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3 Legislative History of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 Public Law 88-352 4863 (1964)

handle is hein.leghis/lhicril0003 and id is 1 raw text is: CONGRESSIONAL RECORD - SENATE The Constitution, in all its provisions, looks to an indestructible union composed of indestructible States. The pending civil rights proposals con- stitute a drastic-assault upon this con- stitutional purpose. Let me enumerate just a few examples. First. They attempt to transfer from the States to the Federal Government the power vested in the States by article I, section 2 of the original Constitution, and the 17th amendment, to prescribe the qualifications for voters in Federal elections. Second. Despite the fact that article I of the Constitution vests all of the law- making power of the Federal Govern- ment in the Congress, they attempt to convert all Federal departments and agencies into legislative bodies with the power to enforce by regulation and by nonjudicial proceedings the unspecified notions of the executivebranch of the Federal Government in respect to vir- tually all dealings between men of differ- ent races. In this connection, they con- fer upon all departments and agencies administering any program involving the use of Federal funds the power to use untold billions of dollars of Federal ap- propriations to bribe or browbeat States, political subdivisions of States, chari- table institutions, industry, and individ- uals into an acceptance of their views in matters relating to race. Third. They undertake to transfer from the States and the people them- selves the power to regulate the use of privately owned property and the rendi- tion of personal services within the States. Fourth. They undertake to vest in the Attorney General, the Federal Commis- sioner of Education, and the members of the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission, to be established by them, vast discretionary powers over the pri- vate property of individuals, personal services to be performed by individuals, and public schools and industry, to be exercised by such Federal officials ac- cording to their respective caprices un- controlled by any legal standards. In so doing, they offend the principle that ours is a government of laws rather than a government of men-a government in which laws control men rather than a government in which men control laws. Fifth. They undertake to confer upon the temporary occupant of the of- fice of Attorney General, whoever he might be, the power to bring or to re- frain from bringing so-called desegre- gation suits according to his personal whim uncontrolled by any adequate legal standards. As a consequence, he can bring suits in behalf of some plaintiffs and refuse to bring suits in behalf of other plaintiffs in exactly the same sit- uation, and su6 some State or local offi- cials and refuse to sue other State or local officials whose alleged wrongdoing is identical. In short, the pending civil rights proposals make these powers the personal possession of the Attorney Gen- eral, and thus offend the principle upon which our legal system rests; namely, that all laws shall apply alike to all men in like circumstances. Sixth. These legislative proposals un- dertake to confer upon the Attorney General and the Federal courts in ex- press terms the power to take charge of the assignment of schoolchildren to schools and classrooms within schools in all school districts throughout the United States. In so doing, they even violate the school desegregation case which holds that the 14th amendment forbids States to practice ritial discrimi- nation in public schools but does not im- pose upon them the duty to provide an integrated education. These are just a few of the provisions of these bills which undertake to trans- fer the constitutional powers of the States and the constitutional rights of individuals from the States and the peo- ple to a centralized Federal Government. When the Founding Fathers drew the Constitution, they stated in its preamble that they drafted it in order to secure the blessings of liberty for themselves and their posterity. Let me enumerate just a few of the blessings of liberty which the pending civil rights proposals would destroy: First. Under our existing system of government, every American has the right to think and speak his honest thoughts concerning all things under the sun. Under the regulatory powers to be conferred upon Federal departments and agencies by title VI of the pending civil rights bill, Americans can be de- prived of this right by bureaucratic reg- ulations in respect to matters of race. If anyone doubts this assertion, he should read title VI and the regulations relating to housing recently adopted by the Commissioners of the District of Columbia. Under these regulations, a resident of the District of Columbia can be imprisoned or fined if he attempts to persuade his neighbor to sell his property to a member of his own race rather than to an individual belonging to another race, and a real estate agent can be im- prisoned, fined, and deprived of the right to earn his livelihood in his vocation if he obeys instructions from the seller of property to negotiate a sale to a member of the seller's race rather than to an individual belonging to another race. Second. Under our existing system of government, every American has the right to acquire, own, and use property in all ways permitted by State laws with- out interference from the Federal Gov- ernment. Moreover, he has the right to rent or sell his property in person or through agents to any person selected by him, if State laws so permit without interference from the Federal Govern- ment. Under the regulatory power con- ferred upon Federal departments 'and agencies by title VI of the pending civil rights bill, any American having any dealings with the Federal housing au- thorities can be required to surrender to the Federal Government the power to determine to whom his property may be sold or rented. If anyone doubts whether the Federal housing authorities will ex- ercise this power, let him read the Presi- dential order on housing and the reg- ulations adopted by this agency to im- plement such order. Third. Under our existing system of government, every American has the right to invest his personal talents and resources in places of public accom- modations operating within the borders of a State, and to select his customers if State law so permits without interfer- ence from the Federal Government. Un- der title II of the pending civil rights bill, all Americans would be robbed of this right by a Federal Government which will even undertake to tell a bar- ber operating in a hotel anywhere in the United States whom he must shave, a beautician operating in a hotel anywhere in the United States what woman she must attempt to beautify, and a shoe- shine boy operating in a hotel anywhere in the United States whose shoe he must shine. Fourth. Under our existing system of government, every American has the right to invest his personal talents and resources in any lawful business or in- dustry, and to determine whom he shall hire, whom he shall promote, whom he shall discharge, and whom he shall lay off in times of depression, and what the relative compensation of his employees shall be, without interference from the Federal Government. Under title VII of the pending civil rights bills and the regulatory power which title VI would confer upon Federal departments and agencies, virtually all Americans engaged in any business or industry would be robbed of this right by the Federal Gov- ernment, which would even be author- ized to specify the number of employees they should have and in what rooms or departments specific employees should work. Indeed, the regulatory power cm- bodied in title VI of the bill would even permit the Federal Government to regu- late the hiring practices of farmers hav- ing any connection with Federal agricul- tural programs, and the hiring practices of housewives paying social security tax- es upon the wages of a single domestic servant. I cannot be silent upon these matters as long as the rules of the Senate permit me to speak. Like the late Justice Bran- deis, I firmly believe that the States are the only breakwater against the ever- pounding surf which threatens to sub- merge the individual and destroy the only society in which personality can exist. Moreover, my study of history convinecs me that Woodrow Wilson spoke an eternal truth when he said: Liberty has never come from the govern- ment. Liberty has always come from the subjects of it. The history of liberty is a history of the limitation of governmental power, not the increase of it. When we resist therefore the concentration of power, we are restricting the processes of death, because concentration of power is what always pre- cedes the destruction of human liberties. For these reasons, I shall fight for the preservation of the powers of the State and will never countenance any legisla- tive proposal which would convert Amer- icans from free men into helpless pup- lpets upon a bureaucratic string. CIVIL RIGHTS DEBATE AND NEWS- LETTERS Mr. STENNIS. Mr. President, on Tues- day of this week it was my privilege to address the Senate on the civil rights bill. At that time I discussed several of the constitutional questions involved and 1964 4863

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