Reagan Links Civil Rights to Balanced Budget

President Reagan asked minority business owners today to complete the civil rights revolution by supporting his effort to write into the Constitution a balanced budget amendment to guarantee “America will always be . . . the land of opportunity.”

Describing the civil rights movement as a struggle, in large part, against government regulation, Reagan also told the gathering of black, Latino, Asian-American and women executives that liberal proposals to raise the minimum wage from $3.35 an hour could cost 800,000 jobs in the next three years.

The speech--in which Reagan ignored the Iran- contra hearings--linked civil rights to economic rights.

“The civil rights movement was one of the proudest moments in our history when our nation righted ancient wrongs,” said Reagan, who opposed every major civil rights bill in his two decades in public life--signing the 1983 extension of the Voting Rights Act only under pressure from aides.