Posted on 06/10/2005 10:13:28 AM PDT by MikeJ75
WASHINGTON - (KRT) - Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., said Thursday he was troubled by racially insensitive comments attributed more than a decade ago to a woman the Bush administration has tapped for a top State Department job and threatened to block her nomination until his concerns were addressed.
Henrietta Holsman Fore, who is the director of the U.S. Mint, was nominated to be the Under Secretary of State for Management. The position oversees human resources and the civil rights office for State Department employees around the world.
The comments came to light Thursday during her confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee when Obama pressed Fore to explain remarks she gave during a question-and-answer session following a 1987 speech at Wellesley College.
At the time, news accounts of the speech reported that Fore suggested blacks preferred pushing drugs to working in factory jobs and that Hispanic workers were lazy. The remarks were misunderstood, Fore said, but she resigned as a Wellesley trustee to quell the controversy at the college.
In the Senate hearing on Thursday, Obama questioned Fore about the racial comments for more than 20 minutes, repeatedly pressing for an explanation of the remarks.
When her answers did not satisfy him, Obama said he wondered what type of environment she would create for black, Hispanic and employees of other racial backgrounds if she held a "stereotypical notion of how various people performed."
"I'm troubled by these statements," Obama said. "I'm troubled by the lack of clarity."
While there was no vote taken at the hearing, Obama said he would consider blocking her nomination until he discussed the matter and received assurances from Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
At the daily State Department news briefing, spokesman Sean McCormack dismissed the concerns about Fore's comments, saying: "I think they center around a news story that's nearly 20 years old. The nominee is a fine nominee and the right person for the job. We believe that. The secretary believes it."
But less than three hours later, Rice telephoned Obama.
In a brief conversation, Obama asked for more information about Fore's record of recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce at the U.S. Mint and other positions. He also suggested to Rice that Fore should meet with black and Hispanic Congressional leaders, said Robert Gibbs, an Obama spokesman.
"This is the beginning of the process," Gibbs said. "There is still specific information we'd like to have."
State Department spokeswoman Madge Caplis confirmed the late-afternoon call, but said the conversation was private and declined to characterize it.
Earlier at the hearing, Fore defended herself and said she previously has been confirmed by the Senate for other top government positions. While she did not issue a firm denial of the statements attributed to her in the 1987 speech, she said she was merely talking about the stereotypes that exist in the workplace.
At the time she delivered the speech to students at her alma mater, she was running a manufacturing business in California and her comments were about the challenges she faced hiring workers.
Fore, who then was known as Henrietta Holsman, wrote a letter to the student newspaper at Wellesley about three weeks later saying she had been misunderstood and she had "pressed on to hire black workers."
"Sadly, none of them have stayed with the company, but in their words wanted to go `back to the street' to earn more money," she wrote. "My comments referred only to these few individuals in my experience and not to the black community as a whole."
Throughout the hearing on Thursday, Fore attempted to steer Obama away from the 1987 remarks. She said more attention should be paid to her record since then at the U.S. Agency for International Development and at the U.S. Mint.
"If you look at my work these past few years," Fore testified, "I have a commitment to a model work place, a place that has fairness for all and zero tolerance for harassment."
The Under Secretary for Management at the State Department is one of five under secretaries who report to Rice. The position oversees thousands of employees, as well as offices that handle discrimination concerns.
The confirmation hearings for the lion's share of presidential appointees unfold with few questions and little controversy. Only two senators were on hand at the hearing Thursday.
"It's not something that I think makes an enormous difference in terms of the long-term policy issues we face as a country," Obama said in an interview after the hearing. "But it's not something that you can ignore. When you ignore it, you get into bad habits."
FINALLY! A Democrat speaks out against fellow Democrat Ted Kennedy's lies about Chappaquiddik!
Huh? Oh, he's talking about comments someone made, even though she's already been punished by resigning her job over them ten years ago? Oh...typical...
So much for "tolerance"... "Tolerance for me, not for thee" is more like it.
Obama should only be 1/2 as "troubled" by her comments b/c he's only 1/2 black.
What about "Sheets" Byrd?
Wonder if he's troubled by some of the hostile remarks often made against his moose-limb ancestors. Of course, I notice that he often makes the point of referring to himself as a Christian (one of the White Christians his Massa Dean has been referring to?).
We have had lots of focus on filibusters and how that parliamentary procedure interferes with (some say contributes to) the legislative process. But this "one Senator hold" nonsense is way worse. How many times in the last few years have there been articles about someone putting a hold on something or someone and no one really knows who holds the hold? Haven't Hillary and Kerry been caught at this? If there is any justification for keeping this Senate rule, then I'd say the hold must be public and have a nonrenewable expiration like 30 or 60 days.
Osama Obama is the elected racist pimp of the Bob and Billie Club (formerly known as the U.S. Senate). When will Osama start questioning the KKK activities of Bobbie "SHEETS" Byrd?
Osama Obama is the elected racist pimp of the Bob and Billie Club (formerly known as the U.S. Senate). When will Osama start questioning the KKK activities of Bobbie "SHEETS" Byrd?
This kind of stupidity is why they will always be in the back seat.
Never. Is never good for you ?
Do you remember when Ted Kennedy referred to him as "Osama" during a speech?
I was just thinking about that last night when I saw Obama on a news story about Dean! "Osama...Osama..Osama Obama!"
It's time for this 'hold' crap to be made history.
Grand standing little punk..
Bingo!
Harry Reid knows he does not have the votes for any democratic action in the Senate, so each day, each week, he assigns another Dim Senator with the latest obstructionist task that they can take without any votes against them; its all just part of Senate "tradition".
The thing is, seriously, Reid knows he is playing a political game; he believes in the political game he is playing and the cost to the country and its affectiveness is irrelevant to his political calculations - because that is 100% of what it is; pure, raw politics.
While our Republicans think it's all about being fair, and being "nice" and being concilatory - AND LOSING ("oh, but gee, we were oh so nice", "if only the Dims would be so nice, once in a while", "can't we all just get along").
Also asked why the Senator was comfortable campaigning for a former KKK member.....could it be that Byrd is forgiven because he's a democrat and no republican can ever be forgiven.
The gal said she didn't have a statement on the issue but would let the Senator know of my concerns.
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