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CNN Live At Daybreak
Bush Administration Files Friend of the Court Brief at Supreme Court
Aired January 16, 2003 - 05:02 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: It is an issue as old as the nation, civil rights, a level playing field for all. Well, today the Bush administration files a friend of the court brief at the Supreme Court asking it to declare Michigan's race conscious admissions policy unconstitutional. I'm talking about the University of Michigan. Mr. Bush says there are better ways to achieve racial balance.
Our Suzanne Malveaux has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Bush is throwing the weight of the White House into what some consider to be the most far reaching affirmative action case the Supreme Court has faced in a generation.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Quota systems that use race to include or exclude people from higher education and the opportunities it offers are divisive, unfair and impossible to square with the constitution.
MALVEAUX: In a brief to be filed with the Supreme Court, the White House will argue there are better options to achieve diversity than affirmative action.
BUSH: Systems in California and Florida and Texas have proven that by guaranteeing admissions to the top students from high schools throughout the state, including low income neighborhoods, colleges can attain broad racial diversity.
MALVEAUX: Solicitor General Ted Olson and conservative Republicans have been pushing Mr. Bush to take a hard line against racial preferences, to state that it is never justifiable and even unconstitutional for public universities to use race as part of their admissions.
But Mr. Bush's political advisers were concerned such a rigid stand would turn away minority voters, particularly Hispanics, who the White House has been actively courting for a Bush 2004 presidential bid. Mr. Bush won the presidency with 35 percent of the Hispanic vote and nine percent of the African-American vote. The president ran in 2000 as a compassionate conservative, aware then and now the need to bring more minorities into the Republican fold. A need highlighted following Senator Trent Lott's controversial remarks praising Senator Strom Thurmond's 1948 segregationist presidential bid, comments that cost Lott the Republican leadership. (on camera): The White House is already facing criticism from the Congressional Black Caucus and the Democratic leadership. But Mr. Bush is pushing for what he calls affirmative access, alternative ways to achieving diversity.
Suzanne Malveaux, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: And this case comes from three rejected white applicants, two prospective undergraduates and one law student. They argue their records would have gotten them admitted if they were minorities. The university uses a scoring system on admissions that gives extra points to minorities and socioeconomically deprived students.
Now, University of Michigan's Law School says 10 to 12 percent of each class must be made up of minorities. The Supreme Court hears the case in April and will issue a decision later on this year.
As sure as winter brings the cold, there is political fallout from all of this. Our senior political analyst Bill Schneider answers our Wake Up Call on this issue in the next hour of CNN DAYBREAK.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Supreme Court>
Aired January 16, 2003 - 05:02 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: It is an issue as old as the nation, civil rights, a level playing field for all. Well, today the Bush administration files a friend of the court brief at the Supreme Court asking it to declare Michigan's race conscious admissions policy unconstitutional. I'm talking about the University of Michigan. Mr. Bush says there are better ways to achieve racial balance.
Our Suzanne Malveaux has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Bush is throwing the weight of the White House into what some consider to be the most far reaching affirmative action case the Supreme Court has faced in a generation.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Quota systems that use race to include or exclude people from higher education and the opportunities it offers are divisive, unfair and impossible to square with the constitution.
MALVEAUX: In a brief to be filed with the Supreme Court, the White House will argue there are better options to achieve diversity than affirmative action.
BUSH: Systems in California and Florida and Texas have proven that by guaranteeing admissions to the top students from high schools throughout the state, including low income neighborhoods, colleges can attain broad racial diversity.
MALVEAUX: Solicitor General Ted Olson and conservative Republicans have been pushing Mr. Bush to take a hard line against racial preferences, to state that it is never justifiable and even unconstitutional for public universities to use race as part of their admissions.
But Mr. Bush's political advisers were concerned such a rigid stand would turn away minority voters, particularly Hispanics, who the White House has been actively courting for a Bush 2004 presidential bid. Mr. Bush won the presidency with 35 percent of the Hispanic vote and nine percent of the African-American vote. The president ran in 2000 as a compassionate conservative, aware then and now the need to bring more minorities into the Republican fold. A need highlighted following Senator Trent Lott's controversial remarks praising Senator Strom Thurmond's 1948 segregationist presidential bid, comments that cost Lott the Republican leadership. (on camera): The White House is already facing criticism from the Congressional Black Caucus and the Democratic leadership. But Mr. Bush is pushing for what he calls affirmative access, alternative ways to achieving diversity.
Suzanne Malveaux, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: And this case comes from three rejected white applicants, two prospective undergraduates and one law student. They argue their records would have gotten them admitted if they were minorities. The university uses a scoring system on admissions that gives extra points to minorities and socioeconomically deprived students.
Now, University of Michigan's Law School says 10 to 12 percent of each class must be made up of minorities. The Supreme Court hears the case in April and will issue a decision later on this year.
As sure as winter brings the cold, there is political fallout from all of this. Our senior political analyst Bill Schneider answers our Wake Up Call on this issue in the next hour of CNN DAYBREAK.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Supreme Court>
