Under the table: Dole-Canady bill out of sight until November elections.

After much GOP banter about quashing national affirmative-action efforts, the Equal Opportunity Act of 1995, a bill drafted by presidential hopeful Sen. Bob Dole and Rep. Charles Canady, was quietly pulled for further study.

Some believe the Republican-controlled House and Congress, already bruised from fights over Medicare, weren't looking for another high-profile and ugly battle over affirmative action. But there's concern now that following the November election, the Dole-Canady bill (S. 1085, H.R. 2128), which proposes to outlaw race- and sex-based remedies in hiring and federal contract awards, could come back with some ferocity, especially if the GOP proves victorious in November.

Shirley Wilcher, deputy assistant secretary of the Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), is charged with enforcing Executive Order 11246 and other federal laws that bar discrimination and require federal contractors and subcontractors, as a condition of their government contracts, to take affirmative action to ensure that all employees are treated without regard to race. Wilcher said if the Dole-Canady bill breathes new life, it would have a crippling effect on the ability of her organization to meet its objectives.

"It's possible that this legislation could resurface at any time. It would effectively eliminate remedies for dealing with discrimination. And that's a major cause for concern," she says.

Calling it a "bullet aimed at affirmative action," the OFCCP says the proposal would "prevent the use of numerical recruitment goals for qualified women and minorities, would eliminate effective remedies for discrimination and would allow women to be screened out of jobs because of their sex."

OFCCP's laws cover approximately 26 million workers, or nearly 22% of the total civilian workforce. The federal government awarded more than $161 billion taxpayer dollars to 176,000 prime contractors in 1993. In order to obtain federal contracts, which easily generate millions in revenue, contractors and subcontractors agree to abide by the equal opportunity clause included in all federal contracts.

The OFCCP conducts compliance reviews with federal contractors periodically to make sure they're fulfilling their commitment. If they aren't, firms are subject to damages and outright exclusion from future contracts.

But with the recent backlash against affirmative-action programs, Wilcher says she has to deal with those who accuse such programs of being nothing more than reverse discrimination. "I think it's absolutely absurd that anyone would think affirmative-action programs constitute reverse discrimination," Wilcher asserts. "What it does do is promote inclusiveness, not exclusiveness. It's meant to widen the scope of opportunities to qualified individuals."