COMMITTEE ON LABOR AND PUBLIC WELFARE HARRISON A. WILLIAMS, JR., New Jersey, Chairman JENNINGS RANDOLPH, West Virginia JACOB K. JAVITS, New York J. GLENN BEALL, JR., Maryland NOMINATION WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 12, 1973 U.S. SENATE, COMMITTEE ON LABOR AND PUBLIC WELFARE, The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:10 a.m. in room 4232, Dirksen Office Building, Senator Jacob Javits presiding pro tempore. Present: Senators Javits, Eagleton, and Beall. Committee staff present: Robert E. Nagle, general counsel; Donald E. Elisburg, associate counsel, Subcommittee on Labor; and Eugene Mittelman, minority counsel. Senator JAVITS. The committee will come to order. By direction of the chairman, Senator Williams, I will preside this morning until the arrival of the chairman or another Senator deputized by him to preside. Our hearing this morning is to consider the nomination of John H. Powell, Jr., to be a member of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The post is the single most important one dealing with civil rights in the U.S. Government. The Commission now has new authority to bring legal actions to enforce the employment guarantees of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, and over 160 suits have already been instituted by the Commission. Given the critical position of the Commission, the vigor of its enforcement program and its ability to manage its load and the intelligence and sophistication which it brings to dealing with this problem are critically important for the total equal employment program of the country. In past years this committee has expressed its concern with the problems facing the EEOC, particularly the huge backlog of cases, now almost 90,000, which have accumulated over the years. At one point Senator Williams and I wrote a letter to the Commission about these problems and it was unanswered for several months. The chairman had to be at another meeting at this same time but plans to be here before we adjourn. I order his statement printed in the hearing record at this point. PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. HARRISON A. WILLIAMS, JR., CHAIRMAN, COMMITTEE ON LABOR AND PUBLIC WELFARE The CHAIRMAN. Just about 2 years ago the Senate embarked on a debate which ultimately lead to enactment of the Equal Employment (1) Opportunity Act of 1972. This measure gave needed enforcement to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission by empowering it to bring court actions against those who would deny people equal employment opportunity because of their race, color, religion, sex or national origin. The debates were long and hard. We had a 5-week filibuster, but in the end, EEOC had broad new powers. Since March 1972 when these amendments became effective, Senator Javits and I have spent a considerable amount of time in reviewing the implementation by the Commission of its new powers. Like all agencies with new authority the results have been mixed, but we believe that EEOC is on the road to more effective enforcement activity. The committee staff has been directed to maintain a close liaison with the Commission and I expect that the General Accounting Office will begin a review of the EEOC's activities for the committee in a few weeks. Senator Javits will be explaining more fully why the hearing on this nomination was delayed while we received clarification from the White House on the administration's intentions regarding EEOC's enforcement programs. The meeting with administration officials on this matter brought a full commitment to the EEOC program, and I want to state for the record that we will be keeping a watchful eye on this agency. Senator JAVITS. The Chair will introduce into the record Mr. Powell's biography and the statutory description of the duties of the office. [The information referred to follows:] |