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mission may request the President to take such action as he deems appropriate to obtain compliance with such orders.

(b) The President shall have power to provide for the establishment of regulations to prevent the committing or continuing of any unlawful employment practice as herein defined by any person who makes a contract with any agency or instrumentality of the United States (excluding any State or political subdivision thereof) or of any Territory or possession of the United States, or of the District of Columbia, in any amount exceeding $10,000. Such regulations shall be enforced by the Commission according to the procedure hereinbefore provided.

NOTICES TO BE POSTED

SEC. 11. (a) Every employer and labor organization shall post and keep posted in conspicuous places upon its premises a notice to be prepared or approved by the Commission setting forth excerpts of the Act and such other relevant information which the Commission deems appropriate to effectuate the purposes of the Act.

(b) A willful violation of this section shall be punishable by a fine of not more than $500 for each separate offense.

VETERANS' PREFERENCE

SEC. 12. Nothing contained in this Act shall be construed to repeal or modify any Federal, State, Territorial, or local law creating special rights or preference for veterans.

RULES AND REGULATIONS

SEC. 13. The Commission shall have authority from time to time to issue, amend, or rescind suitable regulations to carry out the provisions of this Act. Regulations issued under this section shall be in conformity with the standards and limitations of the Administrative Procedure Act.

FORCIBLY RESISTING THE COMMISSION OR ITS REPRESENTATIVES

SEC. 14. Whoever shall forcibly resist, oppose, impede, intimidate, or interfere with a member, agent, or employee of the Commission while engaged in the performance of duties under this Act, or because of such performance, shall be punished by a fine of not more than $500 or by imprisonment for not more than oneyear, or by both.

SEPARABILITY CLAUSE

SEC. 15. If any provision of this Act or the application of such provision to any person or circumstance shall be held invalid, the remainder of this Act or the application of such provision to persons or circumstances other than those to which it is held invalid shall not be affected thereby.

Mr. POWELL. Before we begin, the members of this subcommittee would perhaps like to make some opening remarks.

Mr. PERKINS. Mr. Chairman, the only thing that I have to say at this time is that we want to get along with these hearings the best we can and make our report as soon as we can.

Mr. POWELL. Mr. Burke?

Mr. BURKE. Mr. Chairman, I want to say that I approach the hearings with an open mind, and I am very much interested in the testimony that may be developed. I would like to know, as a matter of procedure, whether we shall operate under the same rules that the Committee on Education and Labor has operated under-that is, the 10-minute limit on questions, and so on.

Mr. POWELL. We will operate under the same rules as the other subcommittees of our House Committee on Education and Labor. We have set aside today for Members of the House of Representatives to testify. There are many statements which have been handed

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in from Members, and at this time I ask consent to include in the record statements in support of the bill by the Honorable John J. Rooney, the Honorable George G. Sadowski, and the Honorable T. Millet Hand. Without objection, it is so ordered.

(The statements referred to are as follows:)

STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN J. ROONEY, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF NEW YORK

Mr. Chairman, and members of the subcommittee, I am grateful to you for this opportunity to express my views concerning the pending legislation to prohibit discrimination in employment because of race, religion, color, national origin, or ancestry. In testifying affirmatively, I believe that I am furthering the basic democratic principles upon which this great Nation was founded. The pending legislation is a step toward assuring that these principles and traditions become living reality for the minority members of our society. While differences may arise among us as to the best methods of achieving the goals toward which this legislation is directed, I do not believe that there can be any difference between men of good will as to the desirability of these goals.

I have always believed in the principles of freedom, equality, and equal opportunity for all Americans. Legislation such as this must be considered in the light of history-in the light of changing forces and events and changing economic conditions. We know that in the past two generations industrialism has transformed our society and our methods of producing all the essentials of modern living. No longer do we live a life of individual self-sufficiency. Changes in transportation and the growth of national markets have hastened the advance of machine technology. Our economy has been transformed by the growth of large-scale enterprise in which millions of workers earn a salary or wage with which they buy the products of our machine age. The result has been a growing interdependence of the members of society each upon the other. The frontier days are gone, and few of us familiar with the rigors of living in that era are likely to bewail its departure.

Life itself has become dependent upon the individual finding suitable employment. His happiness depends upon his ability to utilize his capacities in productive employment under favorable working conditions. To those who have been discriminated against in seeking or holding such employment because of their race, color, or religion, "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," remains an empty phrase.

There are many practical reasons which point to the desirability of fair employment legislation. Our society cannot afford to waste the capacities of its members because they happen to belong to a minority group. Such discrimination is uneconomical in two ways: It may prevent the filling of a job by the best qualified employee simply because he does not belong to a "favored" group. Such instances multiplied many times over add up to a net effect of inefficient utilization of our manpower. Secondly, it is uneconomical because the individual discriminated against is thereby forced to accept employment in less skilled occupations, thereby retarding his usefulness to society. The trained typist or stenographer forced to seek employment in domestic service, the trained mechanic forced to accept work as an unskilled employee, all represent economic waste which society can ill afford. While examples of such uneconomic utilization of our human resources may be at a minimum in periods of full employment, they are nonetheless uneconomic in cases in which they do occur.

