Eleanor Holmes Norton: “The gentleman said there haven't been enough meetings. I met with the gentleman more than once and then wrote an…”

“The gentleman said there haven't been enough meetings. I met with the gentleman more than once and then wrote an extensive memo on the problems with the bill. You just can't divide veterans the day after Veterans Day. You can't divide this House on the question of veterans, not when we have offered an entire program for veterans. So I don't know what is so sacred about being in this particular program. In fact, the gentleman mentioned that minorities and women were not, in fact, meeting all of their goals. Therefore, some of those goals are left on the table. That is a very important point. Because being a minority or a woman is not enough to qualify you for this--and I don't even want to call it a set-aside for this goal is not a set-aside. So these minorities and women have to show equivalent skills with others who are competing. It is not an easy thing to do. So it is not a question of whether there are some leftover points to be picked up by veterans. The DBE program has 30 years of history in the United States Supreme Court. Mr. Speaker, even with that history, every time this bill is passed the DBE program is challenged. Each time the Justice Department, under Democratic and Republican Presidents, have defended it as a narrowly tailored program.…”