January 27, 2003

Congresswoman Barbara Lee Speaks Out Against President Bush’s Efforts to Gut Affirmative Action

Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-California) today joined with her Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) in opposing the Bush Administration’s opposition to the University of Michigan’s affirmative action admissions policy. Lee’s comments came following a CBC press conference where CBC members underscored the importance of maintaining affirmative action policies.

“President Bush’s decision to oppose the University of Michigan’s carefully-constructed admissions policies take our country in the wrong direction -- it is a step away from the dream of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. for opportunity and justice in America.”

“President Bush promised to be a uniter, not a divider,” said Lee. “Clearly, he has broken that promise with his decision, made on Dr. King’s birthday, to use the code word ‘quotas’ to try to justify his bid to undermine affirmative action,” said Lee. “He continues to divide, as is apparent in his re-nomination of Judge Charles Pickering to be an Appellate Court judge, a choice that represents nothing less than a full assault on the rights of African Americans and women.”

“President Bush should be judged by what he does, not what he says. What he has done in the University of Michigan case and in the Pickering re-nomination should eliminate any doubt about the Republican Party’s deep-seated hostility to civil rights.”

“President Bush ran in 2000 as a moderate, but for the past two years he has taken all of his marching orders from the right wing. The Party of George Bush is definitely the Party of Trent Lott. The American people will not be fooled again in 2004.

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