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A Society's Humanity is Judged by the Way It Protects
Those Who Are Unable to Take Care of Themselves
House of Representatives - September 27, 2005

McDermott reacts to the contents of Committee Chairman Sensenbrenner's "Managers Amendment" for H.R. 3402 "Department of Justice Appropriations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 2006 through 2009."

Mr. Chairman, it has been said that society's humanity is judged by the way it handles the problems and the protection of those who are least able to take care of themselves. And having watched television for the last few weeks about the issues around Katrina, one clearly understands that sometimes people on the bottom do not get handled very well. Somehow, the things do not happen that should happen for them. That gave us an ugly glimpse at that part of our society.

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And then as the country began to come out of that, the President walked out of the White House and said, we are not going to give prevailing wage to the people who work on the reconstruction of their own houses and their own countryside, that we were going to put them down at the minimum. We are going to take away the set-asides for minority and small business. Now, it is no wonder that these organizations would be concerned when they see this kind of manager's amendment.

I am not a lawyer. We could stand out here and argue about all the lawyer technicalities inside and outside. And I will enter into the Congressional Record a letter dated September 28, 2005, from Hilary Shelton. When the NAACP and all the women's organizations come out and say we oppose this manager's amendment, it is understandable why they might be a little concerned, because every time we turn around, the safety net is being ripped.

The language that is being taken out here that has been in the bill before is requiring the States to "describe how they will address the needs of racial and ethnic minorities and other underserved populations" and "to recognize and meaningfully respond to the needs of racial and ethnic minorities and other underserved populations."

Now, for us not to be able to put that in the law because somebody says on the fringe that this is some kind of affirmative action or anything else, we have to take care of people who are not served in this society. If they happen to be in underserved areas, they do not necessarily have to be black or brown or red or yellow. They could be white. The question is, how are we going to deal with the underserved people in this country no matter who they are? And this amendment does not need to be made so that those groups can say, well, we are going to take you to court and fight you for 3 years.

That is what the chairman just said. He said if we put that in there, they are going to go into court and say this is a quota and we want to fight it, and they will stretch it out for 3 years or 5 years or however long, a typical tactic of the right to do unto those who are least able to do for themselves.

I urge the rejection of the manager's amendment.

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF COLORED PEOPLE
Washington, DC, September 28, 2005
(Entered into the Congressional Record by Congressman McDermott)

Re: NAACP opposition to the Managers amendment to H.R. 3402, Department of Justice Appropriations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 2006 through 2009.
To: MEMBERS, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, DC.

DEAR REPRESENTATIVE: On behalf of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), our nation's oldest, largest and most widely-recognized grassroots civil rights organization, I am writing to express our strong opposition to the Manager's amendment to H.R. 3402, the Department of Justice Appropriations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 2006 through 2009. The Manager's amendment, which is meant to be non-controversial, strips out a key provision that is currently in the bill that ensures that racial and ethnic minorities who are victims of domestic violence would receive adequate services.

Specifically, the bill that was passed out of the Judiciary Committee requires states to ["describe how they will address the needs of racial and ethnic minorities and other underserved populations" and "to recognize and meaningfully respond to the needs of racial and ethnic minorities and other underserved population"] and to ensure that each gets their fair share. Unfortunately, this provision is sorely needed as domestic violence is still a serious--and largely untreated--problem in too many of our communities.

I urge you again, in the strongest terms possible, to oppose the Manager's amendment and to retain the language that is in the bill. Please help to address the problem of domestic violence in racial and ethnic minority communities as well as those areas that are currently underserved. Thank you in advance for your attention to the concerns of the NAACP; should you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact me.

Sincerely,
Hilary O. Shelton,
Director.