Dole Sandbags Reagan on Voting Rights (Human Events)

    YHtt wltx.a Nawa rtoM

When president Reagan last week at a Cabinet
meeting lashcd out against Republicans who attack
his Administrarion for their own political gain,
Senale Majority Leader Roberr Obte (n.-fan.i
had ro bc high on rhe president,s list of iulprirs.
._ 

Dole, long known in the Scnare as an
"operalor', and a consummate wheeler_dealcr, is
now running in earnest for thc lggg GOp presi-
dential nomination. And part of his stratcgy, clcar-
ly, is ro distancc himsctf from rtre preiiajnt on a
widc array of issues.

Indeed, aside from thc cffort to rcduce thc
budget deficir, it is hard to rhink of a significant
issue on which the majority leader has been vcry
helpful to the prcsidcnt of late. Whether on South
Africa, tar reform; free trade, or the prcsident,s
opposition to any furthcr tax hikes, Dotc has taten
stances divcrgcnt from Reegan's.- 

Bur ncer bu llotc aor tlrtlcr oot o, Db
?ry lo ctlhrns tlc pnddcrl, ud illi hlr
Justlflcetloo, then rhca be wclt lnto courtrlong rltb alnc olber tewmrhers oi
Au3ust 30 to chellcngc thc Administrrllon'r
lnrcrprcrrtlon ot ric Vetlj ni|bh.4l.,.- ..r, 

,,

As if joining wirh such liberals as Tedily t(;:'
nedy (D.-Mass.), Charles McC. Marhias 1n.-M6.;,
Don Edwards (D.-Calif.) and peter Rodino

. !D.:N.J.) in the legal challenge were nor enough,' Dole compounded the in]ury by throwi-ng
' rherorical jabs at the Administiation during a Kan-

sas news conference and in a press release issued by
his Washingron office.

Instrde#i hshlngton

Running for 'E8

Ilole Sandbags Reagan On ,Voting Rights,
Many conscrvatives, inctuding presidenr Rea-gan, opposed the House_passed version, fcaring

that thc ..resulls" 
test would be used in practice

to impose.'. proportionat r.pr.r.nt"ti* J l'ji 
na no-tion that,-if minority voters comprix 20 per cent of

the population. districts must be Arar"n-in suctr away as to assure that 20 per cent of those elected
bclong to minority groups.

Whcn the bill reached the full Judiciary Com-minec, howevcr, Dole proposcd ar, ,ranOrnan,
that he said would allow thc ,r. oi it.l.-r.ruttr,,
standard in Sccrion 2 bur woutd ;d;; ,il, ,ni,woutd 

1or b.e irirerpreted u, ",*ic"i.i;l;por.proportional represcntation. On the strength of
Dole's assurances that his compromise 

"rai'arnan,could.nbt be intcrprercd 
", " 

,uni"i;';;;p"*
amendment passcd the committ.. *J srcniuarfy
wrs adoprcd by Coryrcss with thc prcsiO.nil rpproval.

. . Ya dcspitc thc jrircd lnrcar of Conjrest rhar rhe
"results" test was intended to 

"rrii.-rinoriryvolers equal access to the elcctoral proccss, not
electoral success in proportion to th"i, ,,,r-ii..., o.,
lppcals courr lasr year. srrugl down Nonh'Crrolinit' rfmbq' of UctlriS nrrc rf,ra on hgrf ,.lalor from a singlc district, slyrng thst rhis has ttrc
effect of diluring minority 

"oiinjstrength in some
instances. The court maintained thai, while it
would have been possible to draw some of the

disrricrs ro include 
"r[tot** 

majoriries, au bur
one of rhe districts bcing challcngd h"a *i,ii. ,n"-joritics.

But this notion that thc courts have the righr to
try to maximizc minority voting strength is eiactty
what conscrvatives wcrc against wtr-cn they ob-jgcted 

1o proportional repriscntation. Anj'since
thc lcgislarivc history of the Voriry Rights cxrcn_
sion-and Dole's $rtemenrr in pirricilar_indi-
cat6 that Scction 2 was not to.bc uscd to imposc

Trying to woo black support at the president,s
expense, Dole charged that, if the Adminisrra$on
is successful in irs appeal of a North Carolina
voting rights case, it wilt ..in effcct undo the com-
promise in the Voting Rights Act extension we in
Congress and the Administration agreed upon" in
t982.

And rhen, suggcsting that the president had been'' hypocritical when he signed the final version of the, bill that ycar after opposing earlicr vcrsions, Dole
added: "lf the Administration supported the bill
that passed the Congrcss, it is puzzling why it
would intcrvenc in this casc.',

But it is Dole who has becn hypocritical about
the Voting Rights Act, not Ronatd Reagan..Thaf
becomes obvious when Dole's position in l9g2 is
contrastcd with his position now.

In 1982 the House measure extending the Voting
Rights Act greatly 'expanded tIe fcdcral. bureaucracy's authority to interferc with local., voting requirements and procedures. previously,
the federal govcrnment coutd not intcrfere wirh
state or local procedurer undcr Scction 2 of thc Act
unless their inlenl wat. to ..deny or abridgc,'
the right to votc on account of race or eolor. But
the House-passcd measurc changcd this to say that
local procedures coutd be challcngcd whenever
they might resull in wealer minority voting
strength. Intent no longer mattered. - . -

SEPTEMBER r., rIs / Humrn Evcnts / S



' ' 
t.'.',t,t{t !

