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Volume 2 Number 2
CIVIL RIGHTS LEGISLATION TO BE INTRODUCED IN THE 100TH CONGRESS
House and Senate civil rights advocates are planning to reintroduce in the 100th Congress key civil rights legislation that failed to pass the 99th Congress. According to Ralph G. Neas, Executive Director of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, the outcome oil the Fall elections has put "civil rights champions in control of the process." While the previous three Congresses have generally been good on civil rights issues, passing many important bills and blocking the regressive efforts of the Radical Right, civil rights advocates have spent much time fighting rear-guard actions to preserve the accomplishments of the past. With the change in leadership, a much more positive agenda has emerged. More thorough oversight of the Reagan Administration's enforcement of civil. rights statutes is also expected as civil rights friends take over as chairs of key committees. Senator Joseph R. Biden (D-DEL) will chair the Judiciary Committee which reviews judicial nominations, considers most civil rights legislati on and monitors the civil rights performance of the Justice Department. Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) will chair the Labor and Human Resources Committee which considers several major civil rights measures, monitors the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the civil rights programs of the Departments of Labor, Education, and Health and Human Services (For further discussion, see Congressional Quarterly, November 29, 1986). Included among the legislation expected to be introduced are:
The Civil Rights Restoration Act: Introduced in the 98th Congress by Representative Paul Simon (D-IL) and Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA), and in the 99th Congress by Representative Augustus Hawkins (D-CA) and Senator Kennedy, the bill would restore four civil rights statutes barring discrimination in the use of federal funds to their institution-wide coverage before the Grove City decision. The Supreme Court ruled in 1984 in Grove City v. Bell that Title IX's prohibition against sex discrimination (Education Amendments of 1972) in federally-assisted education programs applied only to the specific "program or activity" receiving federal funds. Today, a university that receives federal funds for its computer center would be free so far as Title IX is concerned to discriminate against women in the chemistry laboratory or on the athletic field. Grove City applies as well to Title VI (race), Section 504 (disability) and the Age Discrimination Act, since these civil rights statutes use the sa me language to describe coverage.
After coming very close to passage in 1984, the bill was stalled in tile 99th Congress because of amendments added by the House Committee on Education and Labor which would change substantive law including a provision to repeal long standing regulations protecting students and employees against discrimination in education programs if they choose, to have an abortion. A second amendment would have extended exemption from Title IX coverage to schools that are religiously "affiliated," not just those that are religiously controlled. These amendments were opposed by civil rights groups as inconsistent with the principle of restoration. The Civil Rights Restoration Act will be one of the top priorities for civil rights activists in the 100th Congress.
Fair Housing Amendments: Introduced in the 99th Congress by Senators Charles McC. Mathias, Jr. (R-MD) and Edward M. Kennedy (D-11A) and Representatives Hamilton Fish, Jr. (R-NY) and Don Edwards (D-CA), the legislation would strengthen the enforcement provisions of the Fair Housing Act (Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968), which prohibits discrimination in the rental, sale, marketing, and financing of the Nation's housing, and broaden the protected classes to include disabled persons and families with children. The bill was introduced in response to widespread evidence that families who encounter racial discrimination in the housing market do not have an effective remedy. The Department of Housing and Urban Development has primary responsibility for the enforcement of the Fair Housing Act but "is significantly hampered in its power to require compliance with Title VIII because if it finds discrimination, it can only use informal persuasion to bring about compliance" (U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, The Federal Civil Rights Enforcement Effort 1974 Volume II To Provide ... For Fair Housing (December 1974)). Enforcement through the courts, while ultimately effective, is a long and costly process. The amendments would strengthen HUD's enforcement mechanism by providing a simple and inexpensive administrative remedy: HUD would represent a complainant with a valid case before an Administrative Law Judge who would be able to award equitable and declaratory relief as well as compensatory and punitive damages to a prevailing complainant.
Similar legislation passed the House in 1980, but was killed by a filibuster in the Senate. Considered a top priority by the civil rights community, the Fair Housing Bill should see early action in the 100th Congress.
  
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