There was one obstacle: the Congressional Black Caucus. Led by showboating Rep. Kweisi Mfume, the caucus has been effective at making the president squirm on issues ranging from Haiti to welfare reform. The 40-member caucus doesn’t have the votes to kill the crime bill, but Clinton has tried – awkwardly – to appease the members because he doesn’t want to appear disrespectful of African-Americans, or to alienate a traditional Democratic constituency.
The Black Caucus has been holding out for an amendment to the crime bill called the Racial Justice Act. It would allow death-row inmates to argue that they were being unfairly subjected to the death penalty if statistics showed that capital punishment fell disproportionately on minorities. Conservatives immediately dubbed the measure the “quota for murderers act”; it passed the House, but has no chance in the Senate.
White House aides say that Clinton has never really cared whether the Racial Justice Act passes or not; he just doesn’t want it to hold up his entire crime bill. At first, the president tried to stay above the fight by not taking a public position on the race provision, but Black Caucus leaders interpreted this as a snub. White House aides had to try to find a way to quietly roll African-American lawmakers. The usual way is to buy votes by larding up a bill with projects dear to balky congressmen. But the crime bill was already laced with fat. The bill includes some $9 billion in crime-prevention programs, of which $2 billion is “pure pork” for local government, says an administration official. The money was put in the bill to please Rep. John Conyers of Michigan, a powerful caucus member on the House Judiciary Committee. Conyers is satisfied – but most other caucus members are not. “The payoff isn’t working,” lamented a White House aide.
The caucus did offer not to push the Racial Justice Act if Congress dropped the 60-odd new death penalties that are part of the crime bill. No chance, said a White House official. Conservative Senate leader Phil Gramm “would knock the crap out of us,” he explained. The White House then suggested an executive order barring discrimination in capital sentencing. The caucus dismissed that as a sham, noting that federal death sentences make up less than 1 percent of all capital cases. One Justice Department aide said the administration also wanted “to throw them a commission or something,” meaning a blue-ribbon panel to study racial bias in death sentences. The caucus threw the bone back. “I don’t need a commission to tell me the death penalty has been administered in a discriminatory fashion,” said North Carolina Rep. Melvin Watt.
At the White House, officials began to joke that the only solution was a U.S. invasion of Haiti, which caucus members favor. Exasperated, administration officials tried to divide and conquer: Attorney General Janet Reno lobbied individual members of the caucus, arguing that the bill was too good (and too full of goodies) to sink over a relatively minor dispute. White House chief of staff Leon Panetta tried to get tough by announcing there would be no deal. That just made caucus leader Mfume denounce the White House for negotiating in bad faith.
The White House was tempted to just steamroll the caucus. But it needs at least some congressional blacks to counterbalance a last-minute defection of right-wing Democrats to the gun lobby, which dislikes a ban on assault weapons. Last week Don Edwards, a liberal California congressman, tried to act as go-between. He found himself anxiously denying reports that he had been cut out of earlier talks by the Black Caucus leadership because he is white. In the end, the administration will probably find some face-saving deal to buy off a few caucus members. Still, black lawmakers say they are bruised and alienated from Clinton. The administration cannot just ignore their feelings: Clinton will need their votes when health care comes to the floor next month.
title: “Buying Off The Black Caucus” ShowToc: true date: “2023-01-01” author: “Emily Pearcy”
There was one obstacle: the Congressional Black Caucus. Led by showboating Rep. Kweisi Mfume, the caucus has been effective at making the president squirm on issues ranging from Haiti to welfare reform. The 40-member caucus doesn’t have the votes to kill the crime bill, but Clinton has tried – awkwardly – to appease the members because he doesn’t want to appear disrespectful of African-Americans, or to alienate a traditional Democratic constituency.
The Black Caucus has been holding out for an amendment to the crime bill called the Racial Justice Act. It would allow death-row inmates to argue that they were being unfairly subjected to the death penalty if statistics showed that capital punishment fell disproportionately on minorities. Conservatives immediately dubbed the measure the “quota for murderers act”; it passed the House, but has no chance in the Senate.
White House aides say that Clinton has never really cared whether the Racial Justice Act passes or not; he just doesn’t want it to hold up his entire crime bill. At first, the president tried to stay above the fight by not taking a public position on the race provision, but Black Caucus leaders interpreted this as a snub. White House aides had to try to find a way to quietly roll African-American lawmakers. The usual way is to buy votes by larding up a bill with projects dear to balky congressmen. But the crime bill was already laced with fat. The bill includes some $9 billion in crime-prevention programs, of which $2 billion is “pure pork” for local government, says an administration official. The money was put in the bill to please Rep. John Conyers of Michigan, a powerful caucus member on the House Judiciary Committee. Conyers is satisfied – but most other caucus members are not. “The payoff isn’t working,” lamented a White House aide.
The caucus did offer not to push the Racial Justice Act if Congress dropped the 60-odd new death penalties that are part of the crime bill. No chance, said a White House official. Conservative Senate leader Phil Gramm “would knock the crap out of us,” he explained. The White House then suggested an executive order barring discrimination in capital sentencing. The caucus dismissed that as a sham, noting that federal death sentences make up less than 1 percent of all capital cases. One Justice Department aide said the administration also wanted “to throw them a commission or something,” meaning a blue-ribbon panel to study racial bias in death sentences. The caucus threw the bone back. “I don’t need a commission to tell me the death penalty has been administered in a discriminatory fashion,” said North Carolina Rep. Melvin Watt.
At the White House, officials began to joke that the only solution was a U.S. invasion of Haiti, which caucus members favor. Exasperated, administration officials tried to divide and conquer: Attorney General Janet Reno lobbied individual members of the caucus, arguing that the bill was too good (and too full of goodies) to sink over a relatively minor dispute. White House chief of staff Leon Panetta tried to get tough by announcing there would be no deal. That just made caucus leader Mfume denounce the White House for negotiating in bad faith.
The White House was tempted to just steamroll the caucus. But it needs at least some congressional blacks to counterbalance a last-minute defection of right-wing Democrats to the gun lobby, which dislikes a ban on assault weapons. Last week Don Edwards, a liberal California congressman, tried to act as go-between. He found himself anxiously denying reports that he had been cut out of earlier talks by the Black Caucus leadership because he is white. In the end, the administration will probably find some face-saving deal to buy off a few caucus members. Still, black lawmakers say they are bruised and alienated from Clinton. The administration cannot just ignore their feelings: Clinton will need their votes when health care comes to the floor next month.
