Reply #141: Uh... Ok... [View All]

1995: On affirmative action: "mend not end"
The 1995 Adarabd v. Pena case was a landmark Supreme Court ruling against government racial preferences and quotas. Prior to Adarand, the government sponsored in one form or another more than 160 racial preference programs allocating some $10 billion through overt racial spoils systems. Those submitting the lowest bid, for example, would not get certain jobs or contracts unless they ore their companies fit certain racial or ethnic profiles. Bill Clinton responded with a slogan he must have borrowed from Jesse Jackson: he wanted to "mend not end" these discriminatory programs, benignly labeled 'affirmative action,' and used an executive order to continue the profiling.
Source: The Final Days, by Barbara Olsen, p. 79 Sep 25, 2003

1993: Issued gays-in-military policy 'don't ask, don't tell'
Within days of being sworn in as president, Clinton issued an order about homosexuals in the military, changing existing policy to what became 'don't ask, don't tell.' That order responded to pressure from Clinton's homosexual supporters, who had raised $3.5 million dollars for him.
Source: The Final Days, by Barbara Olsen, p. 78 Sep 25, 2003

Work to End Racial Profiling
To help determine where and when racial profiling occurs, Pres. Clinton directed the Departments of Justice, Treasury and Agriculture to collect data on the race, ethnicity, and gender of individuals subject to certain stops by federal law enforcement. The President also supports legislation to help state and local police forces to collect the same data. The President has also supported increased resources for police integrity and ethics training and to improve the diversity of local police forces.
Source: WhiteHouse.gov web site Aug 1, 2000

End Discrimination Against People With AIDS
President Clinton supports the Supreme Court’s decision in Bragdon v. Abbott, which reinforces the protections offered by the Americans With Disabilities Act for Americans living with HIV and AIDS. The President directed the Justice Department and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to vigorously prosecute those who discriminate against people with AIDS, leading to actions against health care providers and facilities that violate the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Source: WhiteHouse.gov web site May 1, 2000

First President to appoint open gays
Creating the most diverse Administration in history, the President has appointed openly gay men and lesbians to all levels of government, including judicial appointments and top Executive Branch positions requiring Senate confirmation. In fact, President Clinton is the first President to appoint an openly gay or lesbian person to an Administration post. The President has nominated more than 150 openly gay and lesbian appointees.
On October 6, 1997 and again on January 6, 1999, the President nominated James C. Hormel to be U.S. Ambassador to Luxembourg. Although Mr. Hormel’s qualifications were never in question, and it was generally agreed that his nomination would have easily won a floor vote, a handful of conservative Senators blocked the nomination. On June 4, 1999, President Clinton announced the recess appointment of James Hormel, making Mr. Hormel the first openly gay U.S. Ambassador.

Source: WhiteHouse.gov web site May 1, 2000

Include sexual orientation in Hate Crimes
Discrimination or violence because of race or religion, ancestry or gender, disability or sexual orientation, is wrong, and it ought to be illegal. Therefore, I ask Congress to make the Employment Non-Discrimination Act and the Hate Crimes Prevention Act the law of the land.
Source: State of the Union Address Jan 19, 1999

Help minority- and women-owned businesses compete
The President signed the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century into law on June 9, 1998. The Act protects the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) Program, a program that ensures that minority and women-owned businesses have an opportunity to compete for transportation projects. The Administration helped defeat an amendment to the House version of this bill that would have eliminated the DBE Program. In a different measure, the President also approved the creation of a new program to target assistance to minority-owned businesses in industries that continue to reflect the effects of discrimination. As a result, thousands of minority-owned businesses will be able to compete more effectively for government contracts.
Source: WhiteHouse.gov web site Jun 9, 1998

Affirmative action: mend it, don’t end it
The Supreme Court rejected the notion that we could ever be separate but equal, and Democrats and Republicans alike passed laws against discrimination and created affirmative action programs to redress centuries of wrongs for minorities and women.
Affirmative action was intended to give everybody a fair chance, but it hasn’t always worked smoothly & fairly. Today there are those who are determined to put an end to affirmative action, as if the purposes for which it was created have been achieved. They have not. Until they are, we need to mend affirmative action, most certainly, but not end it.

That is exactly what we are trying to do: end abuses, prohibit quotas, subject affirmative action to strict review, oppose any benefits to those who aren’t qualified, but make that extra effort to see that everyone has not a guarantee, but a chance.

Source: Between Hope and History, by Bill Clinton, p.132 Jan 1, 1996