founded on more than temporary emergency and rests on the basic democratic principles reflected in our Government itself.

On 23 different occasions in the last 10 years the Congress of the United States has outlawed racial and religious discrimination in legislating for public works projects, the Civilian Conservation Corps, unemployment relief, civil service classification acts, the training of civilian aircraft pilots, the National Youth Administration, the Selective Service and Training Act, the training of defense workers, the building of public works necessary to the defense program, and the Cadet Nurses Corps for Government and civilian hospital service. (Remarks of Hon. Thomas E. Scanlon, House of Representatives, June 23, 1944.)

We approach the problem of discrimination in employment, therefore, from the fundamental proposition that the full utilization of manpower is just as much a problem of the peace as it is an emergency of the war, that discrimination in employment against properly qualified persons by reason of their race, creed, color, national origin or ancestry foments domestic strife and unrest, deprives the United States of the fullest utilization of its capacities for production, depresses the standard of living, cuts down the purchasing power of the population; and that it is the duty of the National Government to eliminate such discrimination in all employment relations which fall within Federal jurisdiction or control (sec. 1).

The right to work and to seek work is a basic right of every person within the United States, and S. 2048 declares it to be an immunity of all citizens protected under the Constitution and laws of Congress against abridgment by any State or instrumentality of a State (sec. 2).

Jurisdiction in the bill is based in part on the commerce clause of the Constitution. It was not felt necessary to define the limits of interstate or foreign commerce, but we have preferred to leave the definition to the courts and Congress, handling other matters in order that there be no new area of jurisdiction created and no conflict with existing jurisdiction (sec. 4).

In order to eliminate uncertainty, the scope of unfair labor practices within the purview of the bill has been strictly defined (sec. 3). The bill takes away nothing either from management or from organized labor which either can rightfully claim. The unfair labor practices are all prohibitions; no positive action of any kind is required either of management or labor. Management is left free to set its hiring practices, adjust its internal plant-control policy, to discharge according to any standard or standards so long as there is no arbitrary discrimination because of race, creed, color, national origin, or ancestry. In the same way, organized labor is free to manage its internal affairs according to its own light, except in substance it cannot claim to organize a closed shop and exclude workers in the shop or in the same field because of race, creed, color, national origin, or ancestry.

We do not consider this bill an interference with the internal affairs of a labor union. Labor has received recently at the hands of the Federal Government potent protection in the organization of workers and improvement of working conditions. Witness the National Labor Relations Act and the Wages and Hours Act, to mention only two instances. These acts were designed to aid all workers. They were not designed to create any favored class of workers, or to establish a monopoly of special privilege for any

selected group of workers. Therefore, this bill merely translates into practice and makes effective the democratic principles behind progressive, social labor legislation by prohibiting labor unions within the scope of the bill from discriminating against their fellow workers on the ground of race, creed, color, national origin, or ancestry.

For reasons of practical administration the lower limit of employment has been placed at a business employing more than five persons or a labor union having five or more members in the service of one or more employers covered by the bill (sec. 4). Enforcement is obtained through a Fair Employment Practice Commission of seven members, who shall devote full time to the administration of the legislation (sec. 5). The supervisory jurisdiction of Congress over policy is insured first by making appointment to the Commission subject to the consent of the Senate and by annual reports by the Commission to the Congress (sec. 6). Upon the establishment of the Commission and appointment of its members, the present Committee on Fair Employment Practice established by Executive Order 9346, May 27, 1943, shall cease to exist and the Committee employees, records, property, and unexpended funds shall be transferred to the new Commission (sec. 8).

The Commission is given investigatory powers, including power of subpena, production of evidence, and inspection of records, and administration of oath, as indispensable tools to effective and sustained work (sec. 11). Refusal to obey a subpena of the Commission may be reached through application by the Commission to any United States district court, where the party aggrieved would have his day in court. Due process, notice, and opportunity to be heard are carefully preserved in the standards set out for Commission procedure on charges; and the right of appeal to the circuit courts of appeals of the United States is expressly reserved both for the Commission to obtain enforcement and the party complained of to obtain relief (sec. 10).

Federal Government contracts and Federal Government departments, bureaus, and agencies are included under the bill, recognizing that the Government is the largest employer in the United States (secs. 4 and 12).

If this bill is enacted and becomes law, willful violations of its provisions shall be subject to penalties exactly as disobedience of any Federal law is subject to fine, imprisonment, or both. The permanent Fair Employment Practice Commission, as envisaged in the proposed bill, will no longer be an advisory body, as provided under the President's order. It will be a vital part of American law and on an equal footing.

