Senator HUMPHREY. Mr. Chairman, may I say this, that the American people look upon the House of Representatives as their representative body. The Congressmen are elected from the districts on the basis of population proportion. In the Senate, it is two Senators from each State, regardless of the size of the State, the population of the State, its wealth, or anything else. It is one of our great compromises in American Government. But the House of Representatives, by and large, is the voice of the American people. It is the people's body. And whether the Senate ever acts on this or not, I think it would be a resounding challenge to the world if the House of Representatives passed this legislation and said to the people of America and to the people of the world, "We are for fair employment practices legislation," and then the Senate will be on the spot, as we say, and I am perfectly willing, as I said earlier, to join hands in wholesome fellowship with every good Republican and Democrat in the Senate of the United States and try to get this legislation across. Thank you. Mr. POWELL. Thank you. The committee stands adjourned until 9: 45 tomorrow morning. (Whereupon, at 12:45 p. m., an adjournment was taken until the following day, Thursday, May 12, 1949, at 9:45 a. m.) FEDERAL FAIR EMPLOYMENT PRACTICE ACT THURSDAY, MAY 12, 1949 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SPECIAL SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE Washington, D. C. The subcommittee met, pursuant to adjournment, at 9:45 a. m., Hon. Adam C. Powell, Jr. (chairman), presiding. Mr. POWELL. The committee will come to order. Our first witness is Representative Biemiller, of Wisconsin, and there are three or four other Members of Congress whose testimony could not be included yesterday. We will hear them today. TESTIMONY OF HON. ANDREW J. BIEMILLER, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF WISCONSIN Mr. BIEMILLER. Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, I am Andrew J. Biemiller, representing the Fifth District of Wisconsin. May I say that this is a most auspicious day in the eyes of those of us who are interested in fighting discrimination on racial or religious grounds because of the splendid action which the Air Force has taken within the last 24 hours. I am delighted to see that the Air Force is carrying out the intent of President Truman's Executive order to ban discrimination in the armed forces, and I am hopeful that the Army will follow through in similar vein. I also had the pleasure about 6 weeks ago of being on the carrier Franklin D. Roosevelt, and noted there that there had been progress made in assimilating people into the work of the Navy purely on the basis of their abilities and with no discrimination, and I hope that additional progress will be made in that respect. I would also like to call the attention of the committee to the fact that my own State has just passed, and the Governor has signed, a bill barring discrimination in the National Guard of the State of Wisconsin, which I think is further proof that progress has been made. I am in favor of the passage of the present bill because of my deep conviction that our American democracy means freedom of opportunity. It was my privilege to be one of the sponsors of the civilrights plank which was adopted at the 1948 Democratic national convention. That plank reads: We again state our belief that racial and religious minorities must have the right to live, the right to work, the right to vote, and the full and equal protection of the laws on a basis of equality with all citizens as guaranteed by the Senator HUMPHREY. Mr. Chairman, may I say this, that the American people look upon the House of Representatives as their representative body. The Congressmen are elected from the districts on the basis of population proportion. In the Senate, it is two Senators from each State, regardless of the size of the State, the population of the State, its wealth, or anything else. It is one of our great compromises in American Government. But the House of Representatives, by and large, is the voice of the American people. It is the people's body. And whether the Senate ever acts on this or not, I think it would be a resounding challenge to the world if the House of Representatives passed this legislation and said to the people of America and to the people of the world, "We are for fair employment practices legislation," and then the Senate will be on the spot, as we say, and I am perfectly willing, as I said earlier, to join hands in wholesome fellowship with every good Republican and Democrat in the Senate of the United States and try to get this legislation across. Thank you. Mr. POWELL. Thank you. The committee stands adjourned until 9:45 tomorrow morning. (Whereupon, at 12:45 p. m., an adjournment was taken until the following day, Thursday, May 12, 1949, at 9:45 a. m.) FEDERAL FAIR EMPLOYMENT PRACTICE ACT THURSDAY, MAY 12, 1949 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SPECIAL SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE Washington, D. C. The subcommittee met, pursuant to adjournment, at 9:45 a. m., Hon. Adam C. Powell, Jr. (chairman), presiding. Mr. POWELL. The committee will come to order. Our first witness is Representative Biemiller, of Wisconsin, and there are three or four other Members of Congress whose testimony could not be included yesterday. We will hear them today. TESTIMONY OF HON. ANDREW J. BIEMILLER, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF WISCONSIN Mr. BIEMILLER. Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, I am Andrew J. Biemiller, representing the Fifth District of Wisconsin. May I say that this is a most auspicious day in the eyes of those of us who are interested in fighting discrimination on racial or religious grounds because of the splendid action which the Air Force has taken within the last 24 hours. I am delighted to see that the Air Force is carrying out the intent of President Truman's Executive order to ban discrimination in the armed forces, and I am hopeful that the Army will follow through in similar vein. I also had the pleasure about 6 weeks ago of being on the carrier Franklin D. Roosevelt, and noted there that there had been progress made in assimilating people into the work of the Navy purely on the basis of their abilities and with no discrimination, and I hope that additional progress will be made in that respect. I would also like to call the attention of the committee to the fact that my own State has just passed, and the Governor has signed, a bill barring discrimination in the National Guard of the State of Wisconsin, which I think is further proof that progress has been made. I am in favor of the passage of the present bill because of my deep. conviction that our American democracy means freedom of opportunity. It was my privilege to be one of the sponsors of the civilrights plank which was adopted at the 1948 Democratic national convention. That plank reads: We again state our belief that racial and religious minorities must have the right to live, the right to work, the right to vote, and the full and equal protection of the laws on a basis of equality with all citizens as guaranteed by the Constitution. We highly commend President Truman for his courageous stand on the issue of civil rights. We call upon the Congress to support our President in guaranteeing these basic and fundamental rights: (1) The right of full and equal political participation. (2) The right to equal opportunity of employment. (3) The right of security of person. (4) The right of equal treatment in the service and defense of our Nation. This bill carries out one of the provisions of that plank, and I sincerely hope it will be supported by all the members of my party. Likewise, the Republican platform in 1948 called for a strong civilrights program, and I believe the members of the minorities should likewise support the pending bill. If we are to take seriously the religious and political principles to which most of us pay lip service, then certainly there should be no discrimination in employment because of race, creed, or color. During most of the war, I was a special assistant to the vice chairman for labor of the War Production Board. My work took me, from time to time, close to the activities of the wartime FEPC. I believe the FEPC did immeasurable good, both by increasing the morale of minorities and in stimulating production. I vividly recall the time I presided over a conference of management, labor, and Government officials in the Kaiser shipyards early in the war, when demands were made that Negroes be barred from that yard. As a result of that conference, Negroes were given full employment rights, and they made an admirable efficiency record in that shipyard, as in all other plants where they worked. Numerous management officials have so testified. In my own city, certain corporations would not employ Negroes at the beginning of the war. As a result of prodding by the FEPC, these policies were dropped, and today Negroes are employed on the basis of ability in many plants in which they previously could not find employment. I am proud that both my city and State have passed FEPC legislation. I regret that these laws are not as strong as I should like to see them, but the convictions about people have been put into legislation. The question of equality of opportunity in employment is not peculiar to any one section of the country. Discrimination has reared its ugly head everywhere, right in our own back yard as well as in distant States. None of us can dodge the responsibility to translate democracy and Christian principles into legislative enactment. Modern industrial society, more and more dominated by great aggregations of capital, which pay no attention to State lines, requires National as well as State and local action. May I also briefly remind the committee of the impact of this question upon our international relations? The great majority of the peoples of the world are colored. We are attempting to persuade them of the superiority of our democratic system over the dictatorship of the Soviets. The whole world watches America as no nation has ever been watched in history. Actions are needed as well as words. The passage of FEPC legislation would be a clarion call to the people of the entire world that we mean what we say and that our land truly is the land of freedom of opportunity for all, regardless of race, creed, or color. Mr. Chairman, I hope your subcommittee will recommend this legislation and the full committee will bring it to the floor and that we |