[19980410]98-260GOV_民权委员会重新授权.pdf

Congressional Research Service The Library of CongressCRS Report for CongressReceived through the CRS Web98-260 GOVUpdated April 10, 1998Civil Rights Commission ReauthorizationLeslie W. GladstoneAnalyst in American National GovernmentGovernment DivisionSummaryThe Civil Rights Commission Act of 1998 (H.R. 3117) would reauthorize thecommission through FY2001. It was introduced by Representative Canady on January28, 1998, referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and reported with an amendmenton March 2, 1998. It passed the House, amended, by voice vote on March 18.History of the CommissionThe Civil Rights Commission was created in 1957 to serve as an independent,bipartisan, fact-finding agency to inform the President and Congress concerning theimplementation of civil rights protections. Between the 1950s and the 1980s, the work ofthe commission was largely centered on investigations of voting rights violations and legaldevelopments constituting discrimination or denial of equal protection of the law becauseof race, color, religion, sex, age, handicap, or national origin. The commission has neverhad any enforcement authority. In 1983, the presidentially appointed Civil Rights Commis