There is every indication that any sharp decline in employment falls most heavily upon these minority groups. This legislation enacted now and effectively enforced will do much to preent and mitigate such an unfortunate result.

In the war which we so successfully concluded, soldiers of every race and creed fought side by side to make victory possible. Duty and patriotism knew no artificial barriers. There were no minority groups in terms of sacrifice. This legislation represents a constructive approach to the fulfillment of the democratic ideals for which men sacrificed so much. It places our democracy on record as striving to fulfill the ideals of equality of opportunity upon which it was founded. I urge a favorable report on the pending legislation. Let us have an opportunity to vote for it on the House floor.

STATEMENT OF HON. GEORGE G. SADOWSKI, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF MICHIGAN, IN SUPPORT OF H. R. 4453, FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A PERMANENT FEPC

More than 5 years ago I urged upon this body the establishment of a national FEPC on a permanent basis, through the enactment of the Scanlon bill, H. R. 3886, which was before us at that time. I rise today to urge the passage of a similar proposal, H. R. 4453, introduced by the distinguished Member from New York, Mr. Powell. The need for the enactment of this legislation was urgent 5 years ago; it seems to me in the light of events that have occurred since that date, its enactment is even more urgent now than it was then. Let me review briefly some of the significant developments during these recent years.

The Committee on Fair Employment Practices was set up within the Office of Production Management by Executive Order 9346, issued by President Roosevelt on June 25, 1941. The organizational history of this committee was complicated by many changes, but its purpose remained the same throughout, namely, to promote the fullest utilization of manpower in the war effort by the elimination of discriminatory employment practices which might interfere with such full utilization. This agency functioned throughout the war period until, in 1945, the Congress discontinued its appropriation. Request was made by the President that such a body be established by law on a permanent basis, but no action was taken on this proposal.

During this interval some significant developments have occurred in the States. Legislation prohibiting discrimination in particular phases of employment has been enacted with greater and greater frequency during the past 50 years. Now more than half of the States prohibit such a discrimination in the civil service, while many also prohibit it in labor organizations, publicworks projects, and in other areas. It remained, however, for the State of New York to pioneer in the enactment of a statute sufficiently broad to cover all phases of discrimination in relation to employment, whether on account of race, creed, color, or national origin. This measure was enacted by the New York Legislature in 1945, and was signed by the Governor. Numerous measures of similar character have been introduced in the legislatures of other States, and several such laws have been adopted, namely, in New Jersey, Indiana, and Wisconsin in 1945, in Massachusetts in 1946, and in Connecticut in 1947. In this year, 1949, it is reported that such enactments have already been adopted in New Mexico, Oregon, and Washington.

It is thus apparent that progress in this field is being made, but it is halting and uncertain. If we continue to rely exclusively upon action by the States, one may assume that it will be at least a generation before there is anything approaching complete coverage of this type of legislation in the several States. We cannot afford to wait that long, or nearly that long. The need is immediate and it is urgent. The report of the President's Committee on Civil Rights, published last year, dealt with the problem of discrimination in employment practices and requested the enactment of a Federal Fair Employment Practices Act prohibiting, as does H. R. 4453, all forms of discrimination in private employment based upon race, color, creed, or national origin. Even though there are now, as we have noted, a number of State laws, and even though additional ones may be adopted from time to time in the future, it is necessary that there be a Federal act to reach activities carried on in the field of interstate commerce, many of which would certainly escape the application of laws in the individual States. This distinguished Commission appointed by the President indicated very clearly the extent of dscriminatory practices now prevailing and the seriousness of their consequences to the economic life of the Nation and to the social well-being of a large and significant segment of our population.

During the war we adopted antidiscriminatory practices largely as a matter of necessity. Members of the Negro race and of other minority groups served in the armed forces with ability and distinction, risking their lives, and sacrificing them if need be, in the service of their country. Thousands more served here on the home front with sincere devotion to the cause for which we fought. We have an obligation now to those who served so ably not to deny them, now that the war is won, the benefits of a democratic society for which we all worked and for which many of them gave their lives.

In addition, it seems to me that we have to enact legislation of this character if we are to keep faith with ourselves and with those peoples throughout the world who look upon the United States for an example in the practice of democratic principles. We have protested long and loud our belief in these principles.

If we are sincere in our devotion to them, we can no longer refuse to give the members of our minority groups the employment security which this measure would provide and which in the absence of such legislation, the members of these groups have no real hope of obtaining. Nor do I believe that we can afford to spend billions of dollars on our foreign-aid program and an untold amount of effort on the part of a vast civilian army of Americans who now seek to remold the institutions of Germany and Japan in keeping with the democratic tradition and then fail at home to do so important a thing as to establish by law this simple step in the realization of democracy at home. We cannot expect peoples in foreign lands to take seriously our professions of belief in the democratic way of life unless we are willing to practice what we preach. I hope that this committee will take favorable action on H. R. 4453, and I sincerely believe that the Members of the House will work for, and, when the time comes, will vote for the enactment of H. R. 4453 to prohibit discrimination in employment in this country because of race, religion, color, national origin, or ancestry.

