Max Baucus: “I want to just make a couple of points here. One, I will reiterate a point made by Senator Chafee. We, in the Senate…”

“I want to just make a couple of points here. One, I will reiterate a point made by Senator Chafee. We, in the Senate, have received a letter from the Secretary of Transportation, Rodney Slater, who said he would find it difficult to recommend to the President for signature ISTEA legislation that did not include the DBE Program, which has been noted in a statement that he would recommend the President veto this bill if the DBE Program is taken out. I don't want to belabor this constitutionality argument, but it's clear that the Supreme Court did not rule that the Federal highway DBE Program in Colorado was unconstitutional. The Supreme Court did not rule it unconstitutional. It is clear. All Senators who have studied this know that. The Supreme Court said that program, like all affirmative action programs, must be subjected to a strict scrutiny test. That is what the Supreme Court held, that the Colorado public lands DBE Program had to be subject to the strict scrutiny test. That is all they held--nothing more, nothing less.”