Comment on Dodd-Frank Proposed Interagency Policy Statement

Commissioners Todd Gaziano, Gail Heriot, Peter Kirsanow, and Abigail Thernstrom of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights have submitted the attached incisive comment regarding an issue that has long been of interest to the Center for Equal Opportunity.  Here’s the background:  Last month, a number of Obama administration agencies with financial-sector regulatory responsibilities jointly published in the Federal Register a proposed “Policy Statement Establishing Joint Standards for Assessing the Diversity Policies and Practices of Entities Regulated by the Agencies.”  The statement comes as a result of Section 342 of the Dodd-Frank legislation, which requires these agencies each to “establish an Office of Minority and Women Inclusion” that, in turn, is to develop diversity and inclusion standards for workplaces and contracting.  CEO president Roger Clegg wrote a short summary of Section 342 here, and blogged about the recent policy statement here.

 

The proposed statement is even worse than the bill itself, since it aggressively applies not only to the agencies themselves but also to all those regulated by it, and repeatedly insists on the use of “metrics” and “percentage[s]“ (i.e., numerical quotas) to ensure compliance. And while the statute at least cautions that diversity efforts are to be undertaken “in a manner consistent with the applicable law” (like the Constitution and, presumably, federal civil-rights statutes that are colorblind in their protection against discrimination), there is no such nod in the proposed statement, nor is there any mention of stopping or preventing discrimination – the only possible justification for consideration of race, ethnicity, and sex in hiring, promotion, and contracting.  Comments on the proposed statement are due by Christmas Eve, and here’s hoping that the government receives more feedback like the Commissioners’ excellent letter.