Lawmakers, Activists Reject President’s Compromise on Bias Bill

President Bush’s proposed compromise on the Civil Rights Act of 1990 was angrily rejected as an unacceptable political ploy Sunday by lawmakers and civil rights advocates.

But they conceded it would be difficult, if not impossible, to override Bush’s veto of the bill. Bush plans to issue the veto, the 16th of his Administration, today. He has yet to be overridden.

“The Congress has spoken. . . . As I understand it, we can’t come to an agreement that would satisfy the real requirements of this bill, so I hope that he (Bush) will sign it. He still can,” said House Majority Leader Richard A. Gephardt (D-Mo.).

Gephardt, appearing on ABC’s “This Week With David Brinkley,” said it was unclear whether Congress could muster the votes to override the President’s veto, but he said an attempt would be made.

Last week, the House and Senate each passed the bill by wide margins, but not by the two-thirds vote needed to override a veto.

Bush’s plan would mark a setback for civil rights, charged Ralph Neas, executive director for the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights. He said Bush’s proposal would allow businesses to bar minorities and women for reasons based on “customer relations or other excuses irrelevant to job performance.”

“The President’s so-called alternative is dead on arrival (at the Capitol). It’s much worse than any previous White House plan,” Neas said.

On Saturday, while pledging to veto the measure today, Bush also sent Congress an alternate version. Neas labeled the Bush version a “cynical cover-up” aimed at masking the Administration’s opposition to progress.

Bush said he could not support Congress’ measure because it, in effect, would force businesses to adopt hiring and promotion quotas.

Senate Majority Leader George J. Mitchell (D-Me.) noted that Congress’ legislation specifically includes language to make it clear that quotas are not required.

“The President’s characterization of this as a quota bill is wholly inaccurate,” said Mitchell, appearing on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

The Rev. Jesse Jackson charged that Bush, by raising the quota issue, was employing a “race-conscious political scheme” that was intended to help Republican candidates in white neighborhoods during the Nov. 6 elections.

“It is a clear attempt to incite fear in white workers, to incite fear in white businesses,” Jackson said.

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), the measure’s chief Senate sponsor, called Bush’s alternate plan a “sham that would leave wide gaps in our anti-discrimination laws.”

“The President’s actions demonstrate that he is more interested in appeasing extremists in his party than in providing simple justice for the millions of working women and minorities who face bias on the job,” Kennedy said through a spokesman.