The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“THE MICHIGAN CASE” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Justice was published in the Senate section on pages S316 on Jan. 15, 2003.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
THE MICHIGAN CASE
Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I read with interest today that the administration currently is considering what to do with regard to the so-called ``Michigan case'' before the Supreme Court. This is a watershed moment for the administration. They must decide whether they are for civil rights and diversity or not. They must make a very important choice, and whether or not they make the right choice depends in large measure on what happens in this particular case. Over the last several weeks we have heard the Republican leadership talk about how this is a changed party, and how Republicans have had a change of heart. To a certain extent, we know they have had a change of face. The question is whether or not this is truly a change of heart.
I was concerned with leadership comments made over the weekend, that while additional dialog may be important, there really wouldn't be a change in policy. There would be no change in policy on affirmative action, or on a number of issues relating directly to diversity. My hope is there may be a change of heart on hate crimes. We have had that vote over and over and faced Republican filibusters. I hope at a very early date we will have an opportunity to see whether there has been a change of heart.
I can't think of a better occasion for Congress and for the Republican leadership to be clear about their change of heart, than to support, for the first time, the hate crimes legislation. There certainly was not a change of heart when it came to judicial nominations.
Once again, almost immediately following these laudatory comments made by the Bush administration and our Republican colleagues toward civil rights leaders and the civil rights movement, the administration turned around and said now we are going to renominate Judge Pickering and renominate Judge Owen for the second highest court in the land. There is no change of heart there. There is no indication of a willingness to change past practices or policies.
If President Bush chooses to oppose the University of Michigan case, he calls into question the very commitment he claims to have made with regard to expanding opportunity for African Americans and for Hispanic and Native American students. All of us will be left to draw one conclusion. All of those words about promoting educational opportunity will have been just that. They will have been words.
Today's reports indicate the debate in the White House isn't about what decision to make. It appears they have already done that. It appears they will oppose the University of Michigan's effort to boost African American, Hispanic, and Native American enrollment. It seems, instead, the question they are struggling with is how to describe that decision.
If they put the weight of John Ashcroft's Department of Justice against the University of Michigan's diversity efforts, there is only one way to describe that decision: It is a slap in the face to America's minority students and to the colleges that seek not only to educate America but to reflect America's diversity.
Today is Dr. Martin Luther King's birthday. Had an assassin's bullet not taken his life, he would be 74 years old today; he might very well still be with us. Because of hatred and intolerance, he is not. But his words still are with us.
In 1948, at Morehouse College, he discussed the purpose of a college education. He said:
The complete education gives one not only power of concentration, but worthy objectives upon which to concentrate.
He said:
The broad education will, therefore, transmit to one not only . . . accumulated knowledge . . . but also the accumulated experience of social living.
If the administration chooses to stand against the University of Michigan, I fear they will be encouraging a decision that would deny tens of thousands of minority students that knowledge and deny millions of American students that experience.
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