head the Civil Rights Division office that 
administers the grant program. Although I disagree with this decision 
to delay the grant program until Mr. Sanchez's confirmation, I was 
pleased by the Justice Department's assurance that they intended to 
continue the program once Mr. Sanchez assumes his office.
  Today, in the wake of Mr. Sanchez's confirmation, Senator Leahy, 
Senator Kennedy, and I wrote again to the Justice Department, urging 
Mr. Sanchez and the Civil Rights Division to follow through with the 
commitment made to the 13 intended grantees in July. We requested that 
the grants be issued by the end of the calendar year.
  I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record the letter 
regarding this important grant program that Senator Leahy, Senator 
Kennedy, and I sent to the Justice Department today, as well as the 
other correspondence to which I have referred.

[[Page S12016]]

  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                                                      U.S. Senate,


                                   Committee on the Judiciary,

                                 Washington, DC, December 7, 2004.
     Hon. R. Alexander Acosta,
     Assistant Attorney General, Civil Rights Division, U.S. 
         Department of Justice, 950 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., 
         Washington, DC.
       Dear Mr. Acosta: We are in receipt of a letter dated 
     October 13, 2004 from Assistant Attorney General William 
     Moschella addressing our concerns about the postponement of 
     the Civil Rights Division's public education grant program 
     administered by the Office of Special Counsel for 
     Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices.
       We are encouraged by the Justice Department's commitment to 
     this important, statutorily-created grant program and by Mr. 
     Moschella's representation that the close of the fiscal year 
     does not affect the Civil Rights Division's ability to award 
     these grants. Although we disagree with your decision to 
     delay the grant program until confirmation of William 
     Sanchez, we are pleased by your assurance that you intend to 
     continue this program once Mr. Sanchez assumes his office.
       We write to urge you and Mr. Sanchez to dispense $745,000 
     by the end of this calendar year to the 13 nonprofit 
     organizations who reasonably believed they had been promised 
     this grant money in July. As we indicated in our letter of 
     September 29, 2004, these 13 organizations had strong reason 
     to believe that they would receive a grant by the end of the 
     fiscal year. Many of them made resource allocation decisions 
     in good faith reliance on the Department's July announcement.
       Please provide assurance that the 13 organizations promised 
     2004 grant money will receive their grants by the end of the 
     calendar year, and that the grant program will be 
     administered in 2005 without delay or postponement.
       Sincerely,
     Dick Durbin,
       United States Senator.
     Patrick Leahy,
       United States Senator.
     Ted Kennedy,
       United States Senator.
                                       U.S. Department of Justice,


                                Office of Legislative Affairs,

                                 Washington, DC, October 13, 2004.
     Hon. Richard J. Durbin,
     Committee on the Judiciary, U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
       Dear Senator Durbin: This is in response to your letter of 
     September 29, 2004, inquiring into the status of the public 
     education grant program operated by the Civil Rights 
     Division's Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related 
     Unfair Employment Practices (``OSC''). We are sending a 
     similar response to the co-signatories of your letter.
       The Department shares your view as to the importance of 
     this program. Our outreach and training program is an 
     important component of our overall effort to address the 
     serious problem of immigration-related employment 
     discrimination. We intend to continue this program when the 
     President's nominee for Special Counsel, William Sanchez, 
     assumes his office. Once confirmed, Mr. Sanchez will have 
     discretion with regard to when and whom to award grant 
     monies.
       Your letter specifically asked whether funding for the 
     grants would be available after September 30, 2004. As you 
     are aware, although OSC's authorizing statute includes an 
     authorization for up to $10,000,000 per fiscal year to 
     implement and operate the public education program, no 
     appropriation has been made for the program. Nonetheless, the 
     Department believes that this program is important, and each 
     year has used funds appropriated for salaries and expenses 
     for the Department's legal activities (e.g., Supreme Court 
     proceedings, tax and criminal matters, etc.) to support a 
     public outreach campaign to disseminate information 
     respecting the rights and remedies available to workers under 
     OSC's statutes. As a result, the close of a fiscal year does 
     not affect the Division's ability to award grants.
       Your letter notes with just concern that some of the grant 
     recipients may have relied on the Department's July 15, 2004, 
     press release. As is the case with all such decisions, the 
     Department took steps to make sure that no group improperly 
     relied on such a preliminary announcement. Enclosed with this 
     letter please find correspondence directed to each of the 
     groups named in that press release. As you will see, the 
     award announcements at that time were ``provisional'' only, 
     and remained ``conditioned on the successful completion of a 
     general background and financial review to be conducted by 
     the Office of the Comptroller, Office of Justice Programs 
     (OJP).''
       If we can be of assistance in other matters, please do not 
     hesitate to contact the Department.
           Sincerely,
                                             William E. Moschella,
                                       Assistant Attorney General.
       Enclosure.

