I am extremely proud of the advances we have made in ensuring equality and
protecting the basic freedoms of all Americans.
--The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Office of
Federal Contract Compliance (OFCCP) have been reorganized and strengthened
and a permanent civil rights unit has been established in OMB.
--To avoid fragmented, inconsistent and duplicative enforcement of civil
rights laws, three agencies have been given coordinative and
standard-setting responsibilities in discrete areas: EEOC for all
employment-related activities, HUD for all those relating to housing, and
the Department of Justice for all other areas.
--With the enactment of the Right to Financial Privacy Act and a bill
limiting police search of newsrooms, we have begun to establish a sound,
comprehensive, privacy program.
Ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment must be aggressively pursued.
Only one year remains in which to obtain ratification by three additional
states.
The Congress must give early attention to a number of important bills which
remain. These bills would:
--strengthen the laws against discrimination in housing. Until it is
enacted, the 1968 Civil Rights Act's promise of equal access to housing
will remain unfulfilled;
--establish a charter for the FBI and the intelligence agencies. The
failure to define in law the duties and responsibilities of these agencies
has made possible some of the abuses which have occurred in recent years;
--establish privacy safeguards for medical research, bank, insurance, and
credit records; and provide special protection for election fund transfer
systems.