Senator Feingold commemorates Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, TN.

Civil Rights

EQUAL RIGHTS AND PROTECTIONS

"America was founded on the principle of freedom for all people, and I strongly believe that the civil rights of all individuals should be vigorously upheld regardless of race, religion, national origin, gender, age, disability, genetic make-up, or sexual orientation. Upholding the rights of all citizens has proven to be a struggle throughout our history, but nothing worthwhile is achieved without a struggle.

I strongly believe that jobs, schools, and housing decisions should not be made on the basis of race or nationality. I authored legislation that prohibits employers from requiring, as a condition of employment or promotion, that employees surrender their right to file civil actions against the employer for sexual harassment or civil rights violations. This coercive practice, known as mandatory arbitration, undermines an employee's ability to fight civil rights violations. Americans should not be forced, as a condition of obtaining employment, to check their rights at the front door of the workplace. I will continue to aggressively and actively fight to combat discrimination and prejudice."

ACHIEVEMENTS

Voting Record: Senator Feingold has received stellar ratings from the NAACP for his voting record ever since he was first elected in 1992. Most recently he received a perfect 100% rating for his commitment to racial equality for 2003, the first half of the 108th Congress.

Voting Record: In 2000, the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda gave Senator Feingold a perfect 100% rating for his commitment to racial equality.

Voting Record: From 1999-2000, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights gave Senator Feingold among the highest ratings in the Senate for his support of civil rights.

Fighting For Workers' Civil Rights: In 2000, Senator Feingold introduced the Civil Rights Procedures Protection Act. This legislation prohibits employers from requiring, as a condition of employment or promotion, that employees surrender their right to file civil actions against the employer for sexual harassment or civil rights violations. In 1999, Senator Feingold introduced mandatory arbitration legislation that allowed car dealers to take disputes with automobile manufacturers to court.

Ending Racial Profiling: Senator Feingold has taken the lead on ending the abusive practice of racial profiling. Along with Michigan Representative John Conyers, Senator Feingold has introduced legislation that would make racial profiling unlawful and create outlets for individuals to report misconduct by individual police officers.

Abolishing the Death Penalty: Senator Feingold is the leading opponent of the death penalty in the Senate. He has spoken out repeatedly in opposition to the death penalty as a barbaric assault on civil rights, and has introduced legislation that would both abolish the death penalty at the Federal level.

Fighting "Redlining": Senator Feingold authored legislation that prevents insurance companies from "redlining" certain communities. Redlining is a form of institutional racism that prevents people from realizing the American dream of owning their own home by restricting access to homeowner's insurance in targeted areas. As a Wisconsin State Senator, Senator Feingold authored a bill to establish a Wisconsin Community Reinvestment Act to ensure that financial institutions provide services to city residents and business in their surrounding area.

Ending Discrimination:

-Senator Feingold successfully fought efforts to strip the government of its authority to investigate illegal property insurance discrimination. Without Senator Feingold's action, the government would be unable to investigate complaints of property insurance discrimination similar to recent cases in Milwaukee.

-After listening to numerous complaints of racial discrimination and harassment in the Milwaukee Post Office, Senator Feingold brought the case to the attention of both the Postmaster General and the Department of Justice for a full investigation of the allegations.

-Senator Feingold called for the establishment of a panel to address the equal employment opportunity practices in the Milwaukee-Waukesha offices of the Internal Revenue Service.

-Senator Feingold has also been a longtime supporter of the call for a dialogue on race relations. As one of our nation's major challenges, people across the nation need to think of constructive ways to make such a dialogue positive and not divisive.

Honoring Martin Luther King, Jr: Senator Feingold was the lead author in the State Senate of the Marcia Coggs bill, making Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday a legal holiday in Wisconsin. That bill became law in 1983.

Supporting Minority Businesses: Senator Feingold has always fought to give minorities a fair chance, including most recently in the highway funding bill, where he supported affirmative action policies to expand the applicant pool, encourage participation by businesses owned by minorities, recruit qualified minorities into the applicant pool, and to encourage contractors to request bids from businesses owned by minorities and include qualified minorities in an applicant pool for transportation contracts.

Native Americans: While Senator Feingold is committed to achieving a balanced budget, he believes it is possible to do so without undermining important programs that provide essential services. For those reasons he opposed efforts to reduce funding for Native American programs. Senator Feingold believes we have a responsibility to meet the federal government's legal trust obligation to the tribes, and he recognizes how important these funds are to Wisconsin.

READ MORE:

Facts and profiling, (Boston Globe, April 8, 2004)

Read about Senator Feingold's work on abolishing the death penalty