NAACP 1998 Congressional voting report card, The

New Crisis, The, Sep/Oct 1998

The 1997-1998 session of the U.S. Congress (the 105th) is the best and worst of times for legislation backed by the NAACP. Challenges to affirmative action in transportation and higher education (to mention two) were beaten back-a welcome defeat to ultraconservative, resegregationist forces.

Yet some important civil rights bills never made it to the full Congress. Measures to prevent hate crimes and violence against women died in committee, along with bills to raise the minimum wage, implement the Traffic Stop Statistics Act (a.k.a. the Driving-whileblack bill); and to construct and modernize public schools, reduce class sizes, and train new teachers.

The NAACP graded the Senate on ten legislative actions and the House on 12. Two NAACP goals were met when the Senate confirmed Alexis Herman as Secretary of Labor and David Satcher as U.S. Surgeon General and Assistant Secretary for Health.

A major win was the rejection of a bill to "identify.' people at the voting booth by social security number and verification of citizenship, using a system that was to be set up by the Justice Department, the Social Security Administration and the shadow Immigration and Naturalization Service. If passed, Voter Eligibility Verification would have had a chilling effect on the already underexercised use of the ballot. The measure was defeated (210-200) on a technicality, so it was a very close call.

Three NAACP-backed bills that were rejected concerned (1) funding school renovation and new construction; (2) forgiving part of college loans for students who become full-time teachers in underserved areas; and (3) allocating $25 million over five years for creating after-school programs to guide a new generation and combat delinquency

These losses, plus the House's passage of a disturbing juvenile crime bill, don't bode well for the nation's treatment of children, especially those in lower-income groups. The crime bill federalizes such minor student infractions as tobacco possession on school property. It also eliminates the tracking of racial discrimination in the handling of federal cases.

President Clinton vetoed a bill that banned censustaking by sampling methods, which the academic/scientific community endorses. The last Census (1990) proved to be a serious under-count that penalized ethnic minorities and poor people. Speaker Gingnch-unable to overturn the veto-has stepped outside congressional practice and filed a lawsuit seeking to block sampling. The NAACP calls for polling the full Congress since the Speaker's suit is in the name of Congress, not his own.

Overall, Congress gets an "F for having voted with the NAACP's civil rights agenda only half the time. Democrats scored 87 percent, but Republicans took the NAACP position on only 17 percent of the bills that were tracked for this report. (Before each vote, the NAACP Washington Bureau relayed its position unequivocally to the members of Congress.) The NAACP 100% Club (Members of the House and Senate who have a perfect NAACP voting record):

SENATE: Akaka (HI), Bingaman (NM), Boxer (CA), Daschle (SD), Dodd (CN), Dorgan (ND), Durbin (IL), Feingold (WI), Johnson (SD), Kennedy (MA), Kerry (MA), Lautenberg (NJ), Leahy (VT), Mikulski (MD), Murry (WA), Reed (RI), Reid (NV), Rockerfeller (WV), Sarbanes (MD), Wellstone (MN), Wyden (OR). HOUSE: Barrett (WI), Bonior (MI), Brown (FL), Clayton (NC), Clyburn (SC), Coyne (PA), Cummings (MD), Davis (IL), Delahunt (MA), Ford (TN), Frank (MA), Hinchey (NY), Jackson (IL), Jackson-Lee (TX), Johnson (TX), Kilpatrick (MI), Lewis (GA), Markey (MA), Millender-McDonald (CA), Nadler (NY), Oberstar (MN), Olver (MA), Owens (NY), Pastor (AZ), Roybal-Allard (CA), Sanders (VT), Scott (VA), Serrano (NY), Slaughter (NY), Stark (CA), Stokes (OH), Thompson (MS), Tierney (MA), Torres (CA), Velazquez (NY), Watt (NC), Waxman (CA), Woolsey (CA), Wynn(MD).

PURPOSE

Thalheimer Awards have been given annually since 1911 from a grant to the association by Dr. Ross Thalheimer. These awards are presented to NAACP branches and state conferences considered to have contributed most to the advancement of the association's programs during a given year.

Class lA branches (1,000 or more members, without a paid executive director) This year's First Prize goes to the Dallas, Texas, branch-Lee Alcorn, president. Dallas is pressing for non discriminatory, high-quality public education; for a share of corporate procurement; and for access to the public decision-making process.

The Class lA Second Prize recipient is the Newark, NJ., branch-Susie M. McGhee, president. Newark effectively advocates for local control of schools and for bank-community partnership in economic development and client services.

The Class lA Third Prize went to New York, N.Y., branch-Annie B. Martin, president. New York supports labor in agribusiness, garment manufacturing, and the hospitality industry. Class 1B branches (500999 members, without a paid executive director)

The First Prize was awarded to the Elkhart County, Ind., branch-Ron Davis, President. Elkhart is part of a broad-based initiative to neutralize hate groups and foster dialogue and tolerance. It supports youth through its Youth Council, a very successful ACT-SO program, and participation in scholarship programs.