McLeod, Dan R., assistant attorney general of South Carolina___ McNair, Robert E., State representative from South Carolina__ United Automobile Workers, Aircraft and Agriculture Implement Workers of America, International Union, Walter P. Reuther, presi- Whitney, Mrs. Ray, Republican member, legislative committee, Or- ganized Women Voters of Arlington County, Va. 608 Young, Mrs. Beatrice, Jackson, Miss___ 576 Message for Race Relations Sunday issued by National Council of 109 Challenge To America, by Father L. J. Twomey, S. J., director of Insti- 110 125 Listing of members of Committee on Judiciary, United States Senate, 125 Listing of civil rights bills referred to Constitutional Rights Commit- tee. 126 Memorandum to Senator Thomas C. Hennings, Jr., from Charles H. Slayman, Jr., on data to be furnished by Justice Department for inclusion in record of civil rights hearings. The Civil Rights Section-Its Functions and Its Statutes, an address by Arthur B. Caldwell, Civil Rights Section, Department of Jus- Supplemental statement by Assistant Attorney General Warren Ol- ney III in response to questions by members of the Senate Subcom- mittee on Privileges and Elections.. Letter from Department of Justice commenting on testimony of Jack P. F. Gremillion before Subcommittee No. 5 of the Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives...-- Statutory specification of duties of Assistant Attorneys General___. Provision of Fair Labor Standards Act permitting United States to sue on behalf of a private citizen__. Specific civil rights protected by the Constitution and laws of the Comparison of proposed legislation giving the Federal Government power to invoke civil remedies in civil-rights cases with other areas where the Government has power to seek civil relief. Labor Day and the Right To Work, portion of a speech by Lord Jus- tice Denning published in Los Angeles Times of September 4, 1955_- Official absentee ballot, general election, November 6, 1956, for the Letters regarding the appearances of witnesses from South Carolina__ Letter from Thomas F. Ellis of Raleigh, N. C., regarding investigation by FBI of complaints as to denial of right to vote_- Summary report on rulings of New York State Commission Against Discrimination with respect to preemployment inquiries___ Letters and affidavits regarding testimony of Rev. Gus Courts. Editorial, Clinton Contempt Issue, the Evening Star---- Article, Federal Action and Local Issues, by David Lawrence. Letter from Hon. Soloman Blatt, speaker of the House of Representa- Memorandum of statutes of South Carolina and Federal statutes__ Article, A Flagrant Abuse of Civil Rights, by David Lawrence. Letter from Senator Thomas C. Hennings, Jr., regarding announce- ment that record would be kept open until March 8 to receive state- Public statement on legal procedings arising from integration conflict in Clinton, Tenn., by American Civil Liberties Union---- Affidavit from Board of Registrars for Burke County, Ga....... Article, Gus Courts Testifies, by Harrison Henry Humes_ Telegram from James L. Barlow, justice of peace, Hinds County, Miss.. Material regarding cause of death of James Edward Evanston of Letter from Senator Olin D. Johnston in regard to the appearance of the South Carolina delegation--- Letter from Hon. T. C. Callison, attorney general, South Carolina. Telegram from Daniel L. Beasley, Macon County, Ala., to Hon. Adam Statement from Daniel L. Beasley, Macon County, Ala., concerning Letter from Governor Folsom of Alabama to Daniel L. Beasley. Extract from Birmingham Post-Herald, February 8, 1957. Exhibits 1 through 23, Montgomery Improvement Association_----- CIVIL RIGHTS-1957 THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 1957 UNITED STATES SENATE, SUBCOMMITTEE ON CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS, Washington, D. C'. The subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 10: 10 a. m., in room P-63, United States Capitol Building, Senator Thomas C. Hennings, Jr. (chairman of the subcommittee), presiding. Present: Senators Hennings, Ervin, and Hruska. Also present: Charles H. Slayman, Jr., chief counsel, Constitutional Rights Subcommittee; and Robert B. Young, staff member, Committee on the Judiciary. Senator HENNINGS. The committee will come to order. We are very glad to have the distinguished Attorney General of the United States here this morning to open the hearings on the socalled civil-rights legislation. Mr. Attorney General, you may proceed in any manner you prefer. STATEMENT OF HON. HERBERT BROWNELL, JR., ATTORNEY GEN- Mr. BROWNELL. Mr. Chairman and members of the subcommittee, I have a prepared statement I would like to start with if that is agreeable with you, Mr. Chairman. On April 9, 1956, I transmitted to the Vice President and to the Speaker of the House a four-point program recommended by the administration to protect the civil rights of our people. I am appearing before you today in support of this same program. As you will remember, President Eisenhower, in his state of the. Union message delivered to the Congress on January 19, 1957, re- Jan. 10 emphasized that we in this Nation have much reason to be gratified at the progress our people are making in mutual understanding. He reiterated that we are steadily moving closer to the goal of fair and equal treatment of all citizens without regard to race or color. The President observed, however, that "unhappily, much remains to be done." As a substantial step toward achieving this goal he urged passage of the administration program. This program includes: (1) Creation of a bipartisan commission to investigate asserted violations of law in the field of civil rights, especially involving the right to vote, and to make recommendations; 1 (2) Creation of a civil-rights division in the Department of Justice in charge of a presidentially appointed Assistant Attorney General; (3) Enactment by the Congress of new laws to aid in the enforcement of voting rights; (4) Amendment of the laws so as to permit the Federal Government to seek from the civil courts preventive relief in civil-rights cases. Proposed bills to carry out the administration program were submitted to the Congress last year. These bills in the form submitted by us are contained in one of the bills which is before the subcommittee today, S. 83, which was introduced into this Congress by Senator Dirksen and 36 other distinguished Members of the Senate and which is now before this subcommittee for consideration. S. 83 also contains some additional provisions relating to the proposed bipartisan commission on which I shall comment later. Numerous other proposals, including the bill in subcommittee print, which are before you have also been carefully studied by the Department of Justice, but I would like first to address myself to the administration program and thereafter comment on the other bills. The first one I would like to discuss in detail, Mr. Chairman, is the bill authorizing civil remedies as distinguished from criminal remedies. These are the matters which appear under part 3 and part 4 of S. 83 on pages 14 to 17 of that bill. I start out this discussion by saying what I am sure you will all agree to, that the right to vote is really the cornerstone of our representative form of government. I would say that it is the one right, perhaps more than any other, upon which all other constitutional rights depend for their effective protection, and accordingly it must be zealously safeguarded. The Federal Government has in the past and must in the future play a major role in protecting this essential right. It is true that under the Constitution the States are given the power, even with respect to elections for office under the Government of the United States, to fix the "qualifications" of the voters (art. I, sec. 2; amendment 17). But this power of the States is limited, with reference to the election of Federal officers, by the express power given Congress to regulate the "manner" of holding elections article I, section 4-and, more importantly, by the provisions of the 14th and 15th amendments. The 15th amendment provides that in any election, including purely State and local elections, the right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. The 14th amendment prohibits any State from making or enforcing laws which abridge the privileges and immunities of citizens of the United States and from denying to any person the equal protection of the laws. The courts have held that these prohibitions operate against election laws which discriminate on account of race, color, religion, or national origin. And both of these amendments expressly confer upon Congress the power to enforce them by appropriate regulations. Beyond the provisions of the 14th and 15th amendments, which inhibit only official action, Congress has the broad power to protect voters in elections for Federal offices from action by private individuals which interferes with the right of the people to choose Federal officials. |