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For the ADVANCEMENT of COLORED PEOPLE

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[[caption]] Speaker: Byron Allen, co-host of NBC's "Real People." Wed. Night Youth Mass Meeting [[/caption]]

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Washington Bureau

Althea Simmons, Acting Director of the Washington Bureau, reports that the 96th Congress took numerous actions that undermined civil rights. The Fair Housing Bill, proposing to give the Department of Housing and Urban Development "cease and desist" authority to combat housing discrimination, was first modified and weakened by Congressional opponents, and eventually killed by a filibuster. Fair Housing opponents converged on Capitol Hill for the vote boldly wearing badges that read: "No Fair Housing" and "No Fair Process."

The Congress passed a measure that would have prohibited the Justice Department from using any of its funds to bring legal action that would require pupil transportation (except for the mentally and physically handicapped). This "anti-busing" bill was a clear attempt to deprive the Justice Department of its right to pursue busing as a means of remedying unlawful school segregation. Fortunately, President Carter, citing constitutional objections, vetoed the measure, and the Congress backed down.

More and more, the Congress is using the "rider" to appropriations bills to frustrate civil rights enforcement. The 96th Congress adopted riders proposed from the floor which prohibited the Internal Revenue Service from adopting procedures designed to withdraw tax exemptions for racially-segregated private schools; blocked Federal funding for abortions, and attacked the use of ratios, quotas, or other numerical requirements in hiring, promotion policies and school admissions.

The 96th Congress, over NAACP's objections, approved funds for draft registration of 18 and 19 year-old males. 

The defeats for civil rights in the last Congress occurred despite lobbying by our Washington Bureau staff and mushrooming NAACP Operation Network membership. The Washington Bureau provided NAACP branches and members of the Network with periodic newsletters briefing them on pending legislation, advisories and appeals for letters and phone calls to Congressional representatives, and with information about the voting records of Congressional representatives.

The Washington Bureau monitored judicial nominations, and testified on behalf of the black nominees for Federal judgeships. We opposed the nomination of E. Russell Baxter or Arkansas as Commissioner for Rehabilitative Services on behalf of the NAACP Arkansas State Conference of Branches, on the basis of his poor record as a public official in Arkansas. Mr. Baxter requested that his nomination be withdrawn.

One of the sure-fire methods of weakening affirmative action is to allow for the proliferation of groups included in the "minority classification." So, the NAACP will oppose the application of extraneous groups for inclusion in the "minority" classification within the meaning of Section 8(a) of the Small Business Act.

Aside from her duties in lobbying "on the Hill" and negotiating behind-the-scenes, the Washington Bureau Director served as NAACP staff liaison to the Social Justice Panel of the President's Commission for a National Agenda for the 80's. (This particular Panel was chaired by your Executive Director.) Althea Simmons represented the Association on several councils and committees in Washington, including the Citizens for Tax Justice, the Committee on Black/Hispanic Concerns and the Fair Employment Action Council. 

Assisted by an able and hard-working team of professionals, paraprofessionals and student interns, the Washington Bureau has kept the NAACP fully engaged with legislative events and crises. Frank Pohlhaus, the Washington Bureau's Counsel, along with Ms. Simmons, prepared an analysis of the Democratic and Republican and John Anderson platforms for the Presidential election, which was widely distributed by the Association to branches, the media, and independent groups. He processed numerous discrimination complaints on the administrative level, and handled the Bureau's litigation.

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