The veterans will soon be coming home in ever-growing numbers. They will represent all elements of the population. There has been. no favored class among them. They have shared the same risks and made the same sacrifices. Both on the casualty lists and the lists of decorations and honors every race, every creed, every color, every source of national origin and ancestry is honorably represented. If we owed a duty to no other section of the population, we owe it to these veterans to see that their opportunity to work is on the same democratic base as their obligation to serve.

It is the purpose of the committee, in holding these hearings, to hear as many of the good citizens of the country who are interested in this legislation, for or against, as will be possible within the limited time and within the proper consideration of this subject matter. We will insert a copy of the bill in the record at this point. (S. 2048 is as follows:)

[S. 2048, 78th Cong., 2d sess.]

A BILL To prohibit discrimination in employment because of race, creed, color, national origin, or ancestry Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

FINDINGS AND DECLARATION OF POLICY

SECTION 1. The Congress finds that the practice of denying employment opportunities to, and discriminating in employment against, properly qualified persons by reason of their race, creed, color, national origin, or ancestry, foments domestic strife and unrest, deprives the United States of the fullest utilization of its capacities for production and defense, and burdens, hinders, and obstructs

commerce.

It is hereby declared to be the policy of the United States to eliminate such discrimination in all employment relations which fall within the jurisdiction or control of the Federal Government as hereinafter set forth.

RIGHT TO FREEDOM FROM DISCRIMINATION IN EMPLOYMENT

SEC. 2. The right to work and to seek work without discrimination because of race, creed, color, national origin, or ancestry is declared to be an immunity, of all citizens of the United States, which shall not be abridged by any State or by an instrumentality or creature of any State.

UNFAIR EMPLOYMENT PRACTICES DEFINED

SEC. 3. (a) It shall be an unfair employment practice for any employer within the scope of this Act

(1) to refuse to hire any person because of such person's race, creed, color, national origin, or ancestry;

(2) to discharge any person from employment because of such person's race, creed, color, national origin, or ancestry;

(3) to discriminate against any person in compensation or in other terms or conditions of employment because of such person's race, creed, color, national origin, or ancestry.

(b) It shall be an unfair employment practice for any labor union within the scope of this Act

(1) to refuse membership to any person because of such person's race, creed, color, national origin, or ancestry;

(2) to expel from membership any person because of such person's race, creed, color, national origin, or ancestry; or

(3) to discriminate against any member, employer, or employee because of such person's race, creed, color, national origin, or ancestry.

(c) It shall be an unfair employment practice for any employer or labor union within the scope of this Act to discharge, expel, or otherwise discriminate against any person because he has opposed any practices forbidden by this Act or because he has filed a charge, testified, or assisted in any proceeding under this Act.

SCOPE OF ACT

SEC. 4. (a) This Act shall apply to any employer having in his employ more than five persons, who is (1) engaged in interstate or foreign commerce; (2) under contract with the United States or any agency thereof; or (3) performing work, under subcontract or otherwise, called for by a contract to which the United States or any agency thereof is a party.

(b) This Act shall apply to any labor union which has five or more members in the employ of one or more employers covered by the preceding paragraph.

(c) This Act shall apply to the employment practices in the United States and of every Territory, insular possession, agency, or instrumentality thereof, except that paragraphs (3) and (f) of section 10, providing for petitions for enforcement and review, shall not apply in any case in which an order has been issued against any department or independent agency of the United States; but in any such case the Fair Employment Practice Commission established by section 5 of this Act may petition the Attorney General of the United States for the enforcement of such order, and it shall thereupon be the duty of the Attorney General to take such measures as may secure obedience to any such order. Every official who willfully violates any such order shall be summarily discharged from the Government employ.

FAIR EMPLOYMENT PRACTICE COMMISSION

SEC. 5. For the purpose of securing enforcement of the foregoing rights and preventing unfair employment practices on the part of employers and labor unions, there is hereby established a commission to be known as the Fair Employment Practice Commission, which shall consist of a chairman and six additional members to be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, who shall serve for a term of seven years except that the terms of the members originally appointed shall expire seriatim at intervals of one year. Any member of the Commission may be removed by the President, upon notice and hearing, for neglect of duty or malfeasance in office, but for no other cause. members of the Commission shall at all times constitute a quorum.

REPORTS

Four

SEC. 6. The Commission shall at the close of each fiscal year make a report in writing to the Congress and to the President concerning the cases it has heard, the decisions it has rendered, the names, salaries, and duties of all employees and officers in the employ or under the supervision of the Commission, and an account of all moneys it has disbursed, and shall make such recommendations for further legislation as may appear desirable.

SALARIES

SEC. 7. Each member of the Commission shall receive a salary of $10,000 a year, shall be eligible for reappointment, and shall not engage in any other business, vocation, or employment.

