European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - April 4, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 the stars and stripes Colum to James j. Kilpatrick Reagan right to veto ambiguous civil rights Bill president Reagan lost a major Battle on Capitol kill when both House and Senate voted to override his veto of the Grove City Bill but the president was right in this affair. His Velo ill mild have been sustained the act is known officially As the civil rights restoration act of i9bb, but the title is clouded by fraud. This was Noi 3 Bill 10 restore 1 civil rights 11 was a Bill to expand civil rights to expand them dramatically in ways that cannot be clearly foreseen. The measure vastly enlarges the scope of Federal Law prohibiting discrimination by sex age race or physical Handicap. The act is the most sweeping statute of its kind since the Basic civil rights act of 1964. In his veto message of March 16, the president provided an accurate description. This h a Bill he said thai would vastly and unjustifiably expand the Power of the Federal government Over the decisions and affairs of Pri vate organizations such As churches and synagogues farms businesses and slate and local  precisely so. The breathtaking reach of this act never was clearly understood on the Hill. Sponsors promoted he Bill with speeches of deceptive innocence. The measure itself was crafted with the most devious simplicity and the most Lucid ambiguity. Few my Mac a had the time or inclination to Ponder the meaning of such phrases As the entire Plant or other comparable  by separate facility to which Federal financial assistance is  almost no one reflected seriously on the Impact of this Bill on every private Organiza Tion and sole proprietorship As a  such b the magical Power of the totem civil riels that proponents easily swept the Field. The Vole to override was 73-24 in the Senate 292-113 in the House. The president was nol helped by inc Rev. , whose moral majority succeeded in antagonizing a dozen members of the Senate who might have been amenable to rational argument. Flap jaw charged that the act could compel a Church to hire a practising Active homosexual drug addict with aids to be a teacher or youth  Carl Rowan this was Hogwash of course for he act requires no such thing the reverend s reckless rhetoric persuaded no one. Even so the Impact of this measure on the rehabilitation act of 1973 is far from Clear. This is the Law that prohibits discrimination against handicapped per sons. Fifteen years ago it was generally assumed that a Handicap was a viable kind of thing blindness deaf acis a crippling injury or deformity the 1973 act projected an image of someone in a wheelchair just As inc Parkins lot signs depict. Since then the judicial interpretation of Handicap has greatly expanded coverage of he a. In March of last year inc supreme court held that a Florida schoolteacher conc Arline was a handicapped person by reason of a history of tuberculosis. In february of this year the 9th circuit extended the Arline Doc Trine 10 a teacher with aids so Long As the teacher did not present a significant risk of communicating an infectious Dis ease to others he could not be barred from classroom sir the meaning of sex also May be undergoing a judicial sea change. In the ease of a homosexual sergeant in the army the 9th circuit has held lint be could not be denied re enlistment be cause of his homosexuality. The Case was nol decided As a matter of civil rights but the constitutional principle of equal Protection probably overlaps originally the word sex was understood Only As a Mailer of gender. It was unlawful 10 discriminate against women because they were women. Now we Don t know neither do we know How the act will affect private schools operated by religious institutions. The act exempts such schools Only if the application of the new institution wide requirements would not be consistent with the religious tenets of the sponsoring Church. The language has All the clarity of used motor Oil. What of inc grocery store Hal accepts food Stamps the act says that inc new language shall not be construed to extend the application. To ultimate beneficiaries of Federal financial assistance excluded from coverage before the enact ment of this  but the argument of proponent All along has been that a told ing was excluded from coverage in the past if the Law is sensibly enforced perhaps the consequences will nol be As drastic As the president fears. Perhaps. The bureaucratic record of sensible Law enforcement affords mighty Little grounds for Hope. Many won f forget Bush backed civil rights veto in a strange meeting recently. Vice president George Bush Tost a few million votes that he May need to win he presidency when he supported president Reagan s futile and foolish veto of the civil rights restoration Al. And Bush probably does t even know it. Bush delivered some double talk to about Joo Black republicans Here and wound up gelling applause from enough of them to Lead him to believe that he will get a Tot of Black support for the presi Dency once he wins inc Republican nomination. Bush like most republicans does t understand Hal inc Black republicans slavering Over him arc not remotely representative of the meaningful Black electorate. The overriding fact is that Bush decided not to disagree with president Reagan obviously hoping Hal the president will nol Man Euver to deny him inc nomination but will even Campaign for him in the fall. So Bush endorsed Reagan s veto of a civil rights Bill four ears coming to fruition that would give Blacks hispanics women. The elderly the handicapped and others protections against discrimination. Bush backed the Reagan veto with the asinine argument that the Bill is not perfect As though anything coming out of Congress is  then Bush threw out of the other Side of his Mouth some platitudes about How As president he would ensure that anyone gelling Federal funds would have to abide by the nation s civil rights Laws. Some Black republicans ignored the reality of Bush s trying to scuttle a vital civil rights act and then applauded the Bush promises that May be empty totally meaningless. The Reagan Velo Wax overridden overwhelmingly in both the House and Senate despite Bush s endorsement and the override suggests that Bush was foolish to join publicly the Long Reagan a Csc fight against civil rights. Rush should be worried thai ii of 45 Senate re publicans and 52 republicans in the House voted to override the Reagan veto. It suggests thai Bush abandoned a lot or powerful republicans in the be Lief thai an Oul of Power Reagan can bequeath the presidency to him. Bui what do Bush think when he reads the in credible reality that every democratic House Mem Ber from Alabama Louisiana Mississippi and Nonh Carolina voted to override Chr Reagan veto ii must Ell Bush that he took a stand that is in conflict with the american reality. Most american Iswan ulcers including those Whites from the deep South do not want to turn the clocks Back on civil rights and racial Justice sexual and social Justice. Bush had a Chance la gel More Black Voles than any other Republican in More than a generation but he blew it out of a loyally to Reagan Hal seems impish beyond common sense. Nol even All of the Liny band of Blacks who Call themselves republicans will forgive him for backing the Reagan Velo. The great mass of Blacks and a lot of women his panics and others will Noi soon forget or forgive. We have seen another manifestation of the curse 1 131 hangs Over the presidency. Hubert Humphrey could t or would t distance himself from Lyndon Johnson s Vietnam War policies w he lost o Richard Ninon. Bush won t walk away from inc shameful civil rights policies of Ronald Reagan suite chances grow Hal he May lose 10 someone. The opinions no std in the columns and cartoons on tbsp it represent Host of lie Aulbun and tit in now a to be Catul dered u representing he tie i of the Sun and stripes or inc United slam gain unsent