                                       U.S. Department of Justice,


                                        Civil Rights Division,

                               Washington, DC, September 16, 2004.
     Ms. Vanna Slaughter,
     Catholic Charities of Dallas, Immigration Counseling 
         Services, 5415 Maple Avenue, Suite 200, Dallas, TX.
       Dear Ms. Slaughter: I write to inform you that Office of 
     Special Counsel's public education grant program and the 
     grantee training conference scheduled for September 29-30, is 
     being postponed until later in the year.
       If your organization was awarded a grant by the Office of 
     Special Counsel in 2003 that has remaining funds, please 
     immediately request from us a ``no cost extension through 
     December 31, 2004.'' This extension will permit your 
     organization to have continued use of those funds through 
     December 31 of this year. Please send your request via e-mail 
     to [email protected] no later than September 20, 
     2004.
       We appreciate your cooperation and understanding.
           Sincerely,
                                                     Loretta King,
                                Deputy Assistant Attorney General.
                                       U.S. Department of Justice,


                                        Civil Rights Division,

                              Washington, DC 20530, June 30, 2004.
     Re Grant Award for Antidiscrimination Outreach Public 
         Education Campaign

     Ms. Sonia Harb,
     Director, Arab Community Center for Economic & Social 
         Services, 2651 Saulino Ct., Dearborn, MI.
       Dear Ms. Sonia Harb: thank you for your proposal to conduct 
     a public education program on the antidiscrimination 
     provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act. I am 
     pleased to inform you that your organization has been 
     provisionally selected as a recipient of a grant in the 
     amount of $60,000. Final acceptance of your proposal will be 
     conditioned on the successful completion of a general 
     background and financial review to be conducted by the Office 
     of the Comptroller, Office of Justice Programs (OJP). You 
     will soon be contacted by officials from that office. The 
     grant award may also be conditioned on your acceptance of any 
     additional modifications of your proposal that prove 
     necessary. We expect the final processing to be completed 
     promptly. Please respond quickly to any questions that OJP 
     may have.
       You will hear from us again shortly with more details about 
     the grant. The training seminar for grantees is tentatively 
     scheduled for September 29-30, 2004, in Washington, D.C. We 
     will get back to you with more information about that as soon 
     as arrangements are finalized.
       Grantees play a major role in accomplishing the mission of 
     the Office of Special Counsel. We value our grantee 
     partnerships greatly and look forward to working with you. If 
     you have any immediate questions, please feel free to call 
     Lilia Irizarry, our Acting Public Affairs Specialist, at 202-
     616-5594 or toll-free at 1-800-255-7688.
           Sincerely,
                                             Katherine A. Baldwin,
                                           Deputy Special Counsel.
                                                      U.S. Senate,


                                   Committee on the Judiciary,

                               Washington, DC, September 29, 2004.
     Hon. R. Alexander Acosta,
     Assistant Attorney General, Civil Rights Division, U.S. 
         Department of Justice, 950 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, 
         Washington, DC.
       Dear Mr. Acosta, we recently learned that the Civil Rights 
     Division has decided to postpone indefinitely the public 
     education grant program administered by the Division's Office 
     of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment 
     Practices (OSC), which plays a critical role in protecting 
     the rights of immigrant workers. Staff has contacted the 
     Office of Legislative Affairs about this matter in recent 
     days but has not received an explanation for the decision to 
     postpone this important program. We are very concerned about 
     this decision and are writing to urge you to reverse it 
     immediately. If the grants are not provided to the intended 
     recipients before September 30, 2004--the end of fiscal year 
     2004--the grant funding may no longer be available.
       The OSC grant program is statutorily created, and we 
     understand that Congress has appropriated funding for the 
     grant program since 1991. To our knowledge, this is the first 
     time the grant program has ever been postponed. Furthermore, 
     we are not aware that the Justice Department advised Congress 
     about its intention to postpone this important grant program, 
     prior to its recent decision to do so. Accordingly, we 
     request that you advise us about the authority you relied 
     upon to postpone this statutorily authorized and 
     Congressionally appropriated grant program.
       As the attached press release indicates, the Civil Rights 
     Division announced on July 15, 2004 that 13 nonprofit 
     organizations in regions throughout the country would receive 
     a total of $745,000 in OSC grants. These 13 selected grant 
     recipients--ranging from Catholic Charities of St. 
     Petersburg, Florida, to the Arab Community Center for 
     Economic and Social Services in Dearborn, Michigan, to the 
     Central American Resource Center in Los Angeles, to Legal Aid 
     Services of Oregon--have acted in good faith reliance on this 
     announcement and made hiring and resource allocation 
     decisions accordingly.
       For example, one selected grant recipient based in 
     Chicago--Heartland Alliance for Human Needs & Human Rights 
     (in partnership with the Chicago Interfaith Committee on 
     Workers Issues)--has indicated that it may have to lay off an 
     employee who was hired in reliance on your grant 
     announcement.
       Not only would the 13 organizations be harmed by the loss 
     of this promised grant money, so too would the immigrant 
     communities and employers they serve. Every year for the past 
     decade and a half, nonprofit

