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 but failed to pass in either chamber after divisions occurred within the civil rights coalition over the issue of abortion. In January 1988, the Senate accepted an amendment by Senator John Danforth, 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.
The final vote in the Senate on January 28, 1988 was 75–14 with 11 members voting present or abstaining, while the final vote in the House of Representatives on March 2, 1988 was 315–98 with 20 members voting present or abstaining. 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 with 3 members voting present or abstaining, with the House concurring on the same day by a vote of 292–133 with 7 members voting present or abstaining.
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.
