Congress Extends Life of Rights Commission

The House, on a vote of 420 to 7, sent to President Bush on Wednesday a bill extending the life of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission for three years.

The measure, the result of a compromise with the Senate, continues the commission’s budget at current levels. The House had previously voted to cut the budget to $6 million a year, from the present $7.2 million, and to extend the commission’s life for only two years.

Rep. James F. Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-Wis.) led an effort to kill the commission.

“The time has come to put the Civil Rights Commission out of its misery,” he said. “ . . . This commission has been nonproductive during the last 22-month authorization.”

Even supporters of the commission acknowledged its shortcomings, including a lack of significant reports or other publications in the last two years. But they argued that the commission was improving its performance under its new chairman, Arthur Fletcher.

The reauthorization bill includes a new requirement that the commission submit at least one report each year detailing federal civil rights enforcement efforts.

“This amount allows them to maintain their staff and their work at current levels,” said Rep. Don Edwards (D-San Jose). “They are on probation. . . . They have been warned.”