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Washington, D.C.—The leader of the nation’s largest union of independent federal employees today urged President Bush to reappoint Commissioner Paul Igasaki to a vacant seat on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), citing his “proven track record and deep commitment to making the EEOC serve the needs of federal employees and agencies.”

In urging the reappointment of former Commissioner Igasaki, the only Asian-American ever to serve on the EEOC, President Colleen M. Kelley of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) said the union is “distressed” that the administration has allowed the EEOC seat to remain unfilled.

“We feel that to allow this seat to remain unfilled by a qualified person any longer would suggest a lack of commitment to supporting equal opportunity in the workplace,” Kelley said in a letter to President Bush.

The EEOC, she said, “is an extremely important federal office,” with the duty to enforce the principal federal statutes regarding employment discrimination, including Title VII of the 1964 Civil Right Act and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. Moreover, she said, through its Office of Federal Operations, the EEOC provides oversight for the government’s EEO complaint adjudication process and is responsible, as well, for the EEO appellate function.

President Kelley noted that former Commissioner Igasaki has won the support of numerous civil rights organizations and leaders, and that during his service on the EEOC from 1994 until his term expired earlier this year, he had been both vice chair and acting chair. The NTEU leader cited the former commissioner’s “reputation for being fair and for respecting the rule of law.”

NTEU represents more than 150,000 employees in 27 agencies and departments.