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Commission on Civil Rights: Difference between revisions

Commission on Civil Rights (view source)

Revision as of 00:56, 11 February 2025

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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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=== 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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