Perhaps more important are the sections designed to safeguard the right to vote. The fifteenth amendment puts Congress under obligation to protect the right to vote against discrimination on grounds of “race, color, or previous condition of servitude." Congress has never adequately met this responsibility. We have previously expressed the belief that, if this one basic right were safeguarded as it ought to be, other problems of discrimination would be gradually ironed out through the democratic method of electing State and local policy makers. The last provision of this omnibus bill would end discrimination in interstate transportation facilities. Certainly this, too, is a field in which a national policy in keeping with the democratic tradition ought to be declared. The Supreme Court has tried to put such a policy into effect without any specific legislation, but it can never be satisfactorily applied until the will of Congress has been positively declared. In our opinion, Congress would be making an excellent start on a long-range program for the safeguarding of civil rights if it would enact this bill at the present session and send to the States for their ratification Senator Holland's resolution to amend the Constitution by outlawing State poll taxes. Monsignor SHEEHY. I think the real advantages of the bill are that we get all of these things together in one bill and can consider them, instead of taking them up piece by piece, which would be a longdrawn-out, and to you probably a rather painful, process. Senator WILEY. What I am getting at is we have a situation that you and your organization feel calls for a remedy. Monsignor SHEEHY. Yes, sir. Senator WILEY. As I get it from your testimony, the purpose of this organization, this Commission, would be to study; and in that study have the power to investigate. Monsignor SHEEHY. Yes, sir. Senator WILEY. Then the results would be a summation of your conclusions which you think would be valuable to the legislative body, I presume. Monsignor SHEEHY. Yes, sir. Senator WILEY. Well, is that the sum and substance of what this bill does? Monsignor SHEEHY. Yes. Senator MCGRATH. The bill also amends certain existing civil-rights statutes which are rather technical. Monsignor SHEEHY. This bill goes further than that, I think. If I may go a little bit further, speaking now not as a representative of the council but as an individual, it seems to me that this is an essential step forward but that we must still rely upon the fact that we are going to reach this objective for which we are all striving by education. Where it has been slowed up or retarded, then it is necessary for the Government to come in with certain authority and powers and investigation to cover areas which are not adequately covered in national life now. In other words, I hope the day will come when, if this bill becomes the law, as I hope it shall, this will not be necessary; but that will not be so until our general process of education on civil rights has captured the loyalties and the following of all of the people. Senator WILEY. I think from your testimony, and I presume from that editorial, I get the idea that this is another commission, the purpose of which is very laudatory, but the problem in my mind is whether or not we are going to get any remedy that is effective unless and until, if your recommendations are vital and dynamic, the institutions in America will take hold of those recommendations and bring about this reeducation in our thinking and living. You well know that one of our great political contests is the problem of States' rights and the problem of the Federal Government, and it is not an easy matter to determine. The Federal Government can very easily become, as we have seen in the last 20 or 25 years, so autocratic and dictatorial that it presents an opportunity for a Hitler or Mussolini or Cromwell, and we have to watch that. Monsignor SHEEHY. Precisely. Senator WILEY. That is where this balance comes in; and, while I do not think that any thinking person who loves this country stands for the abuse of civil rights, we have to be sure that the remedy is not worse than the disease. Monsignor SHEEHY. Senator, along that line in this bill of Senator McGrath's you will see also the suggestion of a congressional committee. I believe Senator McGrath has that included. Senator McGRATH. That is correct. Senator WILEY. I think that is a very good suggestion. Monsignor SHEEHY. A Committee on Civil Rights. I agree wholeheartedly with what you say about too great centralization of power. I think, if we keep this under the Congress of the United States with a joint committee of the Senate and House, well and good. Another implementation of these ideals is the creation of a special division of the Department of Justice. I do not think that alters particularly our present structure. The Commission would work with, and I assume largely as a fact-finding agency, with the agencies of the Government; but the police powers are not vested in this Commission save, of course, the power to subpena witnesses, and so on. Senator WILEY. It would not have, as you say, any police powers. We want to make sure that the commissions do not have any legislative power, either. We have too many of them legislating now. Monsignor