use every available opportunity to demonstrate our unqualified commitment to full and equal rights for all of our citizens of every race and color.

We firmly believe that the continued advancement of the banners of freedom and democracy requires the use of all available skills and potential without regard to any arbitrary and irrelevant disqualifications.

We favor this equality with respect to both the employers and with respect to unions as well. Aside from the moral and social implications, this country can ill afford to indulge in the reckless waste of manpower implicit in employment discrimination.

We cannot in numbers match the manpower available to the Soviet Union and Red China. We must compensate for this deficiency in numbers by the skill of our workers and by making the most effective. use of their talents.

I am not in a position, because of the time limitation, to comment in detail, Mr. Chairman, upon the bill which you reported yesterday, as I understand. But I do not want my inability to analyze the detailed provisions of the bill to in any way qualify our full sympathy with and our full suport of the committees objectives and the principles underlying the proposed legislation this committee is consid

ering.

We shall be glad in our Department and on behalf of the administration to work cooperatively with the committee in the development of this legislation and we tender our help to the extent the committee desires it in this area.

Now this country has very properly been preoccupied with the civil rights front in one aspect or another for over a quarter of a century, let alone our historical and understandable constitutional dealings with this subject. But it is to the credit of this committee that for the first time in 10 years the House of Representatives, through this committee, has held hearings on a bill dealing solely with equal opportunity in employment. I know that this subcommittee and its fine staff have given unstintlingly of their time and energy to the hearings, research, and discussions in preparing this proposed legislation and your great efforts are deserving of the appreciation and support of the entire Nation and they have the appreciation and support of this administration.

It need not be emphasized here that what we do in the area of equal employment opportunity as well as all other areas relating to civil rights is of international significance. Employment discrimination can only weaken our capacity to resist aggression and maintain the peace. It also casts doubts in the minds of other peoples of the free world about our sincerity in furthering the cause of individual liberty and human dignity.

With confidence in the morality of full and equal rights for all citizens, and full awareness of the implications of the failure to advance these rights, particularly in our time with its prospects for continuing competition between idealogies of the democracy and those which would make individual rights subservient to the needs of the States, this administration has wasted no time in addressing itself to these problems whenever and wherever they arise. I do not believe that it can be disputed by any impartial observer that

since President Kennedy took office a year ago this administration has set an outstanding example in the use of existing powers of the Executive and in the enforcement of the letter and spirit of existing laws to the end of achieving equality of opportunity. It is now a matter of public record that when the President of the United States sat on the reviewing stand of his inaugural his attention was directed by himself to the necessity of improving the recruitment into our Nation's Coast Guard as a branch of our services and he has taken action in these rather small but sometimes terribly significant ways in demonstrating his own interest in affording equal opportunity in all aspects of American life.

We saw in the paper the other day for the first time in American history, Negro citizens being sworn in as members of the Secret Service. In these symbolic acts there is great significance for all of our people.

Now, in large areas, as well as small areas, there has been great Executive action in the field of Civil Rights. I counted as of tremendous significance, and of large import and in a large area, the very fine and outstanding Executive order which the President signed creating the Committee on Equal Employment Opportunities of which I have the honor to be the Vice Chairman and our most distinguished Vice President to be the Chairman and Mr. Holloman, my colleague, to be the Executive Vice Chairman.

Except for a brief period during World War II, efforts under comparable committees such as our Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity have been given only limited support and have had only limited success. But I think this is a good occasion for me to report to you as a committee which has had great interest in this matter the very significant progress which has been made by our Equal Employment Opportunity Committee since its establishment by the President several months ago.

In the brief 9 months of this Committee's existence under the chairmanship of Vice President Johnson, it has received almost threefourths as many complaints as the two committees which previously handled the same problem during the entire period from 1953 to 1960. And people are beginning properly to believe that their requests for help produce results. But the significance of these figures lies less in the number of complaints that have been filed than it does in the kind of corrective action that they are producing.

Thus far, the Committee has achieved corrective action in over 29 percent of the cases involving Government employment policy which have been closed. Consequently, a Federal employee or applicant for such employment has twice as good chance today to have his problem corrected than has been true over the past several years.

There have been also substantial gains in corrective action resulting in new jobs, in new job assignments, promotion, or new training opportunities in cases filed with the committee concerning Government contractors.

