Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, May 15, 1990 TAG: 9005150389
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: The Washington Post
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
As Bush was preparing to meet with a dozen black civil rights leaders Monday morning, White House press secretary Marlin Fitzwater said changes made in the legislation in the last month had met many of the administration's concerns. The changes, he said, were "in the right direction. It appears to be moving closer to being acceptable."
Civil rights leaders said after an hour-long session with Bush that the president had asked lawyers from their organizations, including the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, to work with Justice Department and White House lawyers in seeking to reach a compromise on the complex legal issues that remain in dispute.
Fitzwater would not spell out what issues remain to be resolved, saying they were "in negotiation." Nor did the White House describe the changes that made the measure more acceptable except to say they were "moving in the right direction."
John Jacob of the Black Leadership Forum, appointed spokesman for the group, said the session was "productive" and noted that Bush has "used the White House as a bully pulpit to preach fairness and justice and equality." He challenged the president to take the "opportunity to put into action the words he has articulated over the past year and a half."
Several of the leaders said they emphasized to Bush how vital the legislation is to the black community, with NAACP Executive Director Benjamin Hooks calling it "a litmus test" because it is the top legislative priority of all the major civil rights groups.
Joshua Smith, who met with the White House officials as a black leader, a small business owner and a senior adviser to the Republican Party on black voter outreach, said: "There is no question this is a pivotal political issue. It is a political hot potato, but it may be one of the most crucial domestic political issues we face." While civil rights leaders are on one side of the issue and the business community is on the other, Smith expressed optimism that the White House would find a compromise.
The legislation, called the Kennedy-Hawkins Civil Rights Act of 1990, is aimed at overturning or altering the effects of five Supreme Court decisions last year that make it more difficult to bring cases charging employment discrimination and easier to challenge the legality of affirmative action plans.
The administration has submitted legislation that would overturn the results of two cases, but it had opposed the remedies sought in the three other cases. The latter have become the major points of conflict between the civil rights community and the White House.
In one case, the court shifted the burden of proof in an alleged job discrimination case from the employer to the worker. It also made it harder for workers to prove their claims by requiring them to prove that certain employment practices that disproportionately affect women or minorities do not serve a legitimate business interest.
The original Kennedy-Hawkins bill would have shifted the burden back to employers, where it had been before the court ruling, and contained language that the White House and business groups insisted would result in employers being forced to institute quotes for hiring and promotion. The administration has vehemently opposed quotas.
While the White House described new language substituted in May to meet those concerns as "moving in the right direction," it is unclear whether business leaders share that view. Smith, who attended a separate meeting called by White House Chief of Staff John Sununu on the issue Monday, said the fear of quotas "was a major concern expressed there."
Civil rights leaders said quotas are a "non-issue," raised by conservatives and business groups as a red herring to energize opposition. Arthur Fletcher, chairman of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission, said: "The issue of quotas is not part of this issue. . . . It is a non-argument." The legislation, he said, promotes goals but not quotas.
Finally, the new legislation grants to women and religious minorities the right to collect monetary damages beyond lost wages until Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Currently, blacks can collect such damages under other legislation, but women and others have no other remedy. The administration has strongly objected to this section as opening the door to numerous new lawsuits that would be costly to business.
by CNB