Assembly Resolution No. 9--Assemblymen Batten,
               Williams and Arberry

                FILE NUMBER........


ASSEMBLY RESOLUTION--Expressing commitment to and support for the 
       ideals and concepts of properly designed affirmative 
       action programs.


  WHEREAS, It is a commonly held belief that 
the United States is a nation which was founded upon the 
ideals of fairness and equal opportunity; and
  WHEREAS, The unfortunate reality, which has 
been repeatedly recognized by the courts of this country, is 
that the Constitution of the United States was neither 
color-blind nor gender neutral and therefore tolerated 
racial and gender inequities for almost 200 years; and
  WHEREAS, Most residents of this country became 
cognizant of this fact during the 1960's with the 
realization that most job categories, professions and 
college admissions were overwhelmingly dominated by white 
males; and
  WHEREAS, To achieve those originating ideals 
of fairness and equal opportunity, a national policy for 
equal employment opportunity was established in 1961 when 
President John F. Kennedy ordered the Federal Government 
itself and companies which conducted business with the 
Federal Government to eliminate from their workplaces any 
discrimination based on race, creed, color or national 
origin; and
  WHEREAS, During the subsequent Johnson 
administration, the policy of affirmative action was first 
implemented as a tool to open opportunity and fairness for 
all qualified applicants in the workplace and in education; 
and
  WHEREAS, Affirmative action is a policy which 
negates the effects of historic and continuing patterns of 
discrimination against qualified applicants and beneficially 
produces a richly diversified work force or student body; 
and
  WHEREAS, Properly designed affirmative action 
programs allow those who are equally qualified, but who were 
previously underrepresented, to obtain equal access to the 
basic rights of every citizen of the United States; and
  WHEREAS, The goal of affirmative action has 
since been expanded to include the elimination of 
discrimination on the basis of sex; and
  WHEREAS, Even though affirmative action has 
advanced the ideals of fairness and equal opportunity, the 
reality is that discrimination and prejudice still exist in 
this nation because social conditions have not sufficiently 
progressed to eliminate all unfairness and inequality in 
such areas as employment, rate of pay, professional 
advancement and housing; and
  WHEREAS, Female employees are paid an average 
of $.72 for each $1 that is paid to male employees for the 
same job, and when considered separately, nonwhite females 
earn even less at $.65 for each $1 paid to a male employee 
for the same job; and
  WHEREAS, Further evidence that the goal of 
equal opportunity has not yet been met is 
illustrated by the fact that 92,000 civil rights cases were 
filed with the United States Justice Department in 1994; and
  WHEREAS, It is a common misconception that 
affirmative action gives a preference to unqualified 
applicants; and
  WHEREAS, The truth is that affirmative action 
allows employers and institutions of higher learning to set 
goals (not quotas) which will enable them, only after 
establishing that the remaining applicants are equally 
qualified, to consider race, ethnicity and gender as 
criteria for selection; and
  WHEREAS, It is also a common misconception 
that affirmative action causes qualified white males to be 
treated unfairly when they apply for employment or 
educational opportunities, and interferes with their 
expectation that they possess a unique entitlement to those 
opportunities; and
  WHEREAS, The truth is that properly designed 
affirmative action plans actually embrace our traditional 
notions of competition which, unfortunately, include the 
universal and historical reality that when a finite number 
of positions are available, some candidates, though 
qualified, will be turned away; and
  WHEREAS, While impressive gains in many job 
categories have been made, the federal Glass Ceiling 
Commission recently reported that 95 percent of corporate 
America's upper management (defined as vice president and 
above) are still white males; and
  WHEREAS, Affirmative action should continue, 
without myth and without apology, to be a tool which allows 
the consideration of race, ethnicity and gender as 
additional criteria that may be used in choosing among the 
many qualified applicants for employment or educational 
opportunities; now, therefore, be it
  RESOLVED BY THE ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF 
NEVADA, That the members of the Assembly of the 68th 
session of the Nevada Legislature hereby express their 
commitment to and support for the ideals and concepts of 
properly designed affirmative action plans; and be it 
further
  RESOLVED, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly 
prepare and transmit a copy of this resolution to the 
Governor for distribution to the head of each agency in the 
executive department of the state government, to the 
Attorney General for distribution to each District Attorney 
in the State of Nevada, to the Board of Regents of the 
University and Community College System of Nevada, to the 
Executive Director of the Nevada Association of Counties for 
distribution to each board of county commissioners in this 
state, and to the Executive Director of the Nevada League of 
Cities for distribution to each city council in the State of 
Nevada.

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