Remember when everybody thought affirmative action as breathing its last? On Sept. 11, Congress reauthorized the Orwellian-sounding “Airport Improvement Program,” which mandates that at least 10 percent of the companies operating at the nation’s airports be owned by minorities or women. In so doing, it overlooked last year’s Supreme Court ruling that such programs are unconstitutional. The House leadership still refused to strip the provision. GOP Rep. Charles Canady of Florida, the author of legislation to abolish such preferences, tried to build opposition but was told that no debate and no amendments would be permitted. Thus a Congress that once had as a goal the abolition of federally sponsored racial and gender preferences has now reauthorized legislation conraining such preferences. Nice going, guys.
