Ralph G. Neas (born May 17, 1946) is an American civil rights activist and executive. He is best known for directing a series of national campaigns to strengthen and protect civil rights laws during the Reagan and Bush presidencies.Dorothy Height, "The Neas Years at the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights", 45th Anniversary Journal, May 3, 1995, inserted in the Congressional Record by, among others, Congressman Kweisi Mfume, former Chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, E930, May 2, 1995Special Otis Bowen Lecture on Comprehensive Health Care, Ralph Neas, March 26, 2009, the University of Notre Dame, inserted in the Congressional Record by Senator Edward Kennedy, May 5, 2009, S5122Senator Edward Kennedy, Congressional Record, S5996, May 2, 1995, "Ralph Neas: the 101st Senator for Civil Rights" He is also known for chairing the national coalition that helped defeat the U.S. Supreme Court nomination of Robert Bork.Mark Gitenstein, "Matters of Principle: An Insider's Account of America's Rejection of the nomination of Robert Bork to the Supreme Court", 1992Ethan Bronner, "Battle For Justice": How the Bork Nomination Shook America", 1989Michael Pertchuk, "The People Rising: The Campaign Against the Bork Nomination", 1989
Neas served as executive director of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights; president and CEO of People For the American Way (PFAW) and the PFAW Foundation; president and CEO of the National Coalition on Health Care; and president and CEO of the Generic Pharmaceutical Association (GPhA). He served for eight years as chief legislative assistant to Republican Senators Edward Brooke of Massachusetts and David Durenberger of Minnesota. He remained a member of the Republican Party until October 1996.Ronald Brownstein, The Second Civil War, 2007
Early life and education Neas was born on May 17, 1946, in Brookline, Massachusetts. In 1955, the Neas family moved from New England to St. Charles, Illinois. There, Neas' father, Ralph Sr., began a career as a salesman for the American Brass Company. Neas quit public high school and attended Marmion Military Academy (Aurora, Illinois), a private Benedictine military school to set himself up for success in attending university.The Hill Rag Newspaper, April, 1983, article by Keith Fagon, "Ralph Neas", inserted in the Congressional Record by Senator Edward Kennedy, S9702-S9706, April 26, 1983.
Neas states that major influences before he left for college and law school were his parents, the teachings of Vatican II, his love for baseball, the civil rights movement, and the lessons he learned at Marmion.Neas Lecture at the University of Notre Dame, "Professional Life: Vocation and Commitment", October 24, 1983, at a conference convened by the National Conference of Catholic BishopsBishop's Committee on the Laity Secretariat, "Work and Faith in Society: Catholic Perspectives": Presentations from a Laity Consultation (Office of Public Services, U.S. Catholic Conference, 1984-Church and the World-40 pages)LCCR 45th Anniversary Dinner honoring Neas, March 3, 1995, biographical article in the dinner journal
Neas graduated from Marmion Military Academy in 1964. He earned a B.A. with honors from the University of Notre Dame in 1968, and a J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School in 1971.
Career U.S. Senate Neas was both active duty and reserve in the United States Army (1968–1976). In late 1971, he joined the Congressional Research Service's American Law Division at the Library of Congress as a legislative attorney on civil rights. In January 1973, he was hired as a legislative assistant to Republican Senator Edward W. Brooke of Massachusetts, eventually becoming the Senator's chief legislative assistant. He stayed with Senator Brooke until his defeat in 1978, at which time he accepted a job as chief legislative assistant to Republican Senator David Durenberger of Minnesota.
Neas' work in the U.S. Senate spanned eight years. During that time, he focused primarily on civil rights, including the 1975 extension and expansion of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the protection of Title IX, reproduction rights, and Title VI and Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Neas also worked on the Watergate scandal, health care, and ethics reform.Neas, "Reflections on the Autobiography of Edward W. Brook." While working for Senator Durenberger in 1979–1980, he conceived and drafted the "Women's Economic Equity Act," parts of which were enacted during the Reagan and Bush Administrations.For descriptions of Neas' role in the Economic Equity Act, see: * * --Savvy Magazine, February, 1983, Lavinia Edmunds and Judith Patterson, "A Hard Act to Follow: A Coalition Uses ERA Lessons to Fight for Passage of the Complex Economic Equity Act" - Senator David Durenberger email to Ralph Neas, 2016 - Washington Post, March 16, 1983, Judy Mann, "Equal Benefits" - Glamour Magazine, August 1982, Sarah Weddington, "Good Guys in Washington" - Harvard Journal of Law and Gender, 2007, Patricia Seith, "Congressional Power to Effect Sex Equity". P 17, Footnote 67.
Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR) From 1981 through 1995, Neas served as executive director of the nonpartisan Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR), the legislative arm of the civil rights movement.Dorothy Height, "The Neas years at the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights," LCCR 45th Anniversary Journal, May 3, 1995. Neas coordinated successful national campaigns that led to the Civil Rights Act of 1991; the Americans with Disabilities Act;Lennard Davis, Enabling Acts: The Hidden Story of How the Americans with Disability Act Gave the Largest US Minority Its Rights""The Making of the ADA", Disability Rights Defense and Education Fund, Parts One and Three, Summer, 2015New York Times, August 8, 1989, Nathaniel Nash, "Bush and Senate Leaders Support Sweeping Protections for Disabled" the Civil Rights Restoration Act;National Women's Political Caucus, Women's Political Times, October, 1984, "Why the Defeat?"Ms. Gazette, Lavinia Edmunds, October, 1984, Welding a Civil Rights Coalition"The New York Times, January 6, 1985, "Reagan Backs Bid to Reverse Effects of Ruling in Bias Case" the Fair Housing Act Amendments of 1988; the Japanese American Civil Liberties Act;Japanese American Citizens League honors Neas for "outstanding Support to Redress for Americans of Japanese ancestry". August 7, 1988 the preservation of the Executive Order on Affirmative Action (1985–1986 and 1995–1996);The Wall Street Journal, November, 1985, JoAnn Lublin, "Veteran Political Operator Arranges Campaign to Save Anti-Bias Rules for Federal Contractors"The New York Times, August 17, 1987, Lena Williams, "Administrator of Many Hats" and the 1982 Voting Right Act Extension.. Michael Pertshuck, Giant Killers, 1986 (chapter on the 1981-1982 battle to renew and strengthen the Voting Rights Act of 1965Congressional Quarterly, September 17, 1983, Nadine Cohotas, "Group Reflects Diverse Rights Community"New Republic, September 6, 1982, Bart Gellman, "The New Old Movement" Final passage on all these laws averaged 85% in both the House of Representatives and the Senate; in addition, another 15 Leadership Conference on Civil Rights legislative priorities were enacted into law in the 1981–1995 period.Civil Rights Monitor, Leadership Conference Education FundDorothy Height article, May 3, 1995, 45th Annual LCCR Dinner Journal article, "The Neas Years".Additional LCCR legislative priorities enacted into law between 1981 and 1995 included the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Motor Voter Act (The National Voter Registration Act of 1993), the Voting Accessibility for Disabled and Senior Citizens Act, the Anti-Apartheid Act of 1986, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Act, The Voting Rights Language Assistance Act of 1992, key provisions of the Economic Equity Act, the Hate Crimes Statistics Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Claims Assistance Act, the 1989 Minimum Wage Increase, three disability laws which overturned Supreme Court decisions and reinstated the coverage of anti-discrimination provisions to all airlines, the right to sue states for violations of Section 504, and the right of parents to recover attorney fees under the Education for Handicapped Children's Act (now called IDEA), the Gender Equity in Education Act, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1994 (including Chapter One reform), and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
Neas pointed out during July 11, 1996, testimony before the House Democratic Caucus, Committee on Organization Study and Review regarding Bipartisan Cooperation in Congress, "the average final passage vote on these laws was 85%" in both the House and Senate.
William T. Taylor, former General Counsel and Staff Director of the United States Commission on Civil Rights, and then an LCCR executive committee member wrote that Neas "seemed an unlikely choice [because] he was a white male Catholic Republican who had gone to Notre Dame, where he devoted himself to becoming an officer in the ROTC."
He was chair of the Block Bork Coalition in 1987.See Ethan Bronner, Battle for Justice: How the Bork Nomination Shook America, and People RisingWashington Post, Lois Romano, September 15, 1987, "Leading the Charge on Bork"New York Times, Lena Williams, August 16, 1987, "Administrator of Many Hats"Neas also played a leadership role in the unsuccessful effort to defeat the Supreme Court nomination of Clarence Thomas: Opposition to Judge Thomas Nomination; ; Another Rights Group Says No to Thomas
Political career
In 1998, Neas ran against incumbent Republican Representative Connie Morella in Maryland's 8th Congressional District, composed primarily of the suburban areas just northwest of Washington, DC. Morella defeated Neas 60% to 40%.D.C. Political Report, Accessed July 13, 2017
People For the American Way In late 1999, Neas was named the president and CEO of People For the American Way and People For the American Way Foundation.National Journal, February 19, 2000, Shawn Zeller, "Ready to Rumble with the Right" For eight years, Neas helped lead national efforts to preserve an independent and fair judiciary;Wall Street Journal, Bob Davis and Robert Greenberger, "Two Old Foes Plot Tactics in Battles Over Judgeships"CBS "Face the Nation", July 3, 2005, the Resignation of Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor"New York Times, July 3, 2005, David E. Rosenbaum and Lynette Clemetson, "In Fight to Confirm New Justice, Two Field Generals Rally Their Troops Again"Washington Post, February 2, 2006, Lois Romano and Juliet Eiperin, "The Alito Confirmation Battle"See also: Roberts Supreme Court Nomination; Supreme Court Watch; John Roberts Supreme Court Nomination; Filbuster Ad Campaign to protect civil rights and civil liberties;Senate Government Affairs Committee, May 1, 2001, Testimony on Election ReformCongressional hearing on US Elections, December 8, 2004, "Voting Irregularities in Ohio"House Judiciary Committee, March 7, 2007, "Protecting the Right to Vote: Election Deception and Irregularities in Recent Federal Elections"Ralph Neas and Julian Bond, Pele For the American Way Foundation-NAACP Report: "The Long Shadow of Jim Crow" and to defend and reform public schools in the United States.
In addition, Neas helped put together civic engagement partnerships to recruit and manage 25,000 volunteers in 2004 for the non-partisan and nationally recognized Election Protection programLeadership Conference on Civil Rights, "Election Protection Makes Debut"Voter Intimidation Supression (to help ensure every vote counts), to direct non-partisan programs that registered 525,000 African and Latino voters in three years, and to establish youth leadership development programs across the country (Young People For and Young Elected Officials).
National Coalition on Health Care (NCHC)