SHEEHY. Yes; I agree with you on that point; and I am sure the members of the council whom I represent would also agree on that point. They do not believe that setting up this Commission and the passage of this bill would bring about the further centralization of power. Senator WILEY. I notice in section 242 (a) that title 18 is amended, and the following new section is there: 242 (a). The rights, privileges, and immunities referred to in title 18, United States Code, section 242, shall be deemed to include, but shall not be limited to, the following: (1) The right to be immune from exaction of fines, or deprivations of property, without due process of law. (2) The right to be immune from punishment for crime or alleged criminal offenses except after a fair trial and upon conviction and sentence pursuant to due process of law. (3) The right to be immune from physical violence applied to exact testimony or to compel confession of crime or alleged offenses. (4) The right to be free of illegal restraint of the person. (5) The right to protection of person and property without discrimination by reason of race, color, religion, or national origin. Up to there you have your five. Are they not all included under the constitutional rights of the citizen now? Senator McGRATH. Some are included under the constitutional rights of citizens, but not the constitutional rights of inhabitants. Section 241 of the existing code is changed to make it apply to inhabitants of the United States, as distinguished from citizens. Senator WILEY. You mean now you have included everyone who comes to this country. Senator MCGRATH. Every human being that is in the country. Senator MCGRATH. No, it further extends that 241, 242, the present forms are largely conspiracy statutes, and there is an extension of jurisdiction to make them apply to the individual. Senator WILEY. Now, we are getting right to the point. You are not simply creating a commission. You are legislating here on some fundamental law. Senator MCGRATH. If the witness will excuse me, the witness has addressed himself to the subject of the Commission. This is an omnibus bill, so-called. It has many parts and many sections, in addition to setting up of these commissions, and this probably would be an appropriate time to set forth then, in the record, exactly what it does do. Section 1 of the act provides for the dividing of the act into titles and parts according to a table of contents, and for a short title, which short title is "Civil Rights Act of 1949." Section 2 contains legislative findings and declarations as is common in most statutes of this kind. Section 3 is the ordinary separability clause in the event that any part of the act is found to be unconstitutional. That does not affect the remainder of the act that may be constitutional. Section 4 is an authorization for appropriations to carry out the provisions of the act. That is with respect to the congressional commission, and with respect to a Civil Rights Division in the Department of Justice. Senator WILEY. Is there any estimate as to what that would cost? Senator MCGRATH. No, I have not an immediate estimate on that. Title I of the act proceeds as follows: The first part 1 of title I, section 101, creates a five-member Commission on Civil Rights in the Executive Branch of the Government, with provisions for the appointment of members, the officers, vacancies, quorum, and compensation. Section 102 of title I provides for the duties and functions of the Commission, including the making of an annual report to the President. Section 103 of title I provides for the use of advisory committees, consultation with public and private agencies, and Federal agency cooperation. It provides for a paid staff, as well as for the use of voluntary services. Part 2, known as the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice. Section 111 calls for the appointment of an additional Assistant Attorney General to be in charge, under the direction of the Attorney General, of a Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice. Section 112 makes provision for increasing, to the extent necessary, the personnel of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to carry out the duties of the Bureau in respect to investigation of civil rights cases; and for the Bureau to include special training of its agents for the investigation of civil rights cases. Part 3 of the proposed act sets up a Joint Congressional Committee on Civil Rights. Section 121 of part 3 establishes such a Joint Congressional Committee on Civil Rights to be composed of 14 members, 7 Senators to be appointed by the President of the Senate, and 7 Members of the House of Representatives to be appointed by the Speaker, with due regard to party representation. Senator WILEY. What does that last phrase mean, "with due regard to party representation"? Senator MCGRATH. If the Republicans have 10 percent of the Members of the Congress, they get 10 percent of the members of the Commission. Senator WILEY. Percentagewise, you mean? That is not the way it has been going in this Judiciary of the courts. We do not get any. Senator MCGRATH. It would be perfectly agreeable to me, so both parties have equal representation on such Commission, because I think both parties are equally