Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1987

The Civil Rights Restoration Act, or Grove City Bill, was a US legislative act that specified that recipients of federal funds must comply with civil rights laws in all areas, not just in the particular program or activity that received federal funding. The Act was first passed by the House in June 1984 (375–32) but failed to pass in either chamber after divisions occurred within the civil rights coalition over the issue of abortion.[1] In January 1988, the Senate accepted an amendment by Senator John Danforth (R-MO), which added "abortion-neutral" language to the Bill, a move opposed by the National Organization for Women but resulted in passage of the bill in both houses.

Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1987

Long title	An Act to restore the broad scope of coverage and to clarify the application of title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, and title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
Nicknames	Grove City Bill
Enacted by	the 100th United States Congress
Citations
Public law	Pub.L. 100–259
Statutes at Large	102 Stat. 28
Codification
Acts amended	Civil Rights Act of 1964 Education Amendments of 1972 Rehabilitation Act of 1973 Age Discrimination Act of 1975
Legislative history
Introduced in the Senate as S. 557 by Ted Kennedy (D-MA) on February 19, 1987 Committee consideration by Labor and Human Resources Passed the Senate on January 28, 1988 (75-14) Passed the House on March 2, 1988 (315-98) Vetoed by President Ronald Reagan on March 16, 1988 Overridden by the Senate on March 22, 1988 (73-24) Overridden by the House and became law on March 22, 1988 (292-133)

The final vote in the Senate on January 28, 1988 was 75–14 (48–0 in the Senate Democratic Caucus and 27–14 in the Senate Republican Conference) with 11 members voting present or abstaining,[2] while the final vote in the House of Representatives on March 2, 1988 was 315–98 (242–4 in the House Democratic Caucus and 73–94 in the House Republican Conference) with 20 members voting present or abstaining.[3] On March 16, 1988, President Ronald Reagan vetoed the bill, as he had promised to do. On March 22, 1988, the Senate overrode Reagan's veto by a vote of 73–24 (52–0 in the Senate Democratic Caucus and 21–24 in the Senate Republican Conference) with 3 members voting present or abstaining,[4] with the House concurring on the same day by a vote of 292–133 (240–10 in the House Democratic Caucus and 52–123 in the House Republican Conference) with 7 members voting present or abstaining.[5]

Reagan's veto was the first veto of a civil rights act since Andrew Johnson vetoed the Civil Rights Act of 1866. The passage of this bill thus overturned the US Supreme Court's 1984 decision in Grove City College v. Bell. It applies to Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, the 1973 Rehabilitation Act, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act.