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{{Organization
|OrganizationName=Commission on Civil Rights
|OrganizationType=Independent Agencies
|Mission=Inform civil rights policy and enforcement by studying voting rights and discrimination based on race, religion, sex, age, disability, or justice issues.
|ParentOrganization=United States Government (Independent)
|CreationLegislation=Civil Rights Act of 1957
|Employees=70
|Budget=$10 million (approximate, based on recent fiscal years)
|OrganizationExecutive=Chair
|Services=Investigations; public hearings; research; policy recommendations;
|Regulations=Monitors federal civil rights enforcement but does not regulate directly
|HeadquartersLocation=38.89792, -77.01754
|HeadquartersAddress=1331 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Suite 1150, Washington, DC 20425
|Website=https://www.usccr.gov
}}
{{Short description|Government agency}}
{{Short description|Government agency}}
{{Use mdy dates|date = April 2019}}
 
{{Use American English|date = April 2019}}
{{Infobox government agency
{{Infobox government agency
| name            = United States Commission on Civil Rights
| name            = United States Commission on Civil Rights
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House appointees (1D, 1R):
House appointees (1D, 1R):
*[[Peter N. Kirsanow]] (R) – Partner at Benesch, Friedlander, Coplan & Arnoff in Cleveland, Ohio; former member of the [[National Labor Relations Board]] (first appointed by President [[George W. Bush]], December 2001, reappointed December 2006; reappointed by Speaker [[Dennis Hastert]], December 2013; reappointed by House Majority Leader [[Steny Hoyer]], December 2019).
*[[Peter N. Kirsanow]] (R) – Partner at Benesch, Friedlander, Coplan & Arnoff in Cleveland, Ohio; former member of the [[National Labor Relations Board]] (first appointed by President George W. Bush, December 2001, reappointed December 2006; reappointed by Speaker [[Dennis Hastert]], December 2013; reappointed by House Majority Leader [[Steny Hoyer]], December 2019).
*[[Mondaire Jones]] (D) - Former U.S. Representative for [[New York's 17th congressional district|New York's 17th Congressional District]] (first appointed by Speaker [[Nancy Pelosi]], December 2022)
*[[Mondaire Jones]] (D) - Former U.S. Representative for [[New York's 17th congressional district|New York's 17th Congressional District]] (first appointed by Speaker [[Nancy Pelosi]], December 2022)


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=== Creation and early history ===
=== Creation and early history ===
The commission was created by the [[Civil Rights Act of 1957]], which was signed into law by President [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] in response to a recommendation by an ''ad hoc'' President's Committee on Civil Rights. In calling for a permanent commission, that committee stated:
The commission was created by the [[Civil Rights Act of 1957]], which was signed into law by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in response to a recommendation by an ''ad hoc'' President's Committee on Civil Rights. In calling for a permanent commission, that committee stated:


{{quote|In a democratic society, the systematic, critical review of social needs and public policy is a fundamental necessity. This is especially true of a field like civil rights, where the problems are enduring, and range widely [and where] ... a temporary, sporadic approach can never finally solve these problems.
{{quote|In a democratic society, the systematic, critical review of social needs and public policy is a fundamental necessity. This is especially true of a field like civil rights, where the problems are enduring, and range widely [and where] ... a temporary, sporadic approach can never finally solve these problems.
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A permanent Commission on Civil Rights should point all of its work toward regular reports which would include recommendations for action in ensuing periods. It should lay plans for dealing with broad civil rights problems.  ... It should also investigate and make recommendations with respect to special civil rights problems.<ref>See President's Committee on Civil Rights, ''To Secure These Rights'' 154 (1947).</ref>}}
A permanent Commission on Civil Rights should point all of its work toward regular reports which would include recommendations for action in ensuing periods. It should lay plans for dealing with broad civil rights problems.  ... It should also investigate and make recommendations with respect to special civil rights problems.<ref>See President's Committee on Civil Rights, ''To Secure These Rights'' 154 (1947).</ref>}}


As then-Senator and Majority Leader [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] put it, the commission's task is to "gather facts instead of charges.  ... [I]t can sift out the truth from the fancies; and it can return with recommendations which will be of assistance to reasonable men."
As then-Senator and Majority Leader Lyndon B. Johnson put it, the commission's task is to "gather facts instead of charges.  ... [I]t can sift out the truth from the fancies; and it can return with recommendations which will be of assistance to reasonable men."


