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Mr. NIXON. I mean, generally speaking.

Mr. BURNSIDE. Yes; I think so. I have not run into any serious objections. I say, I campaigned on it, and I got the second largest majority in the history of the district; so it must not have aroused too much opposition.

Mr. Nixon. The reason I ask the question is that I think we have the practical problem in the case of this legislation as to how it is going to work. And, of course, how any piece of legislation is going to work depends upon how much public opinion is behind it.

Mr. BURNSIDE. Yes; I think it does.

Mr. NIXON. And that is why I am asking you the same question that I asked Mr. Battle.

Mr. BURNSIDE. We have a large number of former southerners, if that is what you are driving at.

Mr. NIXON. Yes; I am.

Mr. BURNSIDE. They are in southern West Virginia, a large number. But I have not run into any serious objections along this line. I have had some objections. With anything you do constructively you are going to run into objections. But I think that still you have to fight for these constructive ideas, whether you run into objections or not. Mr. NIXON. As you see it, then, if the law were on the books and put into effect, you think the people generally in your district would support it?

Mr. BURNSIDE. I think so.

Mr. NIXON. Thank you.

Mr. POWELL. Thank you ever so much, Mr. Burnside.

We will now have the testimony of Congressman Rodino of New Jersey.

TESTIMONY OF HON. PETER W. RODINO, JR., A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY

Mr. RODINO. I am Representative Peter W. Rodino, Jr., and I appear here today in support of H. R. 4453, a bill designed to promote fair-employment practices by eliminating discrimination in employment because of race, creed, or color.

This bill will establish, as the policy of the United States, that the right to employment and to seek employment shall be guaranteed without discrimination because of race, creed, color, national origin, or ancestry, and that this principle shall be embodied in the body of the United States statutes with enforcement machinery to insure that it will become more than a pious platitude.

This is not a new and strange concept. This bill seeks to close a gap in our civil-rights laws. It is one more step in the direction of making real the ideals which we so often proclaim.

The bill seeks to profit by our war and postwar experiences, which demonstrates that discrimination in employment can be eliminated when backed by legislative authority.

The issuance of Executive Order 8802, by President Roosevelt, for the purpose of integrating minority groups into the defense, later the war program, represented the final step of a series of measures taken by the Government to insure full utilization of the Nation's manpower during the recent war, This series was initiated in July 1940 when, in recognition of the growing demands for labor and the development

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of potential labor shortages in particular areas, the National Defense Advisory Commission established an office in its Labor Division to eliminate discrimination against Negro workers because of their race and to facilitate their integration into training programs and industry. This was followed by an announcement of the United States Office of Education that

in the expenditure of Federal funds for vocational training for defense there should be no discrimination on account of race, creed, or color.

In August 1940 the National Defense Advisory Commission issued a statement of labor policy which recited that workers should not be discriminated against because of age, sex, race, or color. President Roosevelt reiterated this policy in a message to Congress on the progress of the defense program.

In appropriating money for defense training in October 1940, Congress stipulated that

no trainee under the foregoing appropriation shall be discriminated against because of sex, race, or color, and where separate schools are required by law for separate population groups, to the extent needed for trainees of such groups, equitable provision shall be made for facilities for training of like quality.

During the same month an agreement was reached by the A. F. of L. and the CIO with the National Defense Advisory Commission to accept responsibility for removing barriers against Negro workers in defense industries.

In an effort to implement this statement of policy, the aforementioned statute and agreement, various Government officials issued a series of special letters and instructions. These included a letter in November 1940 to State and local boards of education by John W. Studebaker, United States Commissioner of Education, in which he called attention to the nondiscrimination clause in defense-training legislation and urged all directors of defense-training activities to take special steps to facilitate the training of Negroes.

Meanwhile the Office of Production Management had been created to replace the National Defense Advisory Commission. It instructed its regional and field representatives to consider the problems of Negro workers as related to upgrading and the apprenticeship programs in defense plants. At its request, Mr. Sidney Hillman sent a letter in April 1941 to all holders of defense contracts, urging the removal of laws against qualified Negro workers in defense industries. Mr. Hillman also created a Negro employment and training branch and a minority groups branch in the Labor Division of the Office of Production Management.

