Letter of Transmittal

U.S. COMMISSION ON CIVIL RIGHTS,

Washington, D.C., September 1970.

THE PRESIDENT,

THE PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE,

THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

SIRS: The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights presents to you this report pursuant to Public Law 85-315, as amended.

The report describes the structure, mechanisms, and procedures utilized by Federal departments and agencies in carrying out their civil rights responsibilities. Over the years the Commission has issued a number of reports evaluating the civil rights activities of individual departments and agencies and identifying inadequacies that call for corrective action. This report attempts to evaluate for one moment in time the status of the entire Federal civil rights enforcement effort to determine how effectively the Federal Government as a whole has geared itself to carrying out civil rights responsibilities pursuant to the various constitutional, congressional, and Presidential mandates which govern their activities. While the report deals with specific agencies and specific civil rights programs, it does not purport to treat them exhaustively. Rather, the principal purpose of the report is to survey the status of civil rights in the Federal Government generally—to identify those problems that are systemic to the Federal establishment and to determine ways in which the civil rights effort of all Federal departments and agencies may be strengthened.

Our research has disclosed a number of inadequacies common to nearly all Federal departments and agencies-inadequacies in agency recognition of the nature and scope of their civil rights responsibilities, in the methods used to determine civil rights compliance, and in the use of enforcement techniques to eliminate noncompliance. These inadequacies exist regardless of the kinds of programs the agencies administer or the specific civil rights laws they enforce. In the Commission's view, strong remedial measures are needed if all departments and agencies are to carry out their civil rights responsibilities with maximum effectiveness.

We urge your consideration of the facts presented and recommendations made for corrective action.

Respectfully yours,

Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C., Chairman
Stephen Horn, Vice Chairman

Frankie M. Freeman

Maurice B. Mitchell

Robert S. Rankin

Manuel Ruiz, Jr.

Howard A. Glickstein, Staff Director

Acknowledgments

The Commission is indebted to the following staff members and former staff members who participated in the preparation of this report under Project Director Jeffrey M. Miller, now Chief, Federal Evaluation Division, Office of Civil Rights Program and Policy:

Geneva E. Adkins, Klaire V. Adkins,
Ann E. Allen, Mary V. Avant, Maribeth
Bibb, Linda F. Blumenfeld, Lucille L.
Boston, Claudette C. Brown, Joyce M.
Butler, Margaret A. Carter, Robert H.
Cohen, Janice L. Comer, Ruby T. Daniels,
Cynthia A. Freeman, Richard A. Glad-
stone, Wallace Greene, Treola J. Grooms,
Gabriel Guerra-Mondragon, Jr., Sandra
E. Hall, Lorraine W. Johnson, Karen J.
Krueger, Frank E. Leslie, William S.
Lipkin, Moses Lukaczer, Bruce E. New-
man, William C. Payne, Rodgers Priester,
Anita Prout, Everett J. Santos, Diana J.
Siegfried, Barry W. Strejcek, Richard L.
Waters, Brenda Watts, Sheila P. Wilson.

The Commission also is grateful to the following consultants who provided guidance and editorial assistance throughout the course of the study: Walter W. Giesey, Frederick B. Routh, Allen Schick, and William L. Taylor.

The report was prepared under the overall supervision of Martin E. Sloane, Assistant Staff Director, Office of Civil Rights Program and Policy.