January 26, 1968
Page 1140
PRESIDENT JOHNSON IS CORRECT TO URGE RIGHTS PROTECTION
Mr. MUSKIE. Mr. President, I endorse the President's civil rights recommendations. It is my hope that this session of Congress will see the enactment of legislation in each of these areas: protection of persons exercising civil rights, equal employment, Federal and State jury selection, and fair housing.
The Senate has the immediate opportunity to take one long-overdue step toward our goal of equal opportunity and justice for all Americans. The Judiciary Committee bill to punish interference with the exercise of certain basic Federal rights is now the subject of Senate debate.
It has been almost a year and a half since the House of Representatives first passed a bill substantially similar to the one now before the Senate. Since that time, acts of violence against Negroes, white civil rights workers, and persons seeking to afford equal benefits to Negroes, have amply demonstrated the urgent need for such legislation. Difficulties encountered by the Department of Justice in prosecuting such cases have amply demonstrated the inadequacy of present laws.
This legislation would give substance to those rights already affirmed by prior acts of Congress and the Constitution.
It is appropriately limited to an area in which effective local protection is often absent and where the intent of existing Federal legislation is being thwarted.
This is a carefully drafted statute which would make crystal clear to all potential violators which activities are to be protected. Each of the explicitly enumerated rights is basic to American citizenship: the right to vote is guaranteed by the 15th amendment and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The 1964 Civil Rights Act affirms the constitutional right to nondiscriminatory treatment in public accommodations, employment, federally assisted programs, and public education. The right to equal enjoyment of any other State programs or services is guaranteed by the 14th amendment.
Although the bill arose primarily out of the need to protect Negro citizens in the exercise of those rights they have been so long denied, it would also protect members of any persecuted minority group, as well as those active supporters of equality in public life. The bill would also protect those who are legally bound to afford equal benefits to all -- public officials and employees, operators of public accommodations, and private employers.
The bill avoids the limitations of existing Federal criminal laws, which require proof of a conspiracy or State action and which do not clearly cover interference with all of the activities most in need of protection. It establishes penalties which are more commensurate with the gravity of the crime and more likely to deter future terrorism.
The enactment of the bill should make clear our commitment to law and order and to the free exercise of Federal rights.
Let us act promptly and positively on this needed legislation.