Prez Seeks Civil Rights Funds
Invoking the memory of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., President Clinton said Saturday that his budget request for 2001 will include a substantial increase in money for civil rights enforcement.
The president said in his weekly radio address, "There are still too many barriers and examples of too many Americans facing discrimination in their daily lives," even though the country is doing better in treating all citizens equally.
Mr. Clinton, speaking on King's 71st birthday and two days before the nation's official celebration, also said he will also ask Congress for swift passage of legislation that would expand federal hate crime laws to include crimes committed because of the victim's sexual orientation, gender or disability.
Mr. Clinton brought a special guest of his own to the radio address, reports CBS News White House Correspondent Mark Knoller. Her name is Charlotte Filmore and she was born in 1889.
The White House says it found out that she had two wishes. She wanted to meet the president and she also wanted to make to it the year 2000 so that she could claim to have lived in three centuries.
The president said Filmore, a black woman who once worked at the White House, is a living testament to civil rights progress in America.
"When she worked at the White House, she had to use the side door," Mr. Clinton said. "Today, she came through the front door all the way to the Oval Office."
Arriving Saturday at the White House, the 100-year-old Mrs. Filmore said, "I'm so glad I lived to see this day."
Mr. Clinton said he will seek $695 million for civil rights enforcement, a 13 percent increase from last year.
The Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department would receive $98 million, an increase of 86 percent above its spending levels in 1993, the first year of the Clinton administration.
"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," the White House said in a statement.
Mr. Clinton said he will also seek $322 million for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 14 percent more than last year's budget.
Other substantial increases are being sought for the civil rights enforcement offices at the Labor Department, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Agriculture Department, and the Education Department, the president said.
Mr. Clinton described his proposals and requests as "new steps to fulfill Dr. King's dream" as one of the 20th century's greatest champions of justice.
"Dr. King challenged us to dig deep in our hearts." Mr. Clinton said.