Bush’s Approval Expected as House Passes Rights Bill

Ending a two-year battle with a resounding vote of approval, the House Thursday sent President Bush a compromise civil rights bill that overturns six Supreme Court decisions and makes it easier for workers to win anti-discrimination lawsuits.

In addition, the bill extends to women the right to collect damages for sexual harassment and other discrimination in the workplace, but the damages would be limited to $300,000.

By a vote of 381 to 38, the House ratified legislation that was approved by the Senate last week after Senate leaders and White House officials hammered out a bipartisan agreement.

Bush, who for months opposed a similar measure on grounds that it would force businesses to use hiring quotas for racial minorities, has said that he would sign the revised bill because he is convinced it would not lead to quotas.

In a brief but lively House debate on the compromise, Jack Brooks (D-Tex.), chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said that even though enacting the bill had been “an agonizing process,” its passage would “end a sorry chapter in our political history on a positive and constructive note.”

Some conservatives continued to protest vehemently that the legislation would impose unfair burdens on business and be a “lawyers’ bonanza.”

“This is not a compromise; this is a cave-in. This is not a retreat; it’s a complete surrender,” said Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Long Beach). “It enshrines race-based quotas,” he added, and is “substantially the same bill that Bush vetoed last year.”

Brooks, agreeing that changes in the compromise were only a matter of nuance, asked with sarcasm: “Did that kill the quota monster?”

Republicans were blocked from offering amendments aimed at strengthening remedies for employees of the House of Representatives who bring discrimination complaints against their bosses.

Commenting on Democratic leaders’ unwillingness to permit amendments, Rep. Henry J. Hyde (R-Ill.) said: “Evidently, the agreement is so fragile that no one wants to open it up.”