and all Supreme Court and other court decisions in the field of education is embodied in Title III of the Act. The federal courts have recognized the right of state and local governments to administer their schools, but by orders and judgments in judicial proceedings have required admission to schools and colleges of qualified students who wished to attend, without discrimination on the basis of race, color or creed. Title III would vest in the Commissioner of Education of the United States administrative control in this field of every public school and college board in the United States through (a) federal personnel employed by him as "specialists," (b) use of funds administered by him with unlimited right of conditions and restrictions, (c) special federally devised courses for "teachers, supervisors, counselors and other elementary or secondary school personnel," and (d) suits and injunctions instituted by the Attorney General in the name of the United States with penalties of fine and imprisonment. (4) The power given the Commissioner of Education to bring about a removal of "racial imbalance" in "public educational institutions at all levels in the United States" is also a radical and unprecedented departure from all Supreme Court decisions. The use of federal administrative authority to force (by means mentioned above) complete race mixing by the transfer and transportation of students from one school to another goes far beyond the court decisions. (5) Control by the federal government of both state and local governments in the educational field is provided in Title III, through the broad power conferred upon the Attorney General to bring suits against state and local governments without any actual limitation whatsoever. The wording used in Section 307 (a) and (b) is designed to permit such suits in the sole discretion of the Attorney General. Control of state and local electoral machinery The Act takes the first two steps in federal control of all state, local and federal elections including any "general, special or primary election held solely or in part for the purpose of electing or selecting any candidate for public office" within the United States. Section 101 modifies all state laws defining qualifications for voting. It transfers from local officials to federally appointed "voting referees" the registration and qualification of voters upon certain allegations being made in suits by the Attorney General without the necessity of proof. It ousts the jurisdiction of local officials under specified circumstances during the pendency of litigation and before trial. The Attorney General could move into sensitive areas just before a national election, register tens of thousands of voters whose votes would count, even if the appointment of the referees or the registrations were later set aside. If this Act is adopted the precedent will be set for federal take-over of those steps in all state and local elections in the United States recommended by the United States Commission on Civil Rights on pages 15-24 of Volume 6 of its 1961 Report: (1) The qualifications of all voters; (2) The registration of voters; (3) The establishment of voting districts; (4) The holding of elections and the counting of votes; (5) The establishment of electoral districts, (6) The authorization of federal prosecution (with penalties including fine and imprisonment) of state or local officials who, in the opinion of federal personnel, are guilty of "any arbitrary action or (where there is a duty to act) inaction" in the area of registration, voting or counting of votes in any federal election, i.e., complete federal control of state and local officials. The Federal FEPC Title VII sets up a Commission "to prevent discrimination against employees or applicants for employment because of race, color, religion or national origin by Government contractors and sub contractors, and by contractors and subcontractors participating in programs or activities in which direct or indirect financial assistance by the United States Government is provided by way of grant, contract, loan, insurance, guaranty, or otherwise." It must not be overlooked that "Government contractors and subcontractors" compose only a very small percentage of those covered. Those who contract with the United States Government, i.e. who are contractors or subcontractors, in the programs and activities defined above include banks and savings and loans associations (FDIC, Federal Reserve System, deposit of federal funds, etc.), persons entering into loan contracts through the FHA, VA, PHA, FNMA and CHA, Federal Home Loan Board, Small Business Administration, Federal Land Banks, Banks for Cooperatives, Production Credit Associations, Commodity Credit Corporation, Soil Conservation Service, Farmers' Home Administration, REA, Area Redevelopment Administration and also Forestry Service, carriage of mail by airlines or railroads, subsidies of every kind, all colleges, high schools and elementary schools which themselves or through their students directly or indirectly participate in federal financial programs, to name a few. Title VII creating the "commission on Equal Employment Opportunity" does not remotely resemble the conventional state FEPC. Its powers are unlimited. They are described in the Act as "The Commission shall have such powers to effectuate the purposes of this title as may be conferred upon it by the President." It includes not only the hiring of employees, but every element that goes into the relationship of employer and employee. Businesses could be required to go out and recruit Negroes, or Protestants or Catholics or Jews, to end the "racial imbalance" or "religious imbalance" found to exist by federal inspectors. Complaint by individual employees would not be required. Examination of entire corporate or other business or school personnel could be made by the Commission on its own motion. The Commission could require removal of "racial imbalance" or "religious imbalance" at every level of employment from the laborer through the supervisors, the superintendents, the department heads, the Vice-presidents and other officers, and the directors of corporations. Calling of loans, cancellation of contracts, withdrawal of FDIC, cancellation of federal guaranties or insurance, denial of participation in any program followed by a blacklisting of the corporation or institution for one, two or three years or more, revocation of licenses which had been federally granted, these are some of the sanctions which could be provided by Executive Order. Assessment of damages, reimbursement, restitution, compensation, costs, charges and fees could be included. As to the authority of the Commission over the several million persons employed in all the ramifications of the United States Government, Title VII contains one short sentence: "The President may also confer upon the Commission such powers as he deems appropriate to prevent discrimination on the ground of race, color, religion or national origin in government employment." Control of Individuals Under Title VI complete authority is vested in the President or his administrative appointees to withhold, restrict or modify every form of "direct or indirect financial assistance for or in connection with any program or activity" of the federal government. In a letter to the Civil Rights Commission dated April 19, 1963, concerning its proposal to withhold funds because of "discrimination," President Kennedy stated that such withholding of funds would include (using the President's words) "Social Security, veterans, welfare, school lunch and other benefits from Federal programs." The proposed Act amends every Act of Congress "providing or authorizing" such programs and activities as veterans' benefits, veterans' and civil service pensions, social security benefits, all health, education and welfare programs, every federal benefit of every kind to every citizen of the United States, so as to permit manipulation of those benefits for the sociological and political ends described in the bill. Millions of Americans are subjected to federal control by this Act. It is impossible to estimate the number. Conclusion The Act not only clearly violates the Constitution of the United States by extending powers of the federal government beyond those permitted under the Constitution and destroying rights reserved to the States and to the people, but also by granting to the executive department powers which were intended under the Constitution to be within the realm of judicial determination and legislative action. It destroys the fundamental system of checks and balances set up in the Constitution. The Act completely ignores the civil rights and civil liberties of homeowners, businessmen, professional men, and all persons other than the minorities whose political favor it curries. The Act reveals the master plan. If the whole is denied and parts are granted, the plan will be developed step by step through each succeeding Congress. If the whole is granted, the end is not yet. The President's message of June 19 states that "the enactment of the legislation I suggest will not solve all our problems." The United States of America is at the cross-roads. The Action we take in the next few months may determine our course in all the years to come. If you oppose this legislation (S-1731), write your Senators and Congressmen immediately and tell them so. Copies of this booklet may be obtained by writing the Co-ordinating Committee for Fundamental American Freedoms, Suite 520, 301 First Street, N. E., Washington, D. C. Phone 543-7100. WILLIAM LOEB, Chairman J. J. KILPATRICK, Vice Chairman JOHN C. SATTERFIELD, Secretary-Treasurer |