January 15, 2000

Today, in his weekly radio address, President Clinton will announce that his Fiscal Year 2001 budget proposes a significant increase for civil rights enforcement to help ensure equal opportunity for all Americans. The President's budget request of $695 million for civil rights enforcement agencies represents a 13 percent increase over last year's funding levels. The President today, citing the need to do all we can to build One America, also will call for immediate passage of the Hate Crimes Prevention Act.

BOOSTING CIVIL RIGHTS ENFORCEMENT EFFORTS. The FY 2001 budget request of $695 million for civil rights enforcement agencies represents a 13 percent increase over last year's funding levels. Highlights of the President's proposal include:

- Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division. The President's budget includes $98 million for the Civil Rights Division at the Justice Department -- an increase of 86 percent over the 1993 funding level. The proposed funding will permit the Justice Department to expand significantly investigations and prosecutions of criminal civil rights cases (including hate crimes and police misconduct), as well as fair housing and lending cases. Funds are also included to fund the Division's enforcement of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

- Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The President's FY 2001 budget provides $322 million for the EEOC, 14 percent more than the enacted FY 2000 budget. Funds will go to several purposes, including the agency's effort to reduce the backlog of private sector cases through a combination of regulatory reforms, the use of alternative dispute resolution, increased staffing, and investments in information technology.

- Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP). The Administration's budget also provides $76 million for OFCCP. The request includes funds to encourage Federal contractor compliance through increased outreach, education, and technical assistance, including providing contractors with the necessary tools to evaluate their equal employment practices.

- Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Fair Housing Initiatives. The Administration's budget proposes $50 million, a 14 percent increase above last year, for HUD's efforts to reduce housing discrimination. Included in the request is a 16 percent increase, a $29 million, for the Fair Housing Initiatives Program (FHIP) for funding private fair housing groups that seek to eliminate and prevent housing discrimination. The proposal includes $7.5 million for the final year of a three-year audit-based enforcement initiative that exposes both blatant and subtle forms of housing discrimination and $2.5 million to fund training for housing providers to ensure that individuals with disabilities have access to housing. Also, the Administration seeks $21 million, a 5 percent increase, for the Fair Housing Assistance Program (FHAP) to support the creation of additional state and local fair housing organizations that would jointly work on behalf of underserved populations.

- Department of Agriculture's Office of Civil Rights. The President's budget increases funding for United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) civil rights programs from $18 million to $21 million. The USDA's civil rights programs will emphasize outreach to disadvantaged farmers, involve small and disadvantaged businesses in USDA programs, increase conflict resolution activities and more effectively process complaints.

- Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights. The President's budget proposal of $76 million provides an increase of $5 million over the 2000 enacted budget to fund staff training and technological improvements to speed the resolution of civil rights issues.

URGING PASSAGE OF EXPANDED FEDERAL HATE CRIMES LAW. The President today will also urge Congress to enact the bipartisan Hate Crimes Prevention Act as one of the first pieces of legislation it passes in the new millennium. The current federal hate crimes statute prohibits acts of violence that are based on a person's race, color, religion, or national origin and that are intended to interfere with certain federally protected activities. The proposed legislation would allow prosecutions to be brought even if the acts of violence did not interfere with federally protected activities. In addition, the legislation would authorize the Department of Justice to prosecute individuals who commit violent crimes against others because of the victim's sexual orientation, gender, or disability. Current federal law does not cover these cases. Finally, the President today will announce that his budget includes $20 million to promote police integrity and for hate crimes training for federal, state, and local law enforcement.