U.S. Department of Transportation: The Federal Hammer for Imposing Racial Quotas

Adversity.Net Special Report - Last Updated March 18, 2000

The Government’s Hammer
for Racial Quotas

          This report examines one of the federal government’s most powerful and least publicized mechanisms for enforcement of racial quotas and minority contract set-asides.   The U.S. Department of Transportation annually spreads billions upon billions of dollars in federal highway and transportation money (YOUR tax money) to state and local jurisdictions who are forced to submit to DOT’s federally imposed racial quotas.  

          On Jan. 29, 1999 the White House announced a new, more aggressive DOT Minority Set-Aside program!  For the complete text of Clinton's press release, see also Clinton Steps Up DOT Racial Goals, Jan. 29, 1999.   See also DOT Secretary Slater Parrots Clinton Racial Goals.

          According to DOT’s web site "DOT obligates more than $3 billion dollars annually (that’s $3,000,000,000!) to acquire goods and services under contract, and funds approximately $25 billion (that’s $25,000,000,000!) in grants and cooperative agreements."   Non-minority businesses are excluded from a significant percentage of these contract dollars because of their skin color.

          In 1996, federal contracts for goods and services supplied to DOT's Washington operating administrations alone totalled $1,837,800,000.  Of this amount, white, male-owned businesses were specifically prohibited from participating in $521,300,000 (over 1/2 billion dollars, 28.4% of the total)!   The breakdown of these race- and gender-based set-asides is as follows:

          The DOT OSDBU (Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization) boasts proudly about these figures as an accomplishment, rather than a discriminatory disgrace of which they should be ashamed.   See also:  Federal Statistics for the racial/gender set-asides for all federal agencies.)

         The DOT is truly a mammoth federal agency, which includes the following operating administrations:

          DOT’s reach and influence into every state, county and city in the U.S. is pervasive and extraordinary. Under threat of losing their federal DOT matching funds, every state in the union and every local jurisdiction submits to DOT’s "Minority Set Aside" program.  Every locale has numerous programs under titles such as "Minority Business Enterprise: Transportation Contracting" or "Disadvantaged Business Contracting Program". 

          The old adage says: "Wherever the federal dollar goes, federal control follows closely behind."

          For the moment, try to forget that federal dollars are really your tax dollars!  Every time you buy an airline ticket, a train ticket, pay taxes at the gas pump, or ride any form of mass transit, your dollars go to DOT's enforcement of racial quotas. 

          Everybody needs roads, buses, subways, trains, and airports! The total size of DOT’s many federal, state and local racial-quota programs is staggering, complex, and because of this intentional complexity these programs are effectively hidden from public view.

          Non-minority contracting businesses (white-owned businesses) are excluded from billions of dollars in DOT contract opportunities, at the federal, state and local levels.  It is a simple, effective vote-buying machine. 

          Thus, DOT has become THE pork-barrel agency of the 90’s for the blatant purchase of support for Clinton’s race-based federal contracting policies.

          See particularly DOT’s web page on "SMALL, MINORITY AND WOMEN-OWNED BUSINESSES" (Link: http://www.dot.gov/ost/docr/SMALL.HTM ).

          You can also review DOT’s propaganda web site "Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization" at http://osdbuweb.dot.gov.

          In this context, we suppose that it is not unseemly that U.S. DOT happens to lack an office or a web page for "white guys who have been excluded from contracts which have been set-aside for people of the right color"!

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DOT PRESS RELEASE: "THE SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20590"
January 12,1994

"POLICY STATEMENT DISADVANTAGED BUSINESS ENTERPRISE PROGRAM"
by Federico Peņa, Secretary of U.S. Dept. Transportation

          "President Clinton has made it a high priority of the Administration to bring more economic opportunity to the disadvantaged business community [by discriminating against non-minorities].  I fully support his concern [because my job depends on it], and commit this Department's best efforts on behalf of minority and women entrepreneurship and the goals and objectives of the Department's Small and Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) Program."  

          Peņa’s speech neglects to mention any DOT program for ensuring fair and equitable treatment of DOT contractors on a color-blind basis -- because no such program exists!

INTERPRETATION: U.S. DOT’s Transportation Dollars are the grease of modern re-election politics.  Did you ever notice that during the year before an election the street crews are out there building new roads and patching potholes?

          Thus, the DOT racial-quota and set-aside programs have an incredible impact on state and local politics, and buy a phenomenal number of minority votes, i.e., the votes of minority contractors and minority employees who know which side their bread is buttered on and who are not about to vote against a job guarantee!  (See Link:  http://osdbuweb.dot.gov/business/dbe/index.html)

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          Of course, the racial quota starts at the very top, in the U.S. House of Representatives at the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee (Democratic Caucus, of course).

          On May 22, 1998 this committee issued a press release in which they strongly supported the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21), and which states in part:

          "This bill will give our nation a strong and balanced transportation system which ... protects the environment, enhances safety, and ensures fair treatment for construction and transit workers, pedestrians, bicyclists, disadvantaged contractors (minorities) and persons trying to end their dependence on welfare. ... The conference report reauthorizes the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) program, ensuring that disadvantaged contractors will have the opportunity to bid on and participate in projects funded by this legislation."

          Missing from the House Democrat’s language was any mention of providing assistance to white-owned transportation contractors.

          See the transportation racial-quota committee’s press release at the following link: http://www.house.gov/transportation_democrats/press/980522.htm

          Representatives Charles Canady and Marge Roukema, among others, strenuously objected to the racial set-asides in the federal funding bill, and introduced amendments to prohibit use of racial quotas in federal transportation contracting.  Their amendmends were not enacted, and the quotas continue.

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BANKING SYSTEM:   U.S. DOT’s insidious tentacles of racial quotas and preferences also infect the nation’s banking system.

          DOT has made an agreement with several banks around the country to fast track billions of dollars in loans to minority businesses seeking operating capital for any state or federal DOT contract.

          For example, Hamilton Bank in Miami boasts that they were selected as one of three U.S. banks to lead the Short-Term Lending Program which is managed by the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization of the U.S. Department of Transportation. Since its election, Hamilton Bank has generated numerous loans to minority contractors and subcontractors who hold contracts from the various Federal, State and local Departments of Transportation.  (See Link at: http://www.hamiltonbank.com/minority.html )

          Spreading out DOT’s racial quota carrot-and-stick program in this way makes it much more difficult for the voting public to see how many billions of dollars in gov’t contracts are set-aside for individuals and businesses of the correct race.

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Federal Aviation Administration:  As part of U.S. DOT, FAA is a separate administration which maintains a huge minority set-aside program.  For fiscal 1996 $549,820,000 in FAA contracts was reserved for minorities and women.  The FAA's goals for 1998 include reserving up to 35% of procurement funds for minorities and women!

FAA Administrator David R. Hinson said:   "The FAA writes in its minority mission statement:  "It is imperative that the FAA, to the maximum extent possible, continue its best efforts in expanding opportunities for these businesses to participate fully in FAA direct-funded procurements.  In addition, the FAA, where appropriate, will set procurements aside for exclusive participation of small business concerns and those businesses that are certified as being socially and economically disadvantaged. Initially, this program will be limited to firms certified through the 8(a) program. Furthermore, where appropriate, subcontracting opportunities are encouraged [i.e., contractors are required to hire the right number of minority and women subcontractors]". 

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State and Local DOT Programs:  There are hundreds of state and local DOT offices devoted to the enforcement of racial quotas and minority contracting set-asides.

Be sure to also see:  Utah DOT Prefers Higher Cost Minority and Women Contractors!

END of DOT Main Page:  Special Report - Updated March 18, 2000

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