Now, statistics are useful for certain purposes but grossly limited in utility in telling the entire story. There are many instances in the experience of the current Committee which can be cited in more human and specific terms. Negroes and other minority workers are today employed in new opportunities as a result of the concerted action by the Federal Government's contracting agencies and the President's

Committee. It is with pride I report that these new employment opportunities occur in virtually every State of the Union, north as well as south, west as well as east, because discrimination, as this committee very well knows, is not confined to any geographical section of the country.

Since we all feel, I am sure, without the necessity for appropriate legislation, that we proceed under the leadership of the Executive and by voluntary action of management and labor, of particular significance are the plans for progress which have been fostered under our Committee leadership. Twenty-one of the Nation's leading corporations are expanding equal opportunities by adopting voluntary plans for progress submitted under the jurisdiction of our committees, and we are hopeful within the next few days to announce an accretion to this number of large employers who are Government contractors who are taking leadership in enlarging the employment opportunities for workers and potential workers in their labor force.

We have also been developing plans for progress with the labor unions of our country and we hope in due time to make announcements in this area.

Now it has seemed to us from the start, and it was one of the cardinal principles of the President, that the Federal Government itself ought to be a showcase for the Nation with respect to equal employment opportunity. And within the Federal Government, itself, we are establishing a record of appointments and assignments of minority workers. The committee has established two major reporting systems, a census of all Federal employees has been completed and a system for periodic review and comparison is now underway in the Federal Establishment which consists of over 2 million employees. There is also a comprehensive reporting system for the review of the manpower practices of all Government prime and first-tier subcontractors.

Now while we are dealing here today with equal employment opportunity, I think it appropriate to record and to report to you that we are aware that discrimination in employment is not an isolated evil in infecting our Nation's record, but it is a piece of the fabric that is evident in many other areas of our social and economic life.

The administration's record of action extends to these other areas also. The Department of Justice under our able Attorney General has made important progress in the protection of civil rights by a policy of seeking voluntary effective guarantees and action from local officials and civic leaders, without court action, quietly and very often without publicity.

But when effective steps have not been taken as a result of these actions or evasions of court orders have been attempted, formal legal action has been undertaken in broad areas to protect the rights of minority. This action has embraced the right to register and vote and protection from intimidation and reprisal, including economic reprisals through evictions and other ways.

I think it rather interesting that the Attorney General has not just taken public action. He has looked through his own house as well. Employment of Negro attorneys within the Department of Justice has increased fivefold since last January. These men have been selected not because they are Negroes but because they are men of outstanding qualification and proven ability.

There has been substantial progress toward eliminating discrimination in all three major areas of public interstate transportation and continued vigilance and action in this area is being maintained. Regulations have been issued by the ICC upon a petition of the Department of Justice requiring desegregation of bus terminals and court action instituted to obtain compliance from recalcitrant communities. The Department has adopted a policy of preventive action to protect the integrity of the courts and to assist officials and community leaders in complying with their responsibilities in desegregation of schools. The administration has also concerned itself by direct action through the Attorney General, among other things, with difficult situations of law enforcement arising out of demonstrations and mass arrests.

In closing, may I emphasize that fulfillment of the promise of equal rights and equal opportunities is among the noblest purposes of Government. This administration is pledged to this cause and will work with all levels of Government and all branches of Government in pursuing it.

As President Kennedy stated in his report to Congress on January

10:

This administration has shown as never before how much could be done through the full exercise of executive powers, through the enforcement of laws already passed by the Congress, though persuasion, negotiation and litigation, to secure the constitutional rights of all.

But as the President went on to point out, there is still much to be done, "by the Executive, by the courts, and by the Congress."

Mr. Chairman, I again want to commend the committee for its attention to and its development of legislation in this area and again to record our support of the principles underlying the proposed legislation.

(The formal statement of the Secretary of Labor follows:)

STATEMENT OF ARTHUR J. GOLDBERG, SECRETARY OF LABOR

Mr. Chairman, and members of the subcommittee, I appreciate the opportunity to appear before you on behalf of the Department of Labor and the administration to strongly endorse the principle of equality of employment opportunity.

