Powell's Amendments

Rep. Adam Clayton Powell's announcement that he plans to start introducing his "discrimination amendments" to welfare bills once again can bring no joy to advocates of civil rights or of liberal legislation. Whatever the Congressman's motives, his introducing the amendments can bring nothing but trouble for such worthwhile measures as the aid to education bill, and can do very little for civil rights.

The "Powell Amendment" game is familiar and the rules are simple: to a bill which would, for example, grant federal aid to schools, Powell attempts to add an amendment barring any aid under the bill from going to segregated school systems. If the amendment passes, no Southerner can vote for the bill and it is defeated. Conservative Republicans gleefully vote for the amendment in an attempt to kill the bill, putting liberal Congressmen in an embarrassing position; they can vote for the amendment and kill the bill, or vote against it and be charged with discrimination during their next election campaign.

Powell introduced such amendments throughout the Eisenhower administration, but agreed to stop advancing them when President Kennedy took office, ostensibly to see whether the President would take action in the field of civil rights. His announced motive for resuming the amendment game is a hope of irritating the President into taking some positive action against segregation.

One can easily sympathize with the Congressman's belief that the administration is not doing enough about civil rights. It is questionable, however, whether dissatisfaction with Kennedy's civil rights record is Powell's only motive in introducing his amendments--the House Democratic leadership recently helped cut the funds for Powell's committee and forbade the group's members to travel abroad at government expense. Whatever his motives, Powell has chosen one of the least appetizing ways imaginable of attempting to end segregation.

The education bill is in enough trouble without the issue of segregation to cause dissension among its supporters. To defeat the education bill is not the best way to advance the cause of civil rights.