4A
NATIONAL / The Charlotte Post
Thursday, December 11, 1997
President examines Lee options
By Sonya Ross
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON - Amid fresh
warnings against alienating
Congress, President Clinton is
nearing a decision on whether
he will ignore Republican oppo
sition and install Bill Lann Lee
in the federal government’s top
civil rights job.
White House spokesman
Mike McCurry today would not
rule out the prospect of Clinton
appointing Lee while Congress
is out of session. While the
White House would like to win
more Senate support for the
nomination, McCurry said, “If
we don’t, I think it’s clear what
iwe will do.”
j “Clearly there would be some
iprice to pay for a recess
^appointment, and we prefer to
do things by regular order
because that’s what the nomi-
Tiee deserves,” McCurry said.
jAbandoning Lee’s nomination
js “not an option,” the
spokesman said,
i Attorney General Janet Reno
Itoday urged the Senate to con
firm Lee once it recovenes early
fiext year. Speaking at a
jiustice Department ceremony
fnarking the 40th anniversary
pf its civil rights division - with
Lee nearby - Reno said the
arguments used to block his
nomination are not valid.
“Some say he should be
denied the job simply as a pay
back for the rejection of past
nominees. Others say he
should be rejected because he
shares the views of the presi
dent on affirmative action,”
Reno said. “I say ‘no’ to that,
and so does the president.”
In his brief remarks, Lee
avoided mention of the contro
versy surrounding his nomina
tion, telling the audience that
the promise of America that
“every individual deserves an
opportunity to learn, to work
and to live ... inspired my par
ents to cross an entire ocean.”
“The (civil rights) division has
been a constant guardian of the
American dream. There is no
higher calling,” Lee said.
Senate Judiciary Committee
Chairman Orrin Hatch urged
Clinton not to appoint Lee dur
ing the congressional recess.
'The maneuver would allow Lee
to serve through 1998, when
the current term of Congress
ends.
“I would like to ... urge that
you not make such an appoint
ment," Hatch, R-Utah, told
Clinton in a letter Saturday.
“Mr. Lee’s nomination lacks the
10 votes (in the committee)
required by Senate rules. In my
view, the committee has spo
ken.”
Lee, Western regional counsel
for the NAACP Legal Defense
and Educational Fund, is
Clinton’s choice for assistant
attorney general for civil
rights. If confirmed, he would
become the first Asian
American to hold the job.
Lee, a resident of Los Angeles,
return to Washington Monday
to attend a ceremony at the
Justice Department honoring
the 40th anniversary of its
Civil Rights Division.
Aides to Clinton said Sunday
that no final decision had been
made on Lee, “We have not
changed our position on this,”
said White House spokesman
Eric Rubin.
But McCurry hinted last
week that Clinton would act in
coming days, fully aware that a
recess appointment would
anger congressional leaders
and “would not make the work
ing relationship easier.
“The prospects for an up-or-
down vote are quickly coming
to the point where we re going
to either have a shot at it or
we re not,” McCurry said. “The
president recognizes that it’s
important to move forward and
will have to act appropriately
when the time comes.”
U.S. News & World Report
said in its current issue that
the White House had tentative
ly decided to appoint Lee.
The magazine quoted an
unidentified senior White
House official as saying that if
the appointment drew a nega
tive reaction from GOP leaders.
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that - plus the allegedly anti-
Asian tone of congressional
fund-raising investigations -
would cause “a double whammy
for Asian Americans from
Republicans” and an advantage
for Clinton.
White House aides have said
they would rather see Lee con
firmed by the Senate and
believe there is still a chance
Republican leaders will allow a
vote next year.
Hatch has led Republican
opposition blocking Lee’s con
firmation, saying the views Lee
has expressed through his
NAACP work make him an
unfit nominee. Opponents
argue that Lee effectively pro
moted racial quotas by forcing
companies into out-of-court set
tlements to avoid expensive tri
als.
In testimony before Hatch’s
committee, Lee said he opposes
racial quotas, and would
uphold the law regardless of his
beliefs. But he would not dis
avow supporting affirmative
action.
Hatch noted that there were
two civil rights nominees from
Republican administrations
who, like Lee, failed to draw
approval from a Democratic-
controlled committee: Bill
Lucas in 1989 and William
Bradford Reynolds in 1985.
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