Charles T. Canady: “this evening I rise to address the Equal Opportunity Act, legislation which Senator Dole and I introduced on July 27 of…”

“this evening I rise to address the Equal Opportunity Act, legislation which Senator Dole and I introduced on July 27 of last year. This legislation will, if enacted, end the use of race and gender preferences by the Federal Government in Federal employment, Federal contracting, and in the administration of other Federal programs. The principles of equal treatment and nondiscrimination on which this legislation is based are principles which are at the heart of the American experience. They embody an ideal which generations of Americans have honored and sought to realize, an ideal to which we as a people have long aspired but an ideal which we have never fully attained in our life as a Nation. On Saturday of this week, May 18, we will mark the 100th anniversary of the Supreme Court's decision in Plessy versus Ferguson, the decision which represents the culmination of disappointment in the struggle for equality before the law during the 19th century.”