interested. Senator WILEY. I think that would be a very constructive suggestion. Senator MCGRATH. Section 122 of part 3 sets forth the duties of the committee. Section 123 deals with vacancies on the joint congressional committee, and provides for the selection of its presiding officer. Section 124 makes provision for hearings, sets forth power of subpena, and authorization of expenditures. Section 125 provides for the formalities of disbursements. Section 126 authorizes the use of advisory committees and consultation with public and private agencies. The act then proceeds to title II, which are proviisons to strengthen protection of the individual's rights to liberty, security, citizenship, and its privileges. Senator WILEY. Would you mind telling me, Senator, because at 11 o'clock I have to leave, where it changes the present substantive law? You have created a commission. Now what does it do to the substantive law? Senator MCGRATH. I have it all set forth here, and I can probably give it to you much more concretely by using the following text. Section 201, among the existing civil rights laws on the books at the present time, is 18 U. S. C. 241. This is a criminal conspiracy statute which has been used to protect federally secured rights against encroachment by both private individuals and public officers, and several changes are proposed in this act. The phrase "inhabitants of any State, Territory, or district" is substitute for the word "citizen," so that the statute hereafter applies to any inhabitant within the United States as distinguished from any citizen of the United States. Senator WILEY. Would you mind telling me what was back of that change? Senator MCGRATH. It is always a question of citizenship and we are here dealing with human rights which are no different in mankind, regardless of what State he may be a citizen of. Senator WILEY. I cannot agree with you saying simply that; you are dealing with civil rights. One of the great problems of America today is that because of the so-called theory that we have, we permit every Communist and every inhabitant that is not a citizen to abuse our hospitality, and that is what they are doing constantly. I am wondering whether that has been thought through. I think that is very serious, if that is the very purpose of it. I have not had time to study the bill. I am sure the monsignor agrees with me on that. One of our great problems is handling these folks. There are hundreds of thousands of them coming over the border both ways, and they get into this country. We know the Commies are doing that. Then they set up the right of citizen or the right of inhabitant or the right of an individual. You cannot abuse his rights, and so forth. I think that to protect our own, in order to see that our house is not termited, we have to think that phrase through. Senator MCGRATH. In section 242 of the so-called civil rights statute we have always used the word "inhabitant" and this simply brings these two sections into conformity. I do not think that there is any danger that it extends any additional privileges to people within the United States except those privileges which ordinary conscience would dictate we would extend to any human being within the borders of the United States. Senator WILEY. Let us take freedom of speech, freedom of the press. Any of these Commies come in here, and they immediately abuse that right and privilege. It is largely due to their activity that you get so much what you might call rotten thinking and even among our youngsters and our schools, and we have instances right. along where they hide under that so-called constitutional provision. Now you are making it definite and certain that anybody that happens to be here can abuse the hospitality of the country all he wants to. However, I just bring this up because after all, that is an important bill. Senator MCGRATH. This change would bring the language into conformity with that of 18 U. S. C. 242, which is a generally parallel protective statute aimed at State officers who deprive inhabitants of rights, privileges, or immunities secured or protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States. Senator WILEY. Was that not in the last bill we reported? Senator McGRATH. Positive. Senator WILEY. Was not that State officer? Senator McGRATH. Section 242 makes it an offense for the State officer-we call it a parallel protective statute that makes it an offense for State officers to deprive inhabitants of rights, privileges, and immunities secured or protected by the Constitution and laws of the United States. Section 241 has had a narrower construction because of the use of the word "citizen," as for example in the case of Baldwin v. Franks, 120 U. S. 678, holding that an alien did not come within the protection of the section. On the other hand, in referring to the rights of "inhabitants," the language used in 18 U. S. C. 242 does not exclude from its scope protection of the rights which may happen to be accorded only to citizens, such as the right to vote. Thus section 242 addressed to protecting the rights of inhabitants applies to the deprivation of constitutional rights of qualified voters to choose representatives in Congress, and was held to protect the right of voters in a primary election, which |