Asa Hutchinson: “I believe that everyone today is agreed that we do not want to have discrimination in our country and particularly by…”

“I believe that everyone today is agreed that we do not want to have discrimination in our country and particularly by the Federal Government. I fought that as a prosecutor, as a private attorney, and I think we agree that should not take place. But there is a legitimate concern that this goes beyond consideration, there is more there. The gentleman from California raised a question. Well, it does not. But I look at the executive order very simply that this is the Nixon executive order that was amended to include sexual orientation. If we include that, section 1 says that part of this is policy of government to promote the full realization of equal employment opportunities through a continuing and affirmative action program in each executive department and agency. The good lawyer understands that this can be interpreted to say that we are going to have an affirmative action program for these categories. It might not be the case. The second point is that when I asked the Acting Attorney General Bill Lann Lee on Civil Rights, 'were you ever asked to review this by the Clinton administration prior to the adoption, this dramatic change?' and his answer was, 'I was never consulted. I was never asked to review this change in the civil rights policy of our Federal Government.' I think that this major change deserves some hearings in Congress, deserves some thought, and certainly deserves some debate about this executive order. I support the Hefley amendment.”