On June 21, 1941, President Roosevelt issued a memorandum to Messrs. Knudsen and Hillman which gave his full support to the Hillman letter to defense contractors and in which he placed responsibility on industry to utilize the labor of all loyal and qualified workers regardless of race, creed, color, or national origin.

These steps, although admittedly forthright expressions of national policy, were not effective in controlling discrimination against minorities in defense employment. Help-wanted advertisements still called for "white" mechanics, or "gentile" factory workers, or even "Protestant white gentiles." Defense training courses were often advertised to exclude Negroes, Jews, Spanish-American aliens, and

other foreign-born citizens. Members of certain religious denominations were on the unwanted list. Negroes had a phrase for it, "The last hired and the first fired."

Underlying these Government pronouncements against discrimination had been a prevailing and anticipated manpower shortage. Total and global war required total mobilization of the entire production potential of the arsenal of democracy, yet, however pressing the need and however high the stake, old patterns were slow to change. Negroes particularly, aroused by the inspiring statements of principles defining the war conflict bewteen the democracies and the totalitarians, called attention with increasing vigor and bitterness to the special disabilities to which they were subjected within the framework of a democracy. In response to their growing protest, the President, on June 25, 1941, issued Executive Order 8802, which reaffirmed "the policy of the United States that there shall be no discrimination in the employment of workers in defense industries or Government because of race, creed, color, or national origin" and created the Committee on Fair Employment Practice to carry this policy into effect. Inherent in the promulgation of this order was the implicit recognition that the right to work is a civil right and must be accordingly protected. It is not enough that full and equal membership in society entitles the individual to an equal voice in the control of his Government; it must also give him the right to enjoy the benefits of society and to contribute to its progress. The opportunity of each individual to obtain useful employment, at his highest skill, must be provided with complete disregard for race, color, creed, and national origin. Without this equality of opportunity the individual is deprived of the chance to develop his potentialities and to share the fruits of socity. The majority group suffers through the loss of the full contributions which might have been made by persons excluded from the main channels of social and economic activity.

This Committee on Fair Employment Practices appointed by President Roosevelt successfully functioned until June 1946. In their letter transmitting the final report of this committee to President Truman, June 28, 1946, the committee stated:

The committee's wartime experience shows that, in the majority of cases, discriminatory practices by employers and unions can be reduced or eliminated by simple negotiation when the work of the negotiator is backed by firm and explicit national policy.

FEPC's unsolved cases show that Executive authority is not enough to insure compliance in the face of stubborn opposition. Only legislative authority will insure compliance in the small number of cases in which employees or unions, or both, refuse after negotiation to abide by the national policy of nondiscrimination.

President Truman in his letter of acceptance stated that:

The degree of effectiveness which the Fair Employment Practice Committee was able to attain has shown once and for all that it is possible to equalize job opportunity by governmental action, and thus eventually to eliminate the influence of prejudice in the field of employment.

I would like to submit for the record the final report of the Fair Employment Practice Committee, as I think it answers many of the objections raised against H. R. 4453, the bill now under consideration. (The final report referred to above is on file with the committee.) President Truman has repeatedly recommended the passage of legislation guaranteeing fair-employment practices, since Congress

ordered the termination of the wartime FEPC in the National War Agencies Appropriation Act of 1946.

President Truman, on July 26, 1949, implemented his recommendations to Congress by issuing an Executive order creating a Fair Employment Board in the Civil Service Commission, with the responsibility of insuring equal opportunity in the employment and promotional policies of the Federal Government.

The several State legislatures have created State fair-employment practices statutes with enforcement powers, namely: New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey, Washington, Oregon, New Mexico, and Rhode Island.

It is well to point out at this time that the passage of the statute in New Jersey strengthened the law in New York, likewise the passage of the Massachusetts FEPC law strengthened the law in New York and New Jersey. The fact that the New England area is now pretty generally covered has added to the effect of the law in each State, and to its effect in the fact that the laws are so much alike in their terms it has enabled a cooperative effort and policy. Howevr, it is well to realize that these State laws will be still needed, after a national law is created, in order to deal with industries that are intrastate in character.