Since the 1957 Act, the commission has been re-authorized and re-configured by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights Acts of 1983 and 1991 and the Civil Rights Commission Amendments Act of 1994.
Since the 1957 Act, the commission has been re-authorized and re-configured by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights Acts of 1983 and 1991 and the Civil Rights Commission Amendments Act of 1994.
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=== 21st century ===
=== 21st century ===
The Commission became increasingly polarized under the [[George W. Bush]] administration, as conservatives –including Republican appointees on the Commission itself – argued that it no longer served any useful purpose and conducted partisan investigations meant to embarrass Republicans.<ref>{{cite news| url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/pb/archive/politics/2001/12/18/a-deepening-divide-on-us-civil-rights-panel/4d9fdef6-5615-4710-a1c1-a79ed73aeee5/| title = A Deepening Divide on U.S. Civil Rights Panel - The Washington Post| newspaper = [[The Washington Post]]}}</ref><ref name="chron">{{Cite web|url=https://www.chron.com/news/nation-world/article/Uncertainty-envelops-civil-rights-panel-1931166.php|title=Uncertainty envelops civil rights panel|last1=Texeira|first1=Erin|last2=Press|first2=Associated|date=2005-03-17|website=Houston Chronicle|access-date=2019-06-03}}</ref> After 2004, when Bush appointed two conservative Commissioners who had recently canceled their Republican Party registrations to the two "independent" seats, obtaining a six-member conservative majority bloc, the Commission dramatically scaled back its activities and canceled several ongoing investigations.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://archive.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2007/11/06/maneuver_gave_bush_a_conservative_rights_panel/|title=Bush maneuver alters civil rights panel's direction - The Boston Globe|website=archive.boston.com|language=en|access-date=2019-06-03}}</ref><ref name="chron" />  
The Commission became increasingly polarized under the George W. Bush administration, as conservatives –including Republican appointees on the Commission itself – argued that it no longer served any useful purpose and conducted partisan investigations meant to embarrass Republicans.<ref>{{cite news| url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/pb/archive/politics/2001/12/18/a-deepening-divide-on-us-civil-rights-panel/4d9fdef6-5615-4710-a1c1-a79ed73aeee5/| title = A Deepening Divide on U.S. Civil Rights Panel - The Washington Post| newspaper = [[The Washington Post]]}}</ref><ref name="chron">{{Cite web|url=https://www.chron.com/news/nation-world/article/Uncertainty-envelops-civil-rights-panel-1931166.php|title=Uncertainty envelops civil rights panel|last1=Texeira|first1=Erin|last2=Press|first2=Associated|date=2005-03-17|website=Houston Chronicle|access-date=2019-06-03}}</ref> After 2004, when Bush appointed two conservative Commissioners who had recently canceled their Republican Party registrations to the two "independent" seats, obtaining a six-member conservative majority bloc, the Commission dramatically scaled back its activities and canceled several ongoing investigations.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://archive.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2007/11/06/maneuver_gave_bush_a_conservative_rights_panel/|title=Bush maneuver alters civil rights panel's direction - The Boston Globe|website=archive.boston.com|language=en|access-date=2019-06-03}}</ref><ref name="chron" />  


On September 5, 2007, Commissioner Gail Heriot testified about the agency's value on the 50th anniversary of the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1957. Heriot told the Senate Committee on the Judiciary:<blockquote>If the value of a federal agency could be calculated on a per dollar basis, it would not surprise me to find the Commission on Civil Rights to be among the best investments Congress ever made. My back-of-the-envelope calculation is that the Commission now accounts for less than 1/2000th of 1 percent of the federal budget; back in the late 1950s its size would have been roughly similar. And yet its impact has been dramatic.<ref>See Gail Heriot, [https://ssrn.com/abstract=3124484 ''The 50th Anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1957 and its Continuing Importance, Testimony before the Senate Committee on the Judiciary''] (September 5, 2007)</ref></blockquote>In 2008, President George W. Bush announced that he would oppose the proposed [[Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act]] shortly after the commission issued a report recommending rejection of the bill. In 2018 the Commission reversed its position in a report evaluating the federal government's efforts to meet its trust obligations to [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]] and Native Hawaiians.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2018-12-20|title=U.S. Commission on Civil Rights now supports federal recognition of Native Hawaiians|url=http://www.staradvertiser.com/2018/12/20/breaking-news/u-s-commission-on-civil-rights-now-supports-federal-recognition-of-native-hawaiians/|access-date=2018-12-21|website=Honolulu Star-Advertiser|language=en-US}}</ref>
On September 5, 2007, Commissioner Gail Heriot testified about the agency's value on the 50th anniversary of the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1957. Heriot told the Senate Committee on the Judiciary:<blockquote>If the value of a federal agency could be calculated on a per dollar basis, it would not surprise me to find the Commission on Civil Rights to be among the best investments Congress ever made. My back-of-the-envelope calculation is that the Commission now accounts for less than 1/2000th of 1 percent of the federal budget; back in the late 1950s its size would have been roughly similar. And yet its impact has been dramatic.<ref>See Gail Heriot, [https://ssrn.com/abstract=3124484 ''The 50th Anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1957 and its Continuing Importance, Testimony before the Senate Committee on the Judiciary''] (September 5, 2007)</ref></blockquote>In 2008, President George W. Bush announced that he would oppose the proposed [[Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act]] shortly after the commission issued a report recommending rejection of the bill. In 2018 the Commission reversed its position in a report evaluating the federal government's efforts to meet its trust obligations to [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]] and Native Hawaiians.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2018-12-20|title=U.S. Commission on Civil Rights now supports federal recognition of Native Hawaiians|url=http://www.staradvertiser.com/2018/12/20/breaking-news/u-s-commission-on-civil-rights-now-supports-federal-recognition-of-native-hawaiians/|access-date=2018-12-21|website=Honolulu Star-Advertiser|language=en-US}}</ref>
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