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- NATION, Page 32American NotesCIVIL RIGHTSHeaded for A Veto?
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- It looked like a lopsided win for the Democrats last week when
- their civil rights bill passed in the House, 273-158. But looks
- can be deceiving: the yeas fell 17 votes shy of the 290
- (two-thirds of the full House) needed to override President
- Bush's promised veto. Bush has repeatedly charged that the
- legislation would encourage racial hiring quotas, though the
- bill specifically declares job quotas illegal.
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- The bill was intended to counter a series of Supreme Court
- decisions that make it more difficult for workers to win
- job-discrimination lawsuits. Democrats accuse the President of
- playing racial politics, preferring to flog the quota issue in
- next year's election rather than pass an effective law.
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- The bill now moves to the Senate, where there is already
- talk of compromise. A group of nine moderate Republicans, led
- by Missouri's John Danforth, have put together their own
- version in an attempt to bridge the gulf separating Bush and the
- Democrats. "There is still time to reach a compromise that will
- bring us together," said Democratic Senator Edward M. Kennedy.
- But the White House has so far shown little interest in
- negotiating.
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