
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 20, 1991                   TAG: 9103200523
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-12   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

FOLEY SAYS NO COMPROMISE ON CIVIL RIGHTS BILL IN SIGHT

House Speaker Thomas Foley says no compromise is in sight with the White House on civil rights legislation and he expects a House vote on a Democratic-sponsored version this spring.

The House Judiciary Committee voted 24-10 Tuesday to approve the Democratic bill, similar to one President Bush vetoed last year. It rejected the White House's more modest alternative on a voice vote.

Foley expressed a willingness to reach a compromise that would avert another veto.

"If the administration showed an interest in moving in the direction of the bill that was vetoed last year, I think that we would be open to a discussion about that. But so far I know of no specific compromise in the works," he said.

Three Republicans on the committee crossed over to vote with the solid Democratic majority in favor of the bill. They were the ranking Republican, Rep. Hamilton Fish Jr. of New York, and Reps. Tom Campbell of California and Steven Schiff of New Mexico.

The bill would roll back six Supreme Court decisions in 1989 that opponents say have made it moredifficult to bring job-discrimination cases against employers. It also would broaden the rights of women to sue over sex discrimination and harassment, putting their rights on the same legal footing as race bias cases.

Opponents in the committee repeated Bush's contention that the bill would prompt employers to use quotas in hiring and promotion - a charge sponsors deny.

The bill passed by large majorities in the House and Senate last year, but supporters were short of the two-thirds majority needed to override Bush's veto. Sponsors have focused their efforts this year on gaining that added margin, and have sought to broaden support by emphasizing the bill's benefits to women.

Among major differences between the Democratic and administration bills, the Democratic measure would allow women to be awarded unlimited monetary damages in sex-discrimination cases, while the administration would allow damages only up to $150,000, and only in cases of sexual harassment rather than all intentional discrimination cases.

by CNB