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[PEN-L:3560] Assistant Attorney-General for Civil Rights boundary="------------B8A652EE546F91C3485B4805"

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<H2>
Lee at centre of new rights battle</H2>
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<H5>
By Charles Snyder in Washington
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<BODY>FOR the second time in little more than a year, the =

Asian-American community is battling the forces of the right wing over =

the appointment of the son of an impoverished immigrant from Guangzhou =

to be the US government's top enforcer of America's civil rights laws.
<P>
And, for the second time, the outcome is far from certain.
<P>
The man in both instances is Bill Lann Lee, and President Clinton is =

expected to nominate him soon to be the Assistant Attorney-General for =

Civil Rights, which would make Mr Lee one of the most powerful Asian =

Americans in government.
<P>
Mr Lee has been holding the position in an acting capacity for 14 =

months, having been named to the position in that status by President =

Clinton after the Senate failed to approve his full-fledged =

appointment in late 1997. Since he is only acting, Mr Lee can hold the =

position only temporarily, and must either step down soon, or be =

confirmed in the full position.
<P>
Already, even before Mr Clinton has said anything about the =

nomination, the battle lines are forming. And the vehemence of the =

language on both sides so far attests both the importance of the =

Assistant Attorney-General position and, to the Asian-Americans, the =

difficulty that anybody with a Chinese ancestry faces in getting to =

the highest ranks in Washington.
<P>
At a press conference this week, no less a leading right wing figure =

than Eward W Meese, President Reagan's Attorney-General, condemned Mr =

Lee and his record in the Department of Justice, in which Mr Lee has =

vigorously sought to advance the legal plight of minorities and women.
<P>
Utah Republican Senator Orrin Hatch, the chairman of the Senate =

Judiciary Committee, has already as much as predicted that his =

committee would reject Mr Lee again, as it did in 1997. Mr Hatch, one =

of the Senate's most staunch right-wingers, urged Mr Clinton this week =

to send up a ``confirmable candidate'' instead of Mr Lee.
<P>
Under the US Constitution, the Senate must ``advise and consent'' to =

major presidential appointments and the Judiciary committee gets the =

first shot at any Justice Department officials. Mr Hatch blocked Mr =

Lee's appointment in 1997, although it is not clear if he can prevail =

again this year, given the public opinion drubbing the Republican =

right-wing took for seeming mean-spirited in its partisan pursuit of =

the president's impeachment.
<P>
``Opposition to Lee was ridiculous before, but the current attack is =

outrageous,'' said Daphne Kwok, the executive director of the =

Organisation of Chinese Americans, one of the groups in the forefront =

of Mr Lee's original nomination fight.
<P>
``These are people who have long been opposed to civil rights and they =

don't like the fact that Lee has followed the law and done his job,'' =

she said. White House spokesman Joe Lockhart has said that Mr Lee =

``has done an excellent job.'' =

<P>
At a time when Washington is still confronted with criticising an =

upsurge in human rights violations in China and elsewhere, it is odd =

for American leaders to oppose a man whose efforts have been aimed at =

improving civil rights domestically.
<P>
<li><i> Charles Snyder is Hong Kong Standard's Washington =

correspondent.</i>
<P>
                                                     =

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