will pass it, but in these areas that I've mentioned they do not affect the black boys and girls one bit. I say it is ridiculous and ironic for me to be chairman of the Committee on Education and Labor and developing education legislation to the place where we are about to provide, by the conclusion of this fiscal year, $9 billion annually. And in these States I have just mentioned, we are still going to be giving the money basically to white people. Black people and the increasing number of white people marching with them are not going to wait. We have had one summer of violence-do you want another one? Can we besmirch the image of our Nation any longer? Therefore I say this measure before you is not adamant; it is a great and noble step. However, in its present form, it will be totally inadequate, Mr. Chairman, unless the remarks Mr. Lindsay and I have made, and the remarks that others are going to make, are taken into consideration so we will have something to apply to this entire country and to apply now. Thank you ever so much. The CHAIRMAN. Any questions? No questions. We want to thank you very much, Mr. Powell. We have 10 minutes for you, Congressman Lindsay. Anybody have questions? Mr. CONYERS. May I ask a question, Mr. Chairman, please? I am sorry to be so late. The CHAIRMAN. Go ahead, Congressman. Mr. CONYERS. I think the remarks made by the distinguished chairman have been very well received here. I have not heard before now any discussion in this committee about the possibility of new elections following the passage of a voter rights bill that is now under contemplation. Would you elaborate just briefly on this necessity that you feel for that? Mr. POWELL. I will give you an example almost within the shadow of the White House; Cambridge, Md. There, under Gloria Richardson, they marched and marched. It was not until I went there and spoke that I found the local county commissioners of Dorchester County refusing to allow surplus food into Dorchester County where the Negro unemployment was 32 percent. I made a direct appeal to Governor Tawes, the gentleman from Maryland will remember, and Governor Tawes had to override the local elected officials to get Federal surplus food into starving Negro people almost within the shadow of this Capitol. This cannot be rectified unless elections are held for local offices where there is a chance for black people and right-thinking white people to run for office. Mr. CONYERS. Do you foresee, Mr. Powell, any increase in violence Mr. POWELL. Yes, sir. Mr. CONYERS. Between the passage of a voter rights law and the next election which might sufficiently intimidate considerable numbers of people who might otherwise be registered to vote? Mr. POWELL. Yes, sir. Mr. MATHIAS. Would the gentleman yield at that point? I wonder if the distinguished chairman of the Education and Labor Committee realizes that Maryland, of course, will not be covered by the bill which is before the House? Mr. POWELL. That is right. Mr. MATHIAS. This concerns many of us here on the committee for we are dealing with a bill which is so constructed that while the Attorney General said massive injustice will be dealt with, there will be many areas of injustice left unaffected. Mr. POWELL. You take massive injustice in pockets. You take massive injustice for the entire Nation, and it exceeds the massive injustice in these pockets like Selma. The gentleman from Maryland is a great fighter for civil rights. He is correct. The CHAIRMAN. Any other questions? Thank you very much, Mr. Powell. The Chair wishes to state that we will meet tomorrow morning at 10 o'clock to hear Mr. Roy Wilkins, of the NAACP, and Members of Congress. We will also assemble at 8 o'clock tomorrow to hear additional Members of the Congress. The meeting will now adjourn until morning. (Whereupon, at 12 noon, the subcommittee recessed, to reconvene at 10 a.m., Wednesday, March 24, 1965.) VOTING RIGHTS WEDNESDAY, MARCH 24, 1965 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE No. 5 OF THE The subcommittee met at 10:10 a.m. in Room 2141, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Emanuel Celler (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding. Present: Representatives Celler, Rodino, Rogers of Colorado, Donohue, Brooks, Kastenmeier, Corman, McCulloch, Cramer, Lindsay, and Mathias. Also present: Representatives Gilbert, Edwards, Conyers, Grider, and McClory. Staff members present: Benjamin L. Zelenko, counsel, and William H. Copenhaver, associate counsel. The CHAIRMAN. The committee will come to order. We have scheduled this morning Mr. Roy Wilkins, the executive director of the NAACP. Mr. Wilkins, we