[[Page S12017]]

     groups throughout the nation have received OSC grants to 
     educate workers about their rights to a workplace free of 
     discrimination and abuse. These groups have a vital role in 
     educating employers and the public about the civil rights and 
     immigration laws Congress has passed to protect U.S. 
     citizens, lawful permanent residents, refugees, and asylees. 
     Postponement of the OSC grant program will jeopardize the 
     public's knowledge of their rights, remedies, and 
     responsibilities.
       Moreover, it is vital to OSC's mission to continue the 
     grant program. As stated in a June 30, 2004 letter from OSC 
     to intended grant recipients: ``Grantees play a major role in 
     accomplishing the mission of the Office of Special Counsel.'' 
     OSC cannot be as effective if the public does not know about 
     its existence and its role in combating national origin and 
     citizenship discrimination, as well as document abuse and 
     retaliation.
       Please respond to our concerns as soon as possible.
           Sincerely,
                                                      Dick Durbin,
                                            United States Senator.
                                                    Patrick Leahy,
                                            United States Senator.
                                                       Ted Kennedy
                                            United States Senator.
                                       U.S. Department of Justice,


                                        Civil Rights Division,

                                                    July 15, 2004.

 Justice Department Announces Grants for Training on the Prevention of 
             Immigration-Related Employment Discrimination

       Washington, DC.--The Justice Department today announced the 
     award of $745,000 in grants to 13 nonprofit groups throughout 
     the country for the purpose of conducting public education 
     programs for workers and employers on the topic of 
     immigration-related job discrimination.
       The grants, which range from $35,000 to $80,000, are being 
     awarded by the Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-
     Related Unfair Employment Practices (OSC) of the Civil Rights 
     Division. Recipients will assist discrimination victims; 
     conduct seminars for workers, employers and immigration 
     service providers; distribute educational materials in 
     various languages; and place advertisements in local 
     communities through both mainstream and ethnic media.
       The grant recipients are: Asian Pacific American Legal 
     Center of Southern California in partnership with the Asian 
     Law Caucus, Central American Resource Center (CARECEN), James 
     Madison University, Catholic Charities of St. Petersburg, 
     Florida, Heartland Alliance for Human Needs and Human Rights, 
     in partnership with the Chicago Interfaith Committee on 
     Workers Issues, New York City Commission on Human Rights, in 
     partnership with the New York Immigration Coalition, Legal 
     Aid Society of Mid-New York, Legal Aid Services of Oregon, in 
     partnership with the Oregon Legal Center, Catholic Charities 
     of Dallas, Catholic Charities of Houston, Arab Community 
     Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS), AFL-CIO 
     Working for America Institute, National Immigration Legal 
     Support Center.
       For more information about protections against employment 
     discrimination based upon citizenship, immigration status, 
     and national origin: call the Office of Special Counsel toll-
     free at 1-800-255-8155 (employers), 1-800-362-2735 (TDD for 
     hearing impaired); 1-800-255-7688 (workers), 1-800-237-2515 
     (TDD for hearing impaired); visit the Office of Special 
     Counsel's web site at www.usdoj.gov/crt/osc; or write to:
       Office of Special Counsel for Immigration, Related Unfair 
     Employment Practices, Civil Rights Division, U.S. Department 
     of Justice, 950 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20038-
     7728.

                          ____________________