U.S. Commission on Civil Rights demands changes to Democrats’ financial reform bill

Reynolds continued by noting that the Section 342 provision in the bill fails to address the real problem for why there is a lack of minorities in the financial sector.

“Section 342 of the Dodd-Frank bill is flawed because it does nothing to address the ‘pool’ problem,” Reynolds went on to say. “The real question it should be asking is, ‘why is the pool of highly-qualified blacks so small?’ One of the drivers is that the quality of education they receive in urban communities is often poor…Instead of focusing on what the root cause is and on the problem, proponents of Section 342 of Dodd-Frank are looking at the results that flow from the problem. They are working on the wrong end to fix it.”

Commissioner Michael Yaki did not sign the letter and says he does not intend to. He was in the minority, saying that his peers were too uninformed to have an opinion on the matter.

“This letter is premature and shows how diversity is a four letter word to some of these commissioners,” he said. “This legislation does not use the word quota. It just works to diversify sectors which have not traditionally been populated by minorities. How they can conclude that this will lead to quotas without hard facts is ridiculous and premature.”

Commissioner Gail Heriot signed on to the letter, but would not speculate as to whether it would have an effect or not. “Our job as commissioners is to advise Congress and the President. Whether they take that advice is up to them,” she said.

Commissioner Peter Kirsanow was more blunt.

“I don’t think it is going to have a substantial effect,” he said. “I think they will ignore it as they have other letters we have sent. Just recently, they ignored our concerns with the health care bill, which contains a number of highly suspect racial provisions embedded deep within the text. They will emerge at some point and we will have to deal with them.”

Kirsanow added that in addition to the constitutional problems associated with mandating quotas, the political implications are also troubling.

“There is considerable evidence over the years that these types of quota provisions dissolve into a political spoils system—we see it at the federal, state and local level—with certain positions being reserved for certain people,” he said.

Commissioner Abigail Thernstrom was also concerned about the implications of Section 342. She told The Daily Caller that had she seen the letter prior to its release, she too would have signed on in opposition to the provision.

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