are glad to welcome you, and we know of the very fine work that you have been doing for a very renowned and creditable organization. Whenever I have called upon you, you have responded readily. We are very happy to welcome you here this morning and also Mr. Ruah who is on your left, who is a lawyer of distinction who is likewise familiar with this matter. I am sure he will make a good contribution. STATEMENT OF ROY WILKINS, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NAACP, AND CHAIRMAN OF THE LCCR, ACCOMPANIED BY: JOSEPH L. RAUH, JR., COUNSEL FOR THE LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE ON CIVIL RIGHTS Mr. WILKINS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning. The Weather Bureau does not have much respect for the U.S. Government. In New York City, with which you are familiar, it was raining and low ceiling and we had a hard time getting down here today. I am sorry to have delayed you and the subcommittee members for even a little bit. Mr. Chairman, and members of the subcommittee: I am Roy Wilkins, executive director of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and chairman of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights. The leadership conference is a cooperative group of 90 organizations united for freedom and justice in our country. 46-535-65——25 377 Accompanying me is Mr. Joseph L. Rauh, Jr., who is counsel for the leadership conference and is well known to the Congress. We are here today because the best efforts of sincere men and women have not yet eradicated the blight of racial discrimination in voting. President Lyndon B. Johnson is in the forefront of those who recognize that this discrimination in voting still exists as was evidenced by his magnificent speech and pledge of March 15. Our organizations deeply appreciate the leadership of the President on this matter. Influential Republican spokesmen in both Houses and among the leaders of the party outside the Congress have likewise urged strong and sweeping legislation to correct this discrimination. Also, several Republicans have introduced their own bills and a number of others have joined in bipartisan sponsorship of the administration bill. The history of the struggle for the right to participate in Federal, State, and local elections goes back to the period of Reconstruction. Some of the impediments imposed by State legislatures have been removed by court action on the part of the Federal Government and private organizations such as that which I have the honor to serve as director. Examples are the grandfather clause. Restriction which was removed in Guinn v. United States, 232 U.S. 347 (1915); incidentially, the first case in which the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People participated in the Supreme Court after its organization in 1909. There was the white primary series of cases beginning with Nixon v. Herndon, 273 U.S. 536 (1927); Nixon v. Condon, 286 U.S. 73 (1932); and the final one in the white primary, Smith v. Allwright, 321 U.S. 649 (1944); and the racially exclusive preprimary party caucus Terry v. Adams, 345 U.S. 461 (1953). Now, Mr. Chairman, in 1957, the Congress passed a statute which gave the Attorney General the power to institute civil actions on behalf of those who were deprived of the right to vote. At that time, the men and women of good will assumed that the right to vote would be safe in the hands of the Federal judiciary. In some measure this was not a vain hope. Because of this statute, the courts struck down voting discrimination in Georgia, United States v. Raines, 362 U.S. 17, Terrell Co., Georgia (1960); Alabama, United States v. Alabama, 192 Fed. Supp. 677, Macon Co., Alabama (1961); and Tennessee, United States v. Beaty, 288 F. 2d 655, Fayette Co., Tennessee (1961). On March 8, 1965, the Supreme Court in United States v. Missis sippi, 33 U.S.L.W. 4258, and Louisiana v. United States, 33 U.S.L.W. 4262, made further inroads against voting discrimination in Louisiana and Mississippi. Yet, Mr. Chairman, it is clear that the legal technicalities, the slow pace of court decisions and in some instances complete judicial hostility have combined to restrict the participation of voters in National, State and local elections. In 1960, Congress strengthened the 1957 voting rights law. Only last year Congress tried again to make the 1957 law more effective. All three laws put together have not done the job of making the 15th amendment a living document. In too many areas of the Nation, Negroes are still being registered one by one and only after long liti gation. We must transform this retail litigation method of regis |