On the heels of President Clinton's speech Saturday about race relations, Rep. Charles Canady, R-Fla., and Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., today will introduce legislation prohibiting the federal government from granting preferences based on race or gender in determining employment, contracting and other programs.
The legislation is similar to a bill introduced by Canady in the last Congress.
The Canady-McConnell bill defines "preference" as an "advantage of any kind," including quotas, set asides, goals, timetables and other numerical objectives.
But the bill expressly protects the federal government's ability to engage in nondiscriminatory, nonpreferential outreach, recruiting and marketing efforts, which Canady calls the "traditional form" of affirmative action.
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