Citizens' Initiative on Race and Ethnicity

The  Citizens' Initiative on Race and Ethnicity (CIRE) was formed under the aegis of the Manhattan Institute and the Hoover Institution as an conservative response to then-President Bill Clinton's President's Initiative on Race effort. Its membership is comprised exclusively of anti-affirmative action activists.

The creation of CIRE was announced in April 1998 as "a panel charged with examining race relations in America and making proposals for improving them."

On its website, the group states that its mission "will be to:
 * Carefully examine how the realities of race affect the significant social problems that exist in America
 * Engage Americans in a national dialogue on race relations
 * Provide realistic recommendations on how race relations can be improved".

Over the following nine months CIRE issued five media releases in response to various statements by the Clinton administration. However, as of April 2008, it has not posted any additional comments to its website since January 1999.

The group's website lists the Manhattan Institute as the registrant.

Commission Members

 * Clint Bolick, Institute for Justice
 * Elaine Chao, U.S. Department of Labor, formerly the Heritage Foundation
 * Linda Chavez, Center for Equal Opportunity
 * Ward Connerly, American Civil Rights Institute
 * Tamar Jacoby, Manhattan Institute
 * Barbara J. Ledeen, U. S. Senate, formerly Independent Women's Forum
 * T.J. Rogers, Cypress Semiconductors
 * Shelby Steele, Hoover Institution
 * Abigail Thernstrom, Manhattan Institute
 * Stephan Thernstrom, Harvard University
 * Robert L. Woodson, National Center for Neighborhood Enterprise
 * Robert Zelnick, Boston University and Hoover Institution