Political Quotes

“I thank the gentlewoman for yielding. I also thank her and the gentleman from Illinois for talking about the importance for opportunity and a recognition of the history of discrimination in the United States. The Supreme Court has long held that our Nation has a compelling interest in creating racially diverse college campuses. Holistic college admissions practices that narrowly tailor the use of race as one of many factors in evaluating prospective students are a key to fostering such diversity in a college campus environment. Such admissions policies not only help the historically underserved students, research confirms that diverse campuses also provide all students with a better quality, well-rounded education. Last month, the Supreme Court decided, with little regard for precedent, that Harvard's and the University of North Carolina's pursuit of these compelling interests is unconstitutional. Regrettably, the Supreme Court's decision is a setback in our effort to eliminate invidious disparities in access to higher education and an effort to ensure diverse learning environments for all students. Now that it is done, it is imperative that we review all other facets of college admissions that research shows may be racially discriminatory and have a disparate impact and determine if they, too, need to be eliminated, given this ruling.…”