April 19, 2007

Oppose Any Attempt to Repeal Longstanding Civil Rights Protections in Head Start

Dear Representative:

        On behalf of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR), the nation’s oldest, largest, and most diverse civil and human rights coalition, with more than 190 member organizations, we urge you to support H.R. 1429, the Improving Head Start Act of 2007, and oppose any attempt on the House floor to repeal longstanding civil rights protections in the Head Start Program that have been in place since President Nixon signed the law in 1972. We strongly oppose any language that would allow federallyfunded employment discrimination.* If language repealing civil rights protections is added to the bill either during consideration on the House floor or in the Motion to Recommit, we urge you to oppose final passage of the bill.

        LCCR opposes allowing government-funded employment discrimination. Religious organizations have always served as key partners in providing government services through the Head Start program and current law has not been a hindrance to their vigorous participation. There also is no controversy over the exemption under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that allows religious organizations to have a preference of hiring co-religionists when they are using private funds, but federal funds may not be used to discriminate. Such a drastic change to the current Head Start program would be inconsistent with the long held notion that federal dollars must not be used to discriminate.

        The expected amendment would allow government-funded employment discrimination. Although the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the Title VII exemption for privately-funded religious employers, it did not authorize federally-funded employment discrimination. See Corporation of Presiding Bishop of Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints v. Amos, 483 U.S. 327 (1987). We believe, based on analysis of Amos, that if federal funds are used by religious organizations to hire only persons of their own faith, then the federal government is affirmatively acting to advance employment discrimination.

        In the 60 years since Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the first executive order prohibiting discrimination in federally funded activity, our nation has made significant progress in the struggle to end employment discrimination and advance equality. Any attempt to allow organizations to discriminate on the basis of religion with federal funds would drastically impede that progress and erode a longstanding principle of our nation’s civil rights policy: that federal civil rights obligations follow federal dollars, regardless of who receives them.

        The courts have affirmed the principle that federal funds cannot be used to discriminate. The leading case on the question of government-aided discrimination is Norwood v. Harrison, 413 U.S. 455 (1973). In a unanimous decision, the U.S. Supreme Court held that “the Constitution does not permit the state to aid discrimination.” Id. 465-66. The principles set out in Norwood were affirmed in Justice O’Connor’s opinion in City of Richmond v. J.A. Croson Co. 488 U.S. 469, 492 (1989), which stated, “It is beyond dispute that any public entity, state or federal, has a compelling interest in assuring that public dollars, drawn from the tax contributions of all citizens, do not serve to finance the evil of private prejudice.” Her opinion quoted Norwood with approval for the proposition that “[i]t is … axiomatic that a state may not induce, encourage or promote private persons to accomplish what it is constitutionally forbidden to accomplish.” Id. at 492-93 (quoting Norwood, 413 U.S. at 465).

        Under the leadership of Chairman George Miller and Ranking Member Buck McKeon, the House Committee on Education and Labor favorably reported H.R. 1429 out of Committee by a vote of 42-1. The full House must not change current law to allow recipients of Head Start funds to have an explicit statutory right to engage in employment discrimination. LCCR urges you to oppose any attempt to eliminate or weaken the current civil rights protections in Head Start. If language is added either during floor consideration or in the Motion to Recommit that repeals current law, LCCR urges you to oppose final passage of the bill.

        If you have any questions, please contact Dan Wolf, LCCR Policy Assistant at (202) 263-2858/ wolf@civilrights.org or Nancy Zirkin at (202) 263-2880/ zirkin@civilrights.org, regarding this or any issue important to LCCR.

Sincerely,

Wade Henderson
President

Nancy Zirkin
Vice President/Director of Policy

*Some organizations in the Leadership Conference do not join in this position because they disagree that allowing religious entities, including those participating in federally funded programs, to consider religion in hiring constitutes a threat to or violation of fundamental civil rights.