House rejects race-based admissions ban
WASHINGTON - A proposal to ban college admissions preferences based on ethnicity, gender or race was rejected Wednesday in the House after both sides said they were pushing fairness for students.
The 249-171 vote effectively endorsing a continuation of such affirmative action programs occurred as Congress moved toward passing a bill covering federal aid to college students and increasing federal efforts to train and recruit teachers.
The bill includes provisions guaranteeing a drop in student loan interest rates and raising the amount needy students may receive in Pell Grants.
The proposed affirmative action ban had the support of House GOP leaders, who said admission preferences force college officials to discriminate against other students, for example Asians, who belong to minority groups not recognized by preferences.
"Whenever public institutions of higher education sort, divide and classify applicants for admission into racial groups, they send a powerful and perverse message that we should judge one another on the basis of race," said Rep. Charles T. Canady, R-Fla.
It was the second vote on affirmative action this year.
In March, the House rejected, 225-194, an amendment to remove contract set-asides for women and minorities from a transportation spending bill. The Senate rejected that amendment 58-37.
Among those supporting a continuation of affirmative action in college admissions Oklahoma Rep. J.C. Watts, the only black Republican in the House. He signed a letter to colleagues with liberal Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga.
"This is not the time to eliminate the one tool we have - imperfect though it may be - to help level the playing field for many minority youth," the letter said. Later, black, Latino and female lawmakers argued that the country has yet to overcome the discrimination that made preferences necessary.
The amendment, Lewis said, "is not color blind. It is blind to centuries of discrimination, it is blind to the racism that is still deeply embedded in our society, it is blind to the barriers that continue to confront generation after generation of African-Americans and other minorities."
President Clinton has pledged a veto if the final bill includes the ban, sponsored by Rep. Frank Riggs, R-Calif. The measure would deny federal support to public institutions that make admission decisions on the basis of gender or race.
"I acknowledge that discrimination continues to exist in our society and that it is morally wrong, but I believe that we will never end discrimination by practicing it," Riggs said. He said the measure was based on Proposition 209, which California voters approved in November 1996.
The Senate still must pass its version of the bill. After that, House and Senate negotiators must work out a compromise.
Action on the bill was being anxiously watched by college students, financial aid officers and lenders because of a change in the formula for determining the interest charged on guaranteed student loans.
A previously enacted change, scheduled to start July 1, threatened to drive away lenders, who said they would get too little in return to justify the loans.
But the administration has objected to the change in the House bill, which would hold down what students repay by giving subsidies to lenders. Under the plan, the student loan interest rate would drop to about 7.4% from the current 8.25% and could rise no higher than 8.25%.
The government is expected to guarantee about $25 billion worth of loans to more than 5 million students this year.
The White House argued that the subsidies are too high for banks, which are earning record profits, and would cost taxpayers $2.7 billion over five years - $1.5 billion more than congressional estimates.
The administration was also working on a compromise that would allow for a smaller subsidy and push for having interest rates determined by an auction, much the same as with government-backed housing loans.
The measure cleared the House Education and Workforce Committee by a 38-3 vote, with no Democrats opposed. The legislation has several provisions that gain it bipartisan support, including an authorized increase in Pell Grants from $3,000 to $4,500 next year and in stages until $5,300 in the 2003-2004 school year. Congress would have to appropriate the money.
The bill is HR 6.
By The Associated Press
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