J.C. Watts: “I appreciate the Delegate from the District of Columbia, her effort on this amendment, and I want to say to the…”

“I appreciate the Delegate from the District of Columbia, her effort on this amendment, and I want to say to the gentleman from Kentucky [Mr. Rogers], I feel like I owe him an apology because we tried to get an amendment yesterday to add more money to EEOC; however, we were not in agreement on how the additional funding or where the money should come from. I was not in support of taking it out of the Federal prison system, but the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission was born out of the civil rights movement of 1964 and opened its doors in 1965. At that time, the caseload was sparse and attorneys would handle maybe 10, 15 cases each, and now the caseload has grown, and there is a need to assist this Commission even further. But like I said, however, I thought that penalizing the Federal prison system, which is what the amendment that was proposed yesterday did, this amendment would take a small amount out of discretionary spending, and I believe that is a small price to pay for equal justice. So, Mr. Chairman, I urge a ``yes'' vote on this amendment, and I do appreciate the Chairman allowing us at this late hour to bring forth this amendment.”