U.S. Rep. seeks to abolish race caucuses

WASHINGTON, Oct. 1 (UPI) -- A Colorado congressman wants to abolish all congressional caucuses where membership is based on race.

Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., says he intends to introduce a change to the House rules that would ban caucuses organized around the race or ethnicity of its members, The Hill, a newspaper covering congressional politics, reported Wednesday.

"You should not have any organization, a caucus especially, based solely on race," Tancredo told the newspaper. "Why should we be separating ourselves up into these racial divisions?"

The House is home to many member caucuses. Some, like the Congressional Black Caucus and the Hispanic Caucus, have memberships that are race- or ethnicity-based. Others, like the Congressional Pro-Life Caucus and the Immigration Reform Caucus, which Tancredo chairs, are open to all members and would not be affected by the proposed rule change.

Some caucus leaders responded angrily to the idea. Rep. Ciro Rodriguez, D-Texas, who chairs the Hispanic Caucus, said the proposal "would silence the voice of minority members" of the House.

In 1995 Congress, as part of a package of reforms put forward by the incoming Republican majority, abolished direct funding of congressional caucuses through taxpayer dollars. Staff are now paid out of members' congressional accounts.