Commission on Civil Rights: Bush has Failed to Lead and Failed to Act

The United States Commission on Civil Rights Draft report [available here   or PDF is a scathing assessment of President Bush's civil rights record over the past four years. The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights is an independent, bipartisan agency established by Congress in 1957. It states, "President Bush has neither exhibited leadership on pressing civil rights issues, nor taken actions that matched his words. The report reaches this conclusion after analyzing and summarizing numerous documents, including historical literature, reports, scholarly articles,presidential and administration statements, executive orders, policy briefs, documents of Cabinet-
level agencies, federal budgets and other data. This report finds that President Bush has not defined a clear agenda nor made civil rights a priority. The following are excerpts from the report:

• Civil Rights Funding. Requests for funding is one means by which Presidents make their priorities known. In his first three years in office, the net increase in President Bush's requests for civil rights enforcement agencies was less than those of the previous two administrations. After accounting for inflation, the President's requests for the six major civil rights programs (Departments of Education, Labor, Justice, Health and Human Services, and Housing and Urban Development, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) amount to a loss of spending power for 2004 and 2005.
  
• Voting Rights: Despite promising to unite the nation and improve its election system, the President failed to act swiftly toward election reform.  
• He did not provide leadership to ensure timely passage and swift implementation of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) of 2002. Thus, Congress did not appropriate funds for election reform until almost two years into his presidency.
  
• The administration seated the federal election reform oversight board 11 months behind schedule, resulting in delayed fund distribution to states. Consequently, states did not have the equipment, infrastructure, or guidance they needed to meet HAVA's deadlines, including implementation of statewide voter registration databases, development of voter complaint procedures, and installation of new voting equipment.
  

As a result of the President's inaction, little will change before the 2004 elections, and the problems that linger, unless resolved, will most likely disenfranchise some eligible voters.

• Equal Educational Opportunity: Early in his administration, the President widely promoted an education reform proposal, the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), and garnered bipartisan support. Despite its worthy goals, however, NCLB has flaws that will inhibit equal educational opportunity and limit its ability to close the achievement gap.
• NCLB does not sufficiently address unequal education, a major barrier to closing the achievement gap between minority and white students.
  
• NCLB defers to states responsibility for defining achievement and adopting assessmentmeasures. Educators fear that, unless there are safeguards in place, states will attach high stakes to tests, punishing students for the system's failure to teach.
  
• Students, especially those who are minority, limited English proficient, low income, or have a disability, disproportionately attend schools that do not have the resources to provide necessary learning tools and, thus, are more likely to be identified as low performers and subject to sanctions.
  
• The lowest performing schools are also the poorest, amplifying the need for sufficient resources. However, President Bush has not aggressively pushed for increased funding, leaving NCLB underfunded every year except its first.
• Immigrants: This report examines three administration immigration proposals or policies. All lack strong civil rights protections for immigrants.
  
• President Bush has made encouraging comments about the extension of rights to immigrant workers, but has not followed through with action. For example, he initially considered granting amnesty to approximately 3 million undocumented Mexican immigrants in 2001, but subsequently terminated his efforts. In January 2004, the President again proposed a temporary worker program for undocumented immigrants but has not pushed for its passage.
• President Bush has endorsed policies that allow discrimination against certain groups in the processing of asylum requests. For instance, on the unproven claim that Haitian refugees may threaten national security, President Bush granted authority to federal agents to hold them indetention indefinitely without bond until their cases are heard by an asylum court. The United States does not apply such policy to any other immigrant group.
  
• Following the terrorist attacks, the administration instituted policies that singled out immigrants from Middle Eastern and Muslim countries. The DOJ allowed local law enforcement to contact and question visitors, citizens, and other residents. It also detained witnesses on minor violations, held many in secret in harsh conditions, and did not inform them of charges against them. The administration limited available channels for legal entry and began requiring individuals from selected countries to register and submit fingerprints and photographs upon arrival. [more ]