CIVIL RIGHTS RESTORATION ACT

WHEREAS, the recent decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in Grove City College vs. Bell has dramatically restricted the protections against sex discrimination provided by Title IX of the 1972 Education Amendments to the 1964 Civil Rights Act by providing that the prohibition against sex discrimination applies only to the specific program for which federal funding is received and not to the entire institution; and

WHEREAS, the Grove City decision defies congressional intent, narrows the coverage of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, and seriously jeopardizes educational equity for an entire generation of students and teachers; and

WHEREAS, when the reasoning of Grove City is applied to the other civil rights laws that prohibit those who receive federal funds from discriminating against minorities (Civil Rights Act of 1964), the handicapped (Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973), and the elderly (Age Discrimination Act of  1975), the result will be that the federal government will sanction and subsidize educational and non- educational institutions that discriminate; and

WHEREAS, members of Congress, in an attempt to overturn the Grove City decision, introduced the Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1985, which would clarify the intent of Congress and restore the principal civil rights statutes to the original scope and coverage that was intended by Congress and has previously marked their enforcement; and

WHEREAS, the Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1985 is stalled in Congress over a dispute between some religious institutions and some women's rights groups regarding the impact of this important bill on the provision of abortion services or health insurance that provides abortion services:

RESOLVED, that the American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO, urge Congress to resolve this debilitating dispute and enact the Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1985 in a manner that would not curtail existing rights but would restore the full force and effect of the law prohibiting bias because of race, sex, age, or handicap.