[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 158 (Tuesday, September 30, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2174]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   DISADVANTAGED BUSINESS ENTERPRISE

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, September 29, 2008

  Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Madam Speaker, I rise to address 
the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise, DBE, and the Airport Concessions 
Disadvantaged Business Enterprise, ACDBE, programs that are vitally 
important components of the aviation programs we are extending today. 
These programs are aimed at remedying discrimination to ensure that all 
American businesses have a fair chance to participate in the business 
opportunities available at our Nation's airports. The DBE and ACDBE 
statutes and regulations have been carefully crafted and narrowly 
tailored to meet the rigorous constitutional standards established by 
the Supreme Court in Adarand v. Pena. As a result, all of the U.S. 
Federal circuit courts that have considered the constitutionality of 
the DBE program since the end of the Adarand litigation have found the 
statute and corresponding Federal regulations to be constitutional.
  The bottom line is that, despite the assertions of some critics, the 
DBE and ACDBE programs remain necessary. Discrimination against 
minority and women business owners continues to plague airport-related 
industries in both the traditional contracting arena and in the 
concessions context. Here in Congress, we see the academic and 
statistical evidence and we hear the stories of business owners that 
confront discrimination. We know that the evidence is compelling and 
abundant. For instance, disparity studies have been conducted across 
this Nation make clear that minority and women owned businesses receive 
far fewer contract dollars than we would expect in a discrimination-
free market. Each disparity study is a little bit different, but most 
of them contain both statistical and anecdotal evidence of the ongoing 
existence of discrimination. When these studies are considered as a 
group the results couldn't be clearer: discrimination continues to be a 
problem for African-American, Hispanic-American, Asian-American and 
Native American business owners and for women business owners. This is 
true in every airport-related industry and in every comer of our 
Nation.
  Earlier this month, Don O'Bannon, chair of the Airport Minority 
Advisory Council, AMAC, testified in the Senate about the 
discrimination that airport-related businesses confront. His testimony 
revealed the severity of the bias that minority and women owned 
airport-related businesses continue to confront. At that same hearing 
Mr. O'Bannon also submitted to the record a few of the many disparity 
studies that have documented discrimination in airport contracting with 
statistical evidence. While these studies, from Dallas, Texas, the 
State of Maryland, Denver, Colorado, Phoenix, Arizona, Nashville, 
Tennessee and Broward County, Florida, represent only a fraction of the 
airport-related studies that have been conducted, they all tell the 
same story: discrimination still makes it impossible for our Nation's 
minority and women owned businesses to contribute fully to our national 
economy.
  Madam Speaker, I am pleased to support the continuation of the DBE 
and ACDBE program and look forward to working with my colleagues to 
strengthening and improving these programs in the months ahead.

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