THl.WIT

','9 h

such vote-maximization schemes, the Reagan
Administration, through the Justice Department,
has joincd the North Carolina attorney general in
appealiig the decision to the Supreme Court.

In its brief, signed by Acting Solicitor General
Charles Fried and Deputy Atty. Gen. William
Bradford Reynolds, the Administration noted that
"Co.ngress adopted Sen. Dole,s compromise
precisely to ensure that Section 2 would guarant.e
minority voters access to the etectoral process_not
ensure victories for minority candidates." As
evidence that such access is already present in the
challenged districts, the brief noted that blacks
have been elected to the legislature from the ma_jority of districts being challenged and that black
candidates have often received sizabli support
from white voters.

But rathcr tbra rpptrud tbe Administra-
tion's strud rgeinst proportionel rcprtscnte.
tion, Dole Joined in filing rn opposing briel
which, il ecceptcd by the Suprcme Courl,
could lcrd to the imposition of minority
quolrs on elccllve bodies ln strtes rnd
communiticr el! across the country.
For the Dcmocrats and their left-leaning allies in

the civil rights movement, this public dispute be-
tween the Republican Administration and the
Republican leader in the Senate is like manna from
heaven. For example, Ralph G. Neas, director of lenging the Administration interpretation. Tl
the Lcadership Conference on Civil Rights, told Republican National Committee also filed a bri
l-?grtcjl,!ttS.1-h9 briqf .sig1cd by Dole hightightcd in support .of the lower courr's position. Bui rl'tlrs'ilh0{ffic'tof'Attrli Gcili Ed 

"M.csc- rn4,+r::.4NQ.has t+, ullcriqtpotive. It iavors rhe brea.
Assislant Atty. Cen. Reynolds. up of mulii-memUei aistiicti because'it believ,

"They are being isolated," Neas gloated. Republicans, as the minority party in areas such r

"Having failed legislatively, they are making an at- many parts of the South, have a better chance r

tempt in the Supreme Court to sabotage the Voting picking up seats in single-member districts.
Rights Act." - And unlike Dole, who publicly denounced tl

What makes this situation particularly out- Administration position on the issue, RNC ofi
rageous is that Dote solemnl/ piedged, not on.. cials took a much lower profile. E. Mark Bracler
but many times during the Senate debate on his chlet counsel to the RNC, attributecl the commi
amendment, that it was in no way inten{ed to lead 11..,t_ ""i"., .ro 

a con-flict between Administratio
to proportional repres'entation but precisety the policy and the party's political needs. "lt puts u

on different sides," said Braden. ,.lt,s not thopposite.

tn-aJune lT,lgs2,speechontheSenatefloor, mostcomfortablepositionl'veeverbeenin."
Dole emphasized that the purpose of his amend-
ment was to alleviate fears that a ,,results" stan-
dard "could be interpreted as gradting a right of
proportional representation.

"This is a matter of great concern,,' Dole
acknowledged. "Yet, during the hearings, a unani_
mous consensus. . .developed from witnesses on:
all sides, among both opponents and proponents
of the results test, that the test for Section i claims
should not be whether members of a protected
class have achieved proportional represintation.
And that became a matter of great importance.

"lt violates fundamental principles in this coun-
try if we are going to have proportional rgpresenta-
tion," Dole said. "lt was generally agr..d that rhe
concept of identifiable groups having a right to be
elected in proportion to their voting potential was
repugnant to the democratic principles upon which
our society is based."

Later, in language almost identical to that used
by the Administration in its current Supreme Court
brief, Dole explained that the focus of his amend_
ment was "on whether there is equal access to the,
political process, not on whether members of a

particular minority group have achieved proJ
tional election results.

"l would again underscore as strongly as I c
in the event the legislative history is rCferred tr
future court cases in future disputes about r

matter, that I think it is clear, the Senator who
fered a compromise believes it is ctear, that in
way can this be construed to provide that remr
that would require proportional representation

And then, lest anyone doubt his sincerity on
issue, Dole stressed: "lf this Senator felt for a n
ment that somehow through my handiwork or
efforts that we were, in fact, setting up some pre
dent that would lead to proportional represen
tion, I would withdraw the amendment imme
ately, if I felt that were the case.

"I cannot stand here and suggest what so:
judge or some court may decide 10, 20, 30, 40,
years from now, but any judge or any court or a
student or any writer or any future senator looki
at the record should understand the intent of t
senator from Kansas, if for some reason it. is n
made clear."

In their brief interprering rhe Voting Rights A,
then, Administration officials have simply tak,
,Dole at his word. Perhaps next rime they will knc
better.

o Dole and his colleagues are not alone in chr

State Urging Radical
Policies for South Africa

President Reagan is said to stilt favor vetoing thc
South Africa sanctions bill should it pass rhe Sen-
ate this week. But his cause has hardly been helpecl
by the State Department's astonishing plea that
South Africa should allow the outtawed African
National Congress to take part in any discussions
between the government and black leaders abour
the country's future.

A senior department official stressed in a brief-
ing to reporters on August 29 that the South Afri-
can governent should be talking to the African Na-
tional Congross, that it ,,should be reaching as
broadly and widely as it can, and that includes the
ANC." A day later, department spokesman Anita

6 / Human Events / sepreiaaen 14, 1e8s