As our individual citizens and the nations of the world are becoming increasingly more aware, this administration stands for progress in human rights as well as economic affairs. We use every available opportunity to demonstrate our unqualified commitment to full and equal rights for all of our citizens of every race and color. We firmly believe that the continued advancement of the banners of freedom and democracy require the use of all available skills and potentials without regard to any arbitrary and irrelevant disqualifications. We favor, not only equal opportunities for employment, but equality of opportunity in unions as well.

And, aside from the social and moral implications, this country can ill afford to indulge in the reckless waste of manpower implicit in employment discrimination. We cannot match the manpower available to the Soviet Union and Red China. We must compensate for this deficiency in numbers by the skill of our workers and by making the most effective use of their talents.

I am, unfortunately, not in a position to comment on the details of the bill which you are considering since the understandably tight time margins of your operation did not permit the bill to be available to me until yesterday. I have not been able to study the langauge of the bill. We want to study it, and we would welcome the opportunity to work with the committee toward the achievement of the full objective of equality of employment opportunity in full sympathy with and in full support of the committee's objectives and the principles underlying the proposed legislation.

While some aspect of the broad "civil rights front" has been a perennial national preoccupation for over a quarter of a century, it has been over 10 years since the House of Representatives has held hearings on a bill dealing solely with equal opportunity in employment. I know that this subcommittee and its fine staff have given unstintingly of their time and energy to the hearings, research, and discussions in preparing this proposed legislation. Your great efforts are deserving of the appreciation and the support of the entire Nation.

It need not be emphasized here that what we do in the area of equal employment opportunity, as well as all other areas related to civil rights is of international significance. Employment discrimination can only weaken our capacity to resist aggression and maintain the peace. It also casts doubts in the minds of other peoples of the free world about our sincerity in furthering the cause of individual liberty and human dignity.

With confidence in the morality of full and equal rights for all citizens, and full awareness of the implications of failure to advance these rights-particuularly in our time with its prospects for continuing competition between ideologies of democracy and those which would make individual rights subservient to the needs of the State-this administration has wasted no time in addressing itself to these problems whenever and wherever they arise.

I do not believe that it can be fairly disputed that this administration has set an example in the use of existing powers of the Executive and in the enforcement of the letter and spirit of existing laws to the end of achieving equality of opportunity. As you are well aware, Executive orders in this area, and committees established thereunder, have been a part of the paraphernalia of Government since they were given impetus by the distinguished father of the distinguished chairman of this subcommittee.

Except for a brief period during World War II, efforts under these committees have been given only limited support and have had only limited success. However, I am particularly proud of the activities of the Committee on Equal Employment Opportunities headed by our distinguished Vice President and of the substantial progress which has been made by this administration on a broad front in its relentless efforts to eliminate employment discrimination.

In the brief 9 months of this Committee's existence under the chairmanship of Vice President Johnson, it has received almost three-fourths as many complaints as the two committees which previously handled the same problems during the entire period from 1953 to 1960. Now people are beginning to believe that their request for help will produce results. But the significance of these figures lies less in the number of complaints that have been filed, than it does in the kind of corrective action they are producing. Thus far the Committee has achieved corrective action in over 29 percent of the cases involving Government employment policy which have been closed.

Consequently, a Federal employee or applicant for such employment has twice as good a chance today to have his problem corrected as has been true over the past several years. There have also been substantial gains in corrective action resulting in new jobs, new job assignments, promotions, or new training opportunities in cases filed with the Committee concerning Government contractors. Statistics are useful for certain purposes, but grossly limited in utility in telling the whole story. There are many instances in the experience of the current Committee which can be cited in more human and specific terms. Negroes and other minority workers are today employed in new opportunities as a result of the concerted action by the Federal Government contracting agencies and the President's Committee.

It is with understandable pride that I report that those new employment opportunities in virtually every State of the Union have resulted from the activities of the Federal Government.

While there are compliance sanctions available with respect to Government contractors, we are most encouraged by the leadership taken by 21 of the Nation's largest corporations in expanding equal employment opportunities by adopting the Committee's "Plans for Progress."

Within the Federal Government itself we are establishing a record of appointments and assignments of minority workers. The Committee has established two major reporting systems. A census of all Federal employees has been completed and a system for periodic review and comparison is now underway in the Federal establishments which consist of over 2 million employees. There is also a comprehensive reporting system for the review of the manpower practices of all Government prime and first tier subcontractors.