The passage of a national law in this field is entirely consistent with our American constitutional traditions. It is another important step toward closing the gap between our stated ideals and our day-to-day practices. It is the fulfillment of a promise that both political parties made to the American people.

Mr. POWELL. Our last witness for today is Representative Bennett, of Florida.

TESTIMONY OF HON. CHARLES E. BENNETT, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF FLORIDA

Mr. BENNETT. My name is Charles E. Bennett. I am the Congressman from the Second Congressional District of Florida, and I appreciate this opportunity to come and speak about the proposed FEPC law.

I listened with interest to what Mr. Burnside said a minute ago when he said he campaigned in support of this law. I campaigned in opposition to the law, and I had a race in the general election last November which was rather revealing as far as race relationships are concerned, because_thousands of colored people vote in my district. In the election I opposed the FEPC law, and my Republican opponent was generally believed to support it. As I remember it, I carried the sections which were predominantly colored by about the same ratio as I carried the rest of the district, which was about 10 to 1 in that election.

I would like to say, somewhat by way of introduction, that I am, of course, very much opposed to discrimination of any kind. I have helped to support activity in my district over matters with regard to better race relationships. I am not saying I am the only one, but I have certainly been belligerent and active, regardless of where the chips may fall, and, regardless of the political consequences, I have tried to make for better relationships. They are not perfect, but I personally feel that race relationships are better in the South than

they are anywhere else in the country. I believe that the people get along better there. You will find a lesser percentage of race riots, less hard feeling, and less misunderstanding in the section of the country in which I live than anywhere else in the country.

There are many opportunities for the colored people that have not been fully realized, and there are many things that can be done for the colored people. Specifically, in my home town, I have worked to try to bring about the establishment of proper recreational facilities, and better educational facilities. In the near future, I expect that several miles of beach will be set aside, which is priceless on the Florida shores, as you know, for the colored people in the vicinity of Jacksonville. I expect that a swimming pool will be built there, which I, among other people, have been campaigning for, and been very active in trying to have established.

The schools of the South generally are not what they should be. I have introduced H. R. 1201, which is a bill to provide that the Federal Government shall reimburse the state governments 100 percent for the construction of Negro schools over the next 10 years, the idea behind this being that there is a national responsibility on the part of our Government to assist these people. Our Federal Constitution was a document, a compact, a contract, between the various States by which our Government was established, and it acknowledged and allowed slavery to exist. It even allowed the importation of slaves and the slave trade until 1808. Slavery itself was abolished by fire and sword in the War Between the States, and as a consequence the National Government then washed its hands of the problem which it had helped to create. It left the South impoverished with no Marshall plan, or no program for taking care of either white or colored people.

I believe the National Government has a responsibility to aid the South in both construction and maintenance of Negro schools, although I am not asking for all that. I am just asking in my bill for aid in the construction of the Negro schools. I think the South can carry on the rest. But it is financially unfeasible for any comparable section in the country to construct the schools that should be constructed for the colored people at the present time. The money is just not there. It cannot be done. It would wipe out everything else in the area. In fact, it would exceed the possibilities of the people to pay in taxes.

I have been to see the President about this bill. I have done everything I can to forward it. Now, I realize that I am taking up your time by talking about extraneous matters, and I will get back now to talking about the FEPC law.

I am not ordinarily a very disabled person, but I am slightly disabled. I wonder when you draw up a law like FEPC why it would not be just as logical to say that it should apply to disabled people, or maybe even freckled-faced people, or people that smile the right way or smile the wrong way. How are you going to draw up a law which will be practical and really be a workable law?

I do not believe in drawing laws which offer the people things which are not actually going to come about as a result of that law. We enacted a prohibition law in the hope that everybody would stop drinking. I suspect 999 people out of 1,000 would probably agree that it would be a good thing if liquor had never come on earth and if man

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