TERMINATION OF COMMITTEE ON FAIR EMPLOYMENT PRACTICE

SEC. 8. Upon the appointment of the members of the Commission, the Committee on Fair Employment Practice, established by Executive Order Numbered 9346 of May 27, 1943, shall cease to exist. All employees of the said Committee shall be transferred to and become employees of the Commission. All records, papers, and property of the Committee shall pass into the possession of the Commission, and all unexpended funds and appropriations for the use and maintenance of the Committee shall be available to the Commission.

LOCATION OF OFFICES

SEC. 9. The Commission shall hold its sessions in the District of Columbia and at such other places as it may designate. The Commission may, by one or more of its members or by such referees, agents, or agencies as it may designate, prosecute any inquiry or conduct any hearing necessary to its functions in any part of the United States or any Territory or insular possession thereof.

PROHIBITION OF UNFAIR EMPLOYMENT PRACTICES

SEC. 10. (a) The Commission is empowered as herein provided to prohibit any person from engaging in any unfair employment practices within the scope of this Act.

(b) Whenever it is charged that any person has engaged in any such unfair employment practice, the Commission, or any referee, agent, or agency designated by the Commission for such purposes, shall have power to issue and cause to be served upon such person a complaint stating the charges in that respect and containing a notice of hearing before the Commission or a member thereof, or before a designated referee, agent, or agency at a place therein fixed not less than ten days after the serving of said complaint.

(c) The person so complained of shall have the right to file an answer to such complaint and to appear in person or otherwise, with or without counsel, and give testimony at the place and time fixed in the complaint.

(d) If upon all the testimony taken the Commission shall be of the opinion that any person named in the complaint has engaged in any such unfair employment practice, the Commission shall state its findings of fact and shall issue and cause to be served on such person an order requiring such person to cease and desist from such unfair employment practice and to take such affirmative action, including hiring or reinstatement of employees with or without back pay, as will effectuate the policies of this Act. If, upon all the testimony taken, the Commission shall be of the opinion that no person named in the complaint has engaged in any such unfair employment practice, the Commission shall state its findings of fact and shall issue an order dismissing the said complaint.

(e) The Commission shall have power to petition any circuit court of appeals of the United States (including the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia) or, if all the circuit courts of appeals to which application might be made are in vacation, any district court of the United States, within any circuit or district, respectively, wherein the unfair employment practice in question occurred, or wherein such person resides or transacts business, for the enforcement of such order and for appropriate temporary relief or restraining order, and shall certify and file in the court to which petition is made a transcript of the entire record in the proceeding, including the pleadings and testimony upon which such order was entered and the findings and the order of the Commission. Upon such filing, the court to which petition is made shall conduct further proceedings in conformity with the procedures established by law governing petitions for enforcement of the orders of the National Labor Relations Board.

(f) Any person aggrieved by a final order of the Commission granting or denying in whole or in part the relief sought may obtain a review of such order in any circuit court of appeals of the United States (including the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia) within any circuit wherein the unfair employment practice in question was alleged to have occurred or wherein such person resides or transacts business by filing in such court a written petition praying that the order of the Commission be modified or set aside. Upon such filing, the reviewing court shall conduct further proceedings in conformity with the procedures established by law governing petitions for review of the orders of the National Labor Relations Board.

INVESTIGATORY POWERS

SEC. 11. (a) For the purpose of all hearings and investigations which in the opinion of the Commission are necessary and proper for the exercise of the powers vested in it by this Act, the Commission, or its duly authorized agents or agencies, shall at all reasonable time have access to, for the purpose of examination, and the right to copy any evidence of any person being investigated or proceeded against that relates to any matter under investigation or in question. Any member of the Commission shall have power to issue subpenas requiring the attendance and testimony of witnesses and the production of any evidence that relates to any matter under investigation or in question, before the Commission, its member, agent, or agency conducting the hearing or investigation. Any member of the Commission, or any agent or agency designated by the Commission for such purposes, may administer oaths and affirmations, examine witnesses, and receive evidence. Such attendance of witnesses and the production of such evidence may be required from any place in the United States or any Territory or possession thereof, at any designated place of hearing.

(b) In case of contumacy or refusal to obey a subpena issued to any person, any district court of the United States or the United States courts of any Territory or possession, or the District Court of the United States for the District of Columbia, within the jurisdiction of which the inquiry is carried on or within the jurisdiction of which said person guilty of contumacy or refusal to obey is found or resides or transacts business, upon application by the Commission shall have jurisdiction to issue to such person an order requiring such person to appear before the Commission, its member, agent, or agency, there to produce evidence if so ordered, or there to give testimony touching the matter under investigation or in question; and any failure to obey such order of the court may be punished by said court as a contempt thereof.