Highlights of Senator Boxer's Record on Civil Rights

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Great strides have been made to give every American an equal opportunity to fulfill the American dream. Still, too often, minorities face significant barriers to equal opportunity. Senator Boxer is dedicated to tearing down those barriers and providing the opportunity for every American to reach his or her full potential.

• Civil Rights: The ideals embodied in the civil rights laws of the 1960s remain an unfulfilled goal. While a member of the House, Senator Boxer cosponsored the Civil Liberties Act of 1987, the Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1988, and the Civil Rights Acts of 1990 and 1991.  She has continued that strong commitment to civil rights in the Senate.
  • She cosponsored and strongly supported the Civil Rights Act of 2008, to strengthen the nation's civil rights statutes by, among other things, making it easier to show that an employer's policies have had a discriminatory impact on minorities.
  • She supported legislation to prohibit law enforcement agencies around the country from engaging in racial profiling.
  • She has supported the Hate Crimes Prevention Act to expand and enhance enforcement of the federal hate crimes law, as well as legislation to assist local law enforcement agencies in investigating and prosecuting hate crimes.
  • She supported creating a position at the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate and prosecute unresolved violations of civil rights that occurred before 1970 and that resulted in an individual's death.
     
• Voting Rights: The right to vote is one of the most fundamental rights in a democracy. Senator Boxer is committed to ensuring that every American has the right to vote and that every vote counts.
  • In 2006, she supported extending the Voting Rights Act, to ensure that minorities would not be discriminated against in the voting booth.
  • Following the allegations of vote tampering and voter suppression among minorities in Ohio during the 2004 presidential election, Senator Boxer was the lone Senator to join Representative Stephanie Tubbs Jones in challenging the certification of Ohio's electoral votes.
  • Senator Boxer introduced legislation to require that electronic voting machines produce a paper record so that voters can verify their votes before they are counted.
     
• Health Care: Racial and ethnic minorities face some unique health care issues and have historically suffered from a lack of access to high quality health care services.
  • Senator Boxer has supported legislation to improve access to health care services for minorities and to eliminate the racial and ethnic disparities in health care.
  • Senator Boxer has supported legislation to improve access to health care services and fund research into diseases such as sickle cell anemia and diabetes that disproportionately affect minorities.
  • She cosponsored the law that created the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), providing millions of low-income children access to health care. Recently, she fought to expand SCHIP for almost 700,000 children in California; it finally became law in early 2009.
  • Senator Boxer has also supported legislation to ensure quality health care for Native Americans, and in 2008, she led the effort in the Senate to restore funding for the Urban Indian Health program to preserve access to health care for over 400,000 Native Americans.
  • Senator Boxer introduced the HOPE Youth Pregnancy Prevention Act, which is aimed at preventing teen pregnancy among at-risk and disadvantaged youth.
     
• Institutions of Higher Education: College is one of the most important paths to success in America. Institutions of higher education that serve large minority populations face unique challenges.
  • Senator Boxer wrote the 2008 law allowing colleges and universities to be designated as Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Higher Education Serving Institutions. AAPI colleges can receive grants and other federal assistance to help the colleges meet their educational missions in serving Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.
  • Senator Boxer has also supported legislation to expand the Hispanic-Serving Institutions program to include assistance for graduate fellowships and graduate student support services.
  • Senator Boxer has continuously supported legislation recognizing the importance of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU). In 2007, she supported legislation to provide $170 million in grants for HBCUs. The bill, now law, also created a new designation of Predominantly Black Institutions, which are eligible to receive $30 million in grants for programs in science, technology, engineering, among others.
     
