FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                          CR
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 8, 1995                           (202) 616-2765
                                               TDD (202) 514-1888


        DEVAL L. PATRICK TESTIFIES AGAINST BILL THAT WOULD
                   ELIMINATE AFFIRMATIVE ACTION


     WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Stressing that discrimination is still
alive and well, the Clinton Administration's chief civil rights
enforcer voiced firm opposition to a bill that would end
affirmative action.
     Testifying yesterday before the House Subcommittee on the
Constitution, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Deval
Patrick mocked the name given to bill by it's proponents -- the
"Equal Opportunity Bill of 1995." 
     "Beneath its promising title, the bill does nothing to address
the enormous problems that face the overwhelming numbers of people
who are denied opportunity every day because of their race,
ethnicity or gender," said Patrick.
     The bill, sponsored by Senator Robert Dole and Repre-sentative
Charles Canady, would bring an end to affirmative action programs
by the federal government.
     "Affirmative action -- done the right way -- has been shown to
be a sensible, restrained tool to help our society achieve its goal
of equal opportunity and integration," said Patrick. "This bill
would set us all back."  
     He said that the real message of the bill is that its sponsors
want to give up on our national objective of integration.
     Patrick questioned why the subcommittee would want to focus on
a worthwhile remedy such as affirmative action, instead of
addressing the ongoing discrimination which is still the central
focus of the civil rights struggle.
     Among other things, Patrick noted that:
         African Americans hold only .06% of senior management
          positions in Fortune 1000 industrial and Fortune 500
          service industries;
         Over 50% of African American children live in
          poverty compared to 14% of white children;
         two-thirds of all African American children still attend
          segregated schools; and,
         housing discrimination persists -- as evidenced by a
          recent investigation into a 300-unit apartment building
          in Ohio that refused to rent to African Americans -- and
          never had.

     Patrick acknowledged that while some affirmative action
programs may have been too rigid, and may require modification,
they do not need to be abandoned.  "This bill would wreak a
disastrous change, practically but also symbolically," added
Patrick.
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