Donald M. Payne: “I would like to voice my adamant opposition to Mr. Riggs' amendment. Congressman Riggs and his supporters believe that…”

“I would like to voice my adamant opposition to Mr. Riggs' amendment. Congressman Riggs and his supporters believe that the days when affirmative action policies are needed are over. I suppose they believe that equality has been reached when only 18 percent of those enrolled in colleges are minorities but African Americans, Hispanics and Native Americans make up 30 percent of the college age population. I guess they believe that diversity is reached when only 33 percent of all African American high school graduates attended college in 1993 compared to nearly 42 percent of whites. Affirmative action is still needed and without it the composition of our colleges and university campuses will be reminiscent of what they looked like 30 years ago. We have seen this very thing happen in States such as California and Texas where minority admissions have declined because of anti-affirmative action laws. This year the University of California campuses report they received more minority applications with stronger academic credentials than ever before. At the same time, UCLA's law school saw an 80 percent drop in the number of African-American students offered admissions for next fall which is the lowest number since 1970. This is a clear indication of how crippling anti-affirmative action laws can be to the education of minority populations.”