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4 Legislative History of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 Public Law 88-352 6597 (1964)

handle is hein.leghis/lhicril0004 and id is 1 raw text is: CONGRESSIONAL RECORD - SENATE Pope John XXIII nd to President Ken- nedy. It should be po ted out also that the original list of 31 nominees had been announced July 4 by President Kennedy. However, Wilson's book was not avail- able until October. The final choice on the Wilson medgl was President John- son's. The White House citation for Wilson released December 6 read: Edmund Wilson, critic and historian. He has converted criticism itself into a creative act while setting for the Nation a stern and uncompromising standard of independent judgment. Mr. President, the author is indeed possessed of a stern standard of judg- ment where his native country is con- cerned, while his praise of communism and socialism appears to be quite un- compromising. I am aware that Mr. Wilson is one of our most gifted men of letters-as Book Week put it. I am also aware that he has no qualms about using adjectives of four letters to describe the United States. The question that crosses my mind, Mr. President, is: What justification exists for honoring * a President's Freedom Medal a man of Edmund Wilson's phi- losophy and teinperament? And under what system would consideration be given to award ng such an honor to such a man, in vilw of his utterances of record? Mr. DOUGI4AS. Mr. President, has morning businbss been concluded? The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- pore. Is therO further morning busi- ness? If not, morning business is closed. CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1963 The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- pore. The Chair lays before the Sen- ate the unfinished business. The Senate resumed the consideration of the bill (H.R. 7152) to enforce the constitutional right to vote, to confer jurisdiction upon the district courts of the United States to provide injunctive relief against discrimination in public ac- commodations, to authorize the Attorney General to institute suits to protect con- stitutional rights in public facilities and public education, to extend the Commis- sion on Civil Rights, to prevent discrimi- nation in federally assisted programs, to establish a Commission on Equal Em- ployment Opportunity, and for other purposes. Mr. DOUGLAS. Mr. President- The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- pore. The Senator from Illinois is rec- ognized. Mr. STENNIS. Mr. President, will the Senator from Illinois yield to me, to per- mit me to suggest the absence of a quorum? Mr. DOUGLAS. Yes, if I may do so with the understanding that in yielding for that purpose, I shall not lose the floor. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- pore. Is there objection? Without ob- jection, it is so ordered. Mr. DOUGLAS. Very well; I yield for that purpose. Mr. STENNIS. Then, Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- pore. The clerk will call the roll. The Chief Clerk proceeded to call the roll. Mr. MANSFIELD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded. The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. RIsIcorF in the chair). Without objec- tion, it is so ordered. Mr. MANSFIELD. There will be a live quorum call; but at this time I wish to make a brief statement. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Montana may proceed, if there is no objection. COMMENT 014 PERSONAL STATE- MENT BY 'SENATOR MORSE- SOUTH VIE'INAM Mr. MANSFIZLD. Mr. President, in the late afternoon on yesterday the Sen- ator from Oregon [Mr. MORSE] rose to a point of personal privilege in order to make a statement with reference to the situation in Vietnam. I was unable to remain for the entire statement. But I was in the Chamber long enough to learn that the point of personal privilege was raised that a chief of state took upon himself, according to press reports, to classify the able Senator as a traitor- to the American people. I do not at this time comment upon the views which the Senator from Ore- gon holds on Vietnam. He has his views; I have mine; other Senators have theirs. Sometimes they coincide and sometimes they do not. But on one point I do not believe a single Member of this body will deviate, and that is in stating that the disparag- ing remarks with reference to the pa- triotism of the Senator from Oregon are uncalled for. They reveal a lack of un- derstanding *of the U.S. system of gov- ernment and of the role of free and open discussion in a responsible govern- ment. I would be most hopeful that the Am- bassador of the United States in Saigon would see to it that the substance of those remarks is noted. At the same time, the Ambassador might explain the operation of the free system of govern- ment in our Nation, with which he has had considerable firsthand experience in the Senate. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum. Mr. GRUENING. Mr. President- Mr. KEATING. Mr. President- Mr DOMINIClX. Mr. President- Mr. GRUENING. Mr. President, will the Senator withhold his request for a quorum call? Mr. MANSFIELD. I merely asked that the previous quorum call, which was to be a live one, be withheld until I had made my statement, with the under- standing that immediately afterward I would suggest the absence of quorum. Mr. GRUENING. I wish to comment on the Senator's statement. I also raise a point of personal privilege. Mr. MANSFIELD. Mr. President, since I am asked to yield, and since I have mentioned the name of the Sena- tor from Oregon, I yield to him first. Mr. MORSE. I appreciate very much the statement f the majority leader. It is another prof of his unfailing fair- ness and his at statesmanship. Mr. GRE G. Mr. President will the Sehator yied? Mr. MANSF1XILD. I yield. Mr GRUENING. I wish to associate myself with thO statement made on Viet- nam yesterday by the senior Senator from Oregon, and I wish also to applaud our majority linder for his comment in condemning the insulting and unwar- ranted slur ot Gen. Nguyen Khanh. I feel that I might also rise to a point of personal privilege, as did Senator MORSE, because although I was not mentioned by the chief of state of South Vietnam, Gen. Nguyen E hanh, and condemned by him, as was Se ator MORSE, as a traitor to the American people I made pre- cisely the samd statement which the dis- tinguished Seriator from Oregon made for which Geheral Khanh denounced him as a traitor to the American people. Mr. STENNIS. Mr. President, may we have order? I cannot hear the Senator. - The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senate will be in order. Mr. GRUENING. I also said that all of South Vietnam was not worth the life of a single American boy. I repeat that statement now. I shall continue to re- peat it. I have in my office an enormous flood of mail on our involvement in South Vietnam. I have received more mail on this subject than I have on any other issue on which I have spoken in the 5 years I have been in the Senate. With four exceptions in which the writers dif- fer with my stand, I have received hun- dreds of letters supporting my position to get our boys out of the firing line which is no place for them to be. Allegedly they-these American boys-are in South Vietnam as advisers, but they are actually in combat uniform and have been for some time. Hence the casualty lists. Hence the more than 200 killed. It is time that the Pentagon stopped deceiv- ing the American people. We have been told that those boys are over there as military advisers. But in fact, Mr. Pres- ident, they are engaged in combat in a place to which they should never have been sent and for a duty to which they never should have been assigned. I associate myself fully, as I have all along on this issue, with the senior Sen- ator from Oregon. ORDER OF BUSINESS The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Chair invites the attention of Senators to the fact that the rule of germaneness is in effect. Mr. CLARK. Mr. President- The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Pennsylvania is recognized. Mr. CLARK. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the rule of ger- maneness may be suspended, and that I may be permitted to speak for not to exceed 4 minutes. Mr. DOMINICK. Mr. President, I ob- ject. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objec- tion is heard. 1964 6597