Since 1981, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) of the United States Department of Education has been accused of failing to enforce the civil rights laws according to its mandate. OCR is responsible for enforcing Federal laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, sex, national origin, handicap, or age in educational programs or activities funded by the Federal government by conducting complaint investigations and compliance reviews. The staff of the Committee on Education and Labor visited six of the ten OCR regional offices in 1988 in order to investigate the agency's policies and practices, including the impact of the Grove City College v. Bell and the Adams v. Bennett decisions. Conclusions include the following: (1) the OCR has been stymied by the Reagan Administration, which actively opposed the civil rights laws and took efforts to minimize the agency's potential impact; (2) some enforcement occurred, in spite of OCR leadership, by a regional staff; (3) the Adams lawsuit points up the fact that OCR's failures extend backwards to its inception; and (4) the commitment of the Bush Administration to civil rights enforcement will determine whether OCR accepts its responsibilities. The appendices include the following: (1) statistical data on 27 tables and 35 graphs; (2) an organizational chart of the OCR; (3) the mission and function statement of the OCR; (4) copies of important communications cited in the text; (5) the original complaint filed in the case of Adams v. Bennett (1970); and (6) the Adams orders of March 11 and 24, 1983. (FMW)