LOST OPPORTUNITIES: THE CIVIL RIGHTS RECORD OF THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION MID-TERM (1991)

Reviews the status of civil rights policies and enforcement during the first two years of the Bush Administration.

The report notes modest improvements over the civil rights record of the Reagan Administration, particularly in enforcement of voting rights and fair housing laws. Overall, however, the report is critical of the Administration's failure to address the continuing legacy of discrimination, and points to the highly-charged rhetoric used by the President in vetoing the Civil Rights Act of 1991 to argue that the policies of the Bush Administration fanned the flames of racial intolerance and division.

The Commission recommends that the President form a cabinet- level task force to address the growing problem of racial tensions and conflicts. The report includes a series of working papers contributed by civil rights experts and private practitioners examining the Administration's civil rights record in the following areas: veto of the Civil Rights Act of 1990; elementary and secondary education; sex discrimination in education; minority access to higher education; employment rights; immigration; health; fair housing and equal credit opportunity; affirmative action; voting rights; barriers to voter registration; 1990 census and minority undercount; rights of institutionalized persons; of persons with disabilities; the U.S. Civil Rights Commission; judicial nominations; and hate crimes.