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.
- 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 ]