Congressman Cummings Reacts to Supreme Court Decision on Affirmative Action Affirmative Action in Education for All Americans

June 24, 2003

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Washington, D.C. - "Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. In January and February of this year, I stood before you with House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chair Ciro Rodriguez, Congressional Asian-Pacific Caucus Chair David Wu and scores of other principled members of this Congress. We declared our firm support for the University of Michigan and its policy of diversity and inclusion.

I observed at that time that we were standing up for a future America in which our leadership will fully reflect the talents, wisdom and strength of all of our people.

I am very pleased, today, that we have taken an important step toward that goal. Policies of inclusion remain alive and well in America.

Now, the Congress and President must renew our efforts to assure that all Americans can receive and afford that empowering education.

Back in February, I outlined our vision for creating unity and strength from our diversity as a nation. And I asked what I believe are the central, real-life questions at the heart of the debate about inclusion in higher education.

"Do we Americans truly believe," I asked, "that the integration of our public universities — the inclusion of all of our peoplethat is so essential to racial and ethnic reconciliation in the United States — is no longer a sufficiently "compelling interest" to justify voluntary actions by publicly-funded universities to move us closer toward that goal?"

"What message would overturning the Supreme Court's Bakke decision send to the tens of millions of American young people who look like Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chairman Ciro Rodriguez and me?"

"Would not the Court be telling our children," I challenged, "that, in America, some groups must always follow while others have the opportunity to lead?

"Would that be a message from which we can build the unity that our nation needs?"

THE SUPREME COURT DECISIONS

Yesterday, I am pleased to note, the Supreme Court sent an empowering and unifying answer to America and our young people. As everyone is now aware, a majority of the United States Supreme Court: reaffirmed Bakke , upheld the principle of affirmative action and upheld and provided needed clarification about the permissible use of race-conscious admissions policies.

In her 5-4 majority opinion, Justice O'Connor expressly endorsed Justice Powell's view in Regents of the University of California v. Bakke. Student body diversity is a compelling state interest that can justify using race in university admissions.

That, ladies and gentlemen, was the central contention of our legal argument in our amicus brief in these Michigan cases. And I once again commend Congressman John Conyers, Jr., Ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, and the world-class legal team he recruited to prepare our brief.

A VICTORY FOR AMERICA

I am not here today, however, simply to declare victory for the Congressional Black Caucus and our allies. In light of the educational and financial realities that dominate the lives of millions of Americans, any declaration of victory would be premature.

However, the Supreme Court's decision in the Michigan case was a monumental step in the right direction for America. As Justice O'Connor declared: "Effective participation by members of all racial and ethnic groups in the civic life of our Nation is essential if the dream of one Nation, indivisible, is to be realized."

In this Information Age, publicly supported education is the key to America's strength.

Our long-term national security and our morality as a nation are intertwined. That is why, in Grutter v. Bollinger, the Court's majority cited Brown v. Board of Education.

"Education," Justice O'Connor correctly observed for the Court, "…is the very foundation of good citizenship . . . . The diffusion of knowledge and opportunity through public institutions of higher education must be accessible to all individuals regardless of race or ethnicity."

THE CONTINUED NECESSITY OF RACE-CONSCIOUS ADMISSIONS POLICIES

In all candor, we continue to believe that the Michigan undergraduate admissions program was sufficiently "narrowly tailored" to pass constitutional muster. However, the principles and guidance that the Court provided in the law school case may offer the opportunity to move forward in our shared goal of increased educational diversity and inclusion.

For example, I would think that yesterday's ruling puts an end to the limitations that some have inferred as a result of the "Hopwood" decisions. Racial considerations are no longer prohibited factors in admissions, scholarship decisions and financial aid.

In this vein, I was very pleased to learn that University of Texas President Larry Faulkner has indicated that the University of Texas will now draft new affirmative action admissions policies that include race as a factor.

In sharp contrast to the crux of our amicus brief, the Bush Administration argued that race-conscious admissions criteria were not justified in light of what the Administration termed "ample race-neutral alternatives." However, the Texas experience that the Bush Administration expressly noted as supporting its contention is the very strategy that the University of Texas now plans to modify.

Nationwide, we must recall, African Americans attend college at half the proportion of Caucasians — and without affirmative action, the percentage of African American students on many campuses would drop below 2%. Less than 10 percent of Hispanic Americans go on to higher education — and only 16 percent of Hispanic Americans ages 25-29 have bachelor's degrees.

Partially as the result of the University of Michigan Law School's voluntary efforts toward greater inclusion, 15 percent of the first year Michigan law students belong to racial or ethnic minorities. The University has concluded, however, that — without the existing diversity considerations — the percentage of new minority students could plunge to 4% or less.

THE CBC CHALLENGE: ASSURING AFFIRMATIVE ACTION IN EDUCATION FOR ALL AMERICANS

In its decision yesterday, the Supreme Court implicitly acknowledged the reality that racial considerations remain a reality in all aspects of American life.

In Justice O'Connor's majority opinion, she expressed the hope that, 25 years from now, universities should not have to use race-conscious admissions policies to assure diversity. President Bush has publicly supported that goal. And so do I.

To achieve this national goal of educational empowerment for all Americans, however, we must take action now. As Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg declared in her concurring opinion:

"From today's vantage point, one may hope, but not firmly forecast, that over the next generation's span, progress toward nondiscrimination and genuinely equal opportunity will make it safe to sunset affirmative action."

Today, I once again challenge the President and the congressional Republican leadership to work closely with the Congressional Black Caucus and our allies to implement a national policy of affirmative educational empowerment. We challenge this nation to join us in providing affirmative action for all Americans.

Now is the time for the federal government to commit far more financial muscle to the task of realizing the goal of educational opportunity for all. Pious declarations about the value of diversity and "leaving no child behind" do not educate one American. Now is the time to do what is right.

Now is the time to guarantee a college education for all Americans, whatever their racial or ethnic background may be.

This nation's poorest schools — the schools that African Americans and Hispanic Americans disproportionally attend — receive the least amount of state and local funding.

I should note, however, that most of America's poor children are not Hispanic Americans — are not Black.

Now is the time to provide affirmative educational action for ALL American children by fully funding the "No Child Left Behind" legislation.

Now is the time to fully fund Head Start and Gear Up and all of the other proven programs that are helping young people prepare themselves to go to college.

And now is the time to assure that Pell Grants are sufficient to pay the full cost of tuition, books and fees at our public universities.

An educated society is in our national interest. Why don't we offer all Americans a paid-up year of college for every year of teaching or other public service they perform after graduation?

CLOSING

We have not eliminated prejudice in America, and we certainly have not eliminated poverty.

But we can.

Education is the key. Universal access to higher education is the affirmative action that all Americans need and deserve to receive. And we have the ability to take that affirmative action for America.

Americans deserve the same educational support that most Europeans receive. We can achieve this goal of universal educational opportunity.

We need only muster the wisdom and the political will for these aspirations to become a reality. And I challenge the President and Congress to give the American people the educational affirmative action that this nation needs.

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For additional information, please contact Ms. Devika Koppikar at (202) 225-4741 or (202) 225-4024, Ms. Trudy Perkins at (202) 225-1739 or (202) 225-2144, or Mr. Mike Christianson at (410) 496-2010 or (202) 225-9876