STATEMENT OF HON. T. MILLET HAND, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY

I had not been in Congress much over a month before I fulfilled a promise made to the people of my district and spoke out definitely in favor of FEPC. On February 23, 1945, I made the following statement:

"Mr. Speaker, there is now pending in the House H. R. 2232, a bill to prohibit discrimination in employment because of race, creed, color, national origin, or ancestry. Its purpose its to put into form of permanent law that equality of opportunity to work and to achieve a decent standard of living which I had always supposed to be one of the foundations of our great Republic, and which is certainly essential to the unity, strength, and health of our future.

"You will note that I stress the word opportunity. I do not believe it is the Nation's function to guarantee the comforts and happiness of its citizens, but I do sincerely believe that our Constitution directs us to preserve for all our people the chance to work, live, and pursue happiness, free from discrimination, prejudice, or improper control from any source.

"Mr. Speaker, the very nature of Americanism is the protection of the vital rights of minorities, both with respect to their political freedom, and their rights as individuals to live self-respecting lives. Among those mportant minorities are 13,000,000 Americans who are Negroes. Seven hundred thousand of them now serve in the armed forces, and millions are producing in our war plants. The future of these Americans depends largely on the wisdom with which we now act. "I, for one, will welcome that opportunity to support the bill. I hope that history may record that the Seventy-ninth Congress was responsible for this great social advance in America."

Both the Seventy-ninth and Eightieth Congresses have passed into history without action on this legislation. It is needless to recite in detail the parliamentary maneuvers which succeeded in blocking the consideration of this legislation by the House. It is up to this Congress to act.

I have been and remain convinced that minority groups in excess of 20,000,000 in our country, including not less than 13,000,000 Americans who are Negroes are entitled to protection in their job opportunities. We must put an end to practices which prevent the Congress from having at least the opportunity of passing on this important question of broad national policy.

Mr. POWELL. Tomorrow we will have as witnesses Senators Humphrey, Ives, and Langer, Representatives Douglas, Biemiller, Sabath, and Javits, and Mr. Norman Thomas.

Our first witness today will be Representative Dollinger. Will he come forward, please?

TESTIMONY OF HON. ISIDORE DOLLINGER, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF NEW YORK

Mr. DOLLINGER. Mr. Chairman and members of the subcommittee, I appreciate this opportunity to appear before your committee today.

I represent the Twenty-fourth District of New York. In that district, there are many thousands who now suffer under the evil practice of discrimination in employment. However, when we consider this subject, we must realize that the results are as damaging wherever such discrimination occurs, and therefore, my concern is for the entire country, as the problem is not a local one.

The practice of discriminating in employment against properly qualified persons because of race, religion, color, national origin, or ancestry, has, in my opinion, brought shame to this Nation. This practice is rampant; the results of it are tragic. Its victims are forced into substandard conditions of living and they are deprived of their equality of opportunity as guaranteed them under our Constitution. The United States is looked upon by all as the land of opportunity. Our entire economic system is based upon the theory that a man shall be allowed to utilize his talents and training, and then reap the rewards of his industry and individual striving. We find that, while these promises and assurances are taken for granted an enjoyed by many, there are millions in this country whose ambition, studies, qualifications, and training are of no avail. A young man may graduate at the head of his class and find that although he is a Doctor of Philosophy and wishes to teach, he is finally forced into menial employment because of the color of his skin. A young woman, qualified to be a good secretary, answers an ad in the newspaper, but is refused employment because of her religion or ancestry. There are many glaring examples of discrimination in employment, and they have come to the attention of all of us.

The effect of such discrimination is disastrous. Those who bear the brunt of it are unhappy and resentful, and rightly so. Initiative and ambition are lost, and the worker, refused his rightful chance to make good at his chosen occupation, becomes dispirited, and lacks that ambition which makes an efficient employee. In turn, production and business lose potentially valuable people, and the general welfare of the Nation is undermined.

At this time, we as a Nation, are sending our emissaries throughout the world to say that our ideology is best and that our people live under a true democratic system. Those who oppose us in our program of selling democracy to others have a potent weapon against us when they point out how undemocratic we really are in our present unemployment practices, and that this land is indeed not one of equal opportunity. Our Government, engaged in its present struggle against communism, cannot afford to allow such discrimination to continue, and must take effective steps to end it. Our obligations as a signatory of the United Nations Charter, "to promote universal respect for, and observance of, human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion" are sacred. We should fulfill those obligations willingly and at once, and not be forced to observe them.

Under our various programs of assistance to foreign countries, heavy burdens have been placed upon our shoulders. We need all the good, efficient help we can get in order to take care of the needs of those to whom we have promised aid, as well as our own. Race, religion, color, national origin, or ancestry do not predetermine the usefulness or contributions of any human being in a given field. The talents of all must be utilized if we are to maintain our present great position as the leading Nation in the world.

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