Posted on 12/07/2001 8:13:22 AM PST by Jean S
WASHINGTON (AP) - The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights refused Friday to seat - or even recognize - a new commissioner appointed by President Bush.
Cleveland labor lawyer Peter Kirsanow watched quietly from the audience as attempts by the three Republican commissioners to have him seated or acknowledged were repeatedly voted down 5-3. Kirsanow attempted to vote for the first 10 minutes of the session but he was ignored and eventually sat silent as his allies continued debate.
The meeting opened with an attempt by Republican commissioners to adjourn until the dispute over the commission's makeup is resolved. But Chairwoman Mary Frances Berry persuaded the commission to reject that effort, saying it is impossible to know when the legal dispute will be resolved.
Berry recounted how President Reagan fired her in 1983 and how she fought through the courts to get back on the board.
She said accepting the White House or Justice Department interpretation of the law on the commission's makeup "would threaten the very independence of the commission."
Commissioner Christopher Edley, an ally of Berry, said he has told House Democratic leader Dick Gephardt that the White House is trying to reshape the commission in an apparent retribution for some of his work.
Berry - a frequent critic of the 2000 elections and particularly of Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, younger brother of the president - presides over a panel on which six commissioners lean Democratic and two lean Republican. The White House has already announced it plans to appoint Jennifer Cabranes Braceras to replace Yvonne Lee, whose term is expiring in early December. If Kirsanow is seated, the commission would be split 4-4.
Kirsanow was sworn in Thursday night to fill the seat of Victoria Wilson, an independent whose term, the White House says, expired Nov. 29.
White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said there was no legal merit to Berry's claim that Wilson's term has not expired, noting a ruling by the Justice Department's legal counsel and Clinton administration records that indicate it has expired. He denied rough politics on the White House's part, saying Kirsanow was installed within the letter of the law.
Berry said the White House's moves were "about muzzling us and it's scary to have them take all of this time and energy. It makes me even more afraid for the preservation of the commission."
The dispute between the Republican White House and a prominent black civil rights leader surprised the Bush team.
By taking the disputed seat held by Wilson, Kirsanow, a member of the largely conservative Center for New Black Leadership, would effectively rein in Berry's power over the commission.
The Bush administration maintains Wilson's term ended Nov. 29, when the term of the man she succeeded, Judge A. Leon Higginbotham Jr., would have expired. Higginbotham died in 1998.. This expiration date was spelled out in the Clinton administration's paperwork on Wilson's appointment, the White House says.
Berry argued the documents are wrong and are trumped by federal law, which says new commissioners will fill a six-year term.
Democratic Reps. John Conyers of Michigan and Jerrold Nadler of New York wrote Berry on Thursday to say the law as amended in 1994 reflects her interpretation.
The commission received a letter from the Justice Department late Thursday informing Berry that she is not allowed to retain outside legal help without Attorney General John Ashcroft's permission. Berry rejected that opinion.
Does anyone know which section and title of the US code that Conyers and Berry are referring to?
Here's how the Washington Post (printed version) reported on this confrontation this morning... you tell me if there is a leftist bias here: "White House officials provoked a confrontation with the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights by suddenly swearing in President Bush's new appointee late last night over adamant objections from the commissioner."[emphasis added]
Gee, which side of this controversy do you think the Washington Post is pitching here? Fair and balanced: you decide...
By the way, this article appeared on page A39 (but the first page of the "Federal Page"). The Washington Times reported on this on the front page above the fold.
Information
Further information on the Commission may be obtained by contacting the Commission headquarters at:
624 9th Street, N.W.,
Washington, D.C. 20425
(or contact the regional office in your area)
For information about publications, contact:
Library, USCCR
(202) 376-8128
For Congressional inquiries, contact:
Congressional Affairs Unit, USCCR
(202) 376-8317
For Press inquiries, contact:
Public Affairs Unit, USCCR
(202) 376-8312
I never realized how really evil Demonrats are until what I saw with my own eyes down here in Palm Beach County last in November 2000.
From your lips to G*D's ear!! I firmly believe the President has ample reason to remove Berry from this commission for neglect of duty. Then won't the RATS scream!! But she MUST GO!
That's why I say that Bush needs to use heavy handed tactics, with a US Marshall seating the legitimate commissioner and removing the usurper. That will force the usurper to go to court, and make it harder for a court to justify changing the existing situation. If a Clinton appointee issues an order that the usurper be seated, it can be immediately appealed to the Ct. of Appeal, where some adults are in charge, and the "appealable order" will be overturned.
which is directly hooked up to the United Nations by way of treaties.
The Human Rights commission is requiring that our government agencies, local police forces, fire departments, and local government agencies hire Moslims to make these agencies be diverse.
They, all but have destroyed America, because of these requirements.
They make sure that it is enforced because they are in every state now, just look in your local phone book.
The United States Commission on Civil Rights is composed of eight Commissioners: four appointed by the President and four by Congress. Not more than four members shall at any one time be of the same political party.
The President also designates the Chairperson and Vice Chairperson from among the Commission's members with the concurrence of a majority of the Commission's members.
The Commissioners serve 6-year terms. No Senate confirmation is required. The President may remove a member of the Commission only for neglect of duty or malfeasance in office.
The Commissioners hold monthly meetings (except during August) and convene several times a year to conduct hearings, conferences, consultations, and briefings.
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