• Pell Grants: Senator Boxer has supported increasing the maximum Pell Grant – the program that provides college assistance to low-income students – and she introduced legislation to ensure that students are not penalized with a reduction in their Pell Grants because they attend low-cost colleges, primarily community colleges.
• DREAM Act: Senator Boxer is a cosponsor and strong supporter of the DREAM Act, which would give states the ability to determine residency requirements for in-state tuition and admissions for public colleges and universities.
• Upward Bound: Senator Boxer authored a provison of the Higher Education Act in 2008 to increase funding for Upward Bound, a program for at-risk and disadvantaged high school students to help prepare them for college.
• Digital Divide: In the digital age, we risk leaving millions of students behind who cannot afford and otherwise do not have access to a computer and a high-speed Internet connection. Many have claimed that if steps are not taken, we risk creating a huge “digital divide” in America.
  • Senator Boxer wrote the law to provide companies with an enhanced tax deduction for donating new and nearly-new computers to schools, and she supported the economic stimulus package enacted earlier this year, which includes nearly $75 million for California to purchase up-to-date computers and software for schools.
  • Senator Boxer has been a leader in expanding broadband services. In 2003, she was the lead author of bipartisan legislation to set aside a portion of the broadcast spectrum for wireless broadband technology, which would make it easier for companies to provide consumers with access to high-speed Internet connections. In 2008, she cosponsored legislation, which is now law, to further increase access to high-speed broadband.
     
• Disabled Americans: In 2008, Senator Boxer strongly supported the reauthorization of the Americans with Disabilities Act – the landmark legislation that prohibits discrimination against disabled Americans. She has also supported efforts to create tax-exempt savings accounts for people with disabilities to help them pay for such expenses as education, medical care, and job training.
• Accurate Census Count: As the 2000 census began, Senator Boxer called attention to the disproportionate undercount of ethnic minorities in the 1990 census and worked to ensure a more accurate count of California's population. As we approach another census year in 2010, she will be watching the process closely to ensure that minorities are fully counted.
• Native Americans: Senator Boxer supported the effort in Congress to offer an official apology from the U.S. government for the violence, mistreatment, and neglect perpetrated against American Indians.
• Filipino Veterans: Senator Boxer has long supported righting the injustices suffered by Filipino veterans who served the United States in World War II. She supported making them eligible for VA benefits and for providing a one-time payment to Filipino veterans as compensation for them having been denied benefits for over 50 years.
• Hmong Veterans: In 2000, Senator Boxer called on Congress to help Hmong veterans of the Vietnam War obtain U.S. citizenship. She cosponsored the law that eased naturalization requirements for thousands of Hmong veterans.
• Environmental Justice: As Chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, Senator Boxer is working to ensure that equality is addressed in the environmental realm.
  • Senator Boxer is fighting for an expanded Superfund program – to clean up toxic waste sites around the country, many of which are located in low-income neighborhoods. In addition, she supports reinstating the requirement that polluters – not taxpayers – pay for the cleanup of toxic Superfund sites. 
  • In 2008, Senator Boxer supported legislation to create a comprehensive federal effort to address environment justice. She also supported a bill to require federal agencies to implement various recommendations regarding adverse environmental effects on minority and low-income populations.
     
• Immigration Reform: Senator Boxer is the daughter of immigrants, and she recognizes the important role immigrants have played in America's history and the important role they play today – in enriching our culture and in strengthening our economy.
  • Senator Boxer supports comprehensive immigration reform that includes both a path to citizenship and tougher border security. 
  • Senator Boxer was a cosponsor of the Ag Jobs bill, which provides a path for illegal immigrants who have been working in the agricultural sector in the United States to become permanent legal residents. At the same time, she has long opposed the creation of a guestworker program, which is designed to create a permanent pool of low-paid workers and may actually have the effect of increasing illegal immigration.
  • Senator Boxer believes one of the principal tenets of immigration policy should be to keep immigrants and their families together. That is why she has strongly supported the Section 245(i) program, which allows those in the United States who have been approved for legal permanent residency to get their green cards here rather than having to return to their native country.
  • Senator Boxer coauthored legislation to expedite the naturalization process for members of the Armed Forces who are legal permanent residents. A similar proposal became law in 2003.