The International Herald Tribune calls for a spirited public debate on the US Commission on Human Rights report on the Bush Administrations record on civil rights in this editorial.

Excerpt:"The report, which is still available online, is a scathing 166-page assessment of an administration that has, at best, neglected core civil rights issues. It cites numerous examples of administration attempts to replace affirmative action with "race neutral" alternatives, or to recast taxpayers' support for religious institutions as a civil right for people of faith, rather than as a constitutional issue involving the separation of church and state."

"In telling research into the way that Bush uses talk of civil rights to promote his own agenda, the report says that of Bush's public statements on civil rights, only 17 percent have outlined plans of action. It criticizes the president for using the See more of the world that matters - click here for home delivery of the International Herald Tribune.
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In a rare gesture of transparency, a majority of the eight commissioners on the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights voted in 2002 to put the agency's staff reports on the Internet as soon as they are completed (www.usccr.gov). That way, the public can read them before the commissioners hold public hearings to discuss the staff's findings.
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The latest report - an assessment of President George W. Bush's civil rights record - was put on the agency's Web site in September. But at their October meeting, the commissioners declined to discuss it. The four commissioners appointed by Bush and the congressional Republican leadership managed to put off any discussion until the postelection meeting, scheduled for Friday.
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Now, the commission owes the public a spirited debate, especially if, as the report indicates, the apparent aim of the Bush administration is to break with long-established civil rights tactics and priorities.
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This question takes on a new urgency with the appointment of the White House counsel, Alberto Gonzales, as the next attorney general because he was deeply involved in the formulation of administration policy on these issues in the first term.
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The report, which is still available online, is a scathing 166-page assessment of an administration that has, at best, neglected core civil rights issues. It cites numerous examples of administration attempts to replace affirmative action with "race neutral" alternatives, or to recast taxpayers' support for religious institutions as a civil right for people of faith, rather than as a constitutional issue involving the separation of church and state.
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In telling research into the way that Bush uses talk of civil rights to promote his own agenda, the report says that of Bush's public statements on civil rights, only 17 percent have outlined plans of action. It criticizes the president for using the language of civil rights - terms like "remove barriers" and "equal access" - to frame his case.



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