WASHINGTON, Jan. 26 (UPI) -- U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., is calling for an end to race-based groups in Congress like the Congressional Black Caucus.
In a letter to the chairwoman of the House Administration Committee, Tancredo says race should not be a prerequisite for any organization's membership, The Hill reports.
The Tancredo request comes less than a month after Steve Cohen, a white Democrat who represents a Tennessee district with a black majority, abandoned efforts to join the Congressional Black Caucus.
"It is utterly hypocritical for Congress to extol the virtues of a color-blind society while officially sanctioning caucuses that are based solely on race-and restrict their membership based on race," Tancredo said in his letter.
"I believe -- as I think most Americans do -- that the best way to remedy the ills of discrimination is to abolish, not sanction, organizations that maintain racially exclusive membership policies," he continued.
Tancredo's office says he launched a similar effort to abolish race-based caucuses in 2003.
