While the story of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is often told through the lens of the executive branch—the dealings of Kennedy’s administration or the aggressive political operation of Lyndon Johnson’s presidency—a close reading of the events reveals that the large role of the House is often overlooked.
“We have now reached the point where there must be action,” Dirksen told his colleagues on May 26 as he introduced the compromise bill. These extended quorum calls allowed filibustering senators to take a break, and had the added effect of forcing the bill’s supporters to stand by to answer the call. Email a Senate historian. The motives for Smith’s “sex” amendment are unclear. With each response, the secretary marked off the tally sheet. This was the Senate vote on the Civil Rights Act of 1964. When the bill returned to the House, it once again faced the Rules Committee. Finally, on May 13, the end appeared to be in sight. Without Members like McCulloch working across the aisle, the bill would have never been possible. Dirksen returned to work on June 5 to find his carefully built Republican coalition crumbling. (Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1964): 2652–2771. Contact | 24Congressional Record, House, 88th Cong., 1st sess. 29Congressional Record, House, 88th Cong., 1st sess. Questions about Senate History? Mansfield postponed the cloture vote to June 10. An “open” rule was proposed, allowing all Members to offer an unlimited number of amendments to any part of the bill during floor debate. As both sides counted heads, Mansfield announced that cloture would be attempted in early June. ‘Equality of opportunity’ must mean that each man is judged upon his merits and given the job for which he is qualified or the promotion which he has earned.”9, The dealings between subcommittee members on H.R. 5 produced included provisions long sought after by civil rights groups: it expanded voting rights protections to state and local elections; included private businesses in the public accommodations section; and added entirely new titles such as Title III, which authorized the Attorney General to file suit on behalf of individual citizens.14. “This bill will be effective and amply provides to make all sections of our Constitution a reality to all American citizens.”35, “The country desires no more argument, no more speeches,” Celler told the packed chamber right before passage, “the country demands action now. Instead, Mansfield announced his intention to bypass committee action and place the bill directly on the Senate calendar. www.senate.gov, The Senate and Civil Rights: Proponents Build a Strategy for Success. (October 01, 2020), Office of the HistorianOffice of Art and Archives Senators sat at their desks. On July 2, the House approved the Senate bill, avoiding conference, and that evening President Lyndon Johnson signed the bill into law. 22Hugh Davis Graham, The Civil Rights Era: Origins and Development of National Policy (New York: Oxford University Press, 1990): 23. 88th Cong., 2nd sess.
Building that coalition would take timejust how much time no one knew. Eleven passed, making only minor revisions to the bill. No one could predict its outcome. Details were discussed, agreements were made, and deals were struck as Dirksen worked to gain votes for cloture while maintaining the integrity of the House-passed bill. On June 19, 1964, senators finished their final speeches in favor of and against the civil rights bill. “The sham and shame of unequal justice are about to be shaved away,” Kuchel proclaimed, “for they have no place in our American system.” It had been a long debate, one of the longest in Senate history, Mansfield explained, but it was “learned and thorough, and it played an essential role in refining the provisions of the bill.” Once again, Dirksen had the last word. “I say to my colleagues of the Senate that perhaps in your lives you will be able to tell your children’s children that you were here for America to make the year 1964 our freedom year.”, Finally, Everett Dirksen took the floor. Instead, Mansfield announced his intention to bypass committee action and place the bill directly on the Senate calendar. For 14 hours and 13 minutes, Byrd dissected the bill, laying out his arguments against passage.
A cloture motion is the only procedural means available in the Senate to forcibly end debate (including a filibuster) and bring about a vote on a bill, resolution, or nomination, by placing a time limit on further consideration. Mr. Clarkaye.
“I doubt very much whether in my whole legislative lifetime any measure has received so much meticulous attention.” It became known as “Dirksen’s Bill,” but it was the carefully crafted product of months of bipartisan cooperation. The witness list ranged from cabinet secretaries, labor leaders, members of the clergy, civil rights leaders, Members of Congress, to private citizens. When LBJ says his gambit would involve waiving the second reading, Humphrey responds that such a maneuver would send the bill straight to Judiciary. Observers of the modern Senate know all too well that such a maneuver would work — it has become so routine that it hardly garners a mention. Whatever political differences separated Marshall and McCulloch, they shared a growing urgency to improve and protect the country’s civil liberties. “He’s trying to be constructive.”, The debate in the Senate Chamber continued, as Dirksen produced more amendments while constantly testing the waters looking for support. Since his first election in 1947, Bill McCulloch had become a quiet but powerful force as the Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, helping to oversee a variety of issues from the federal court system to patents to civil rights. House Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee No. When the secretary reached “Mr. “I appeal to Senators to rise above the pressures to which they have been subjected,” he pleaded, “and to reject this legislation that will result in vast changes, not only in our social order, but in our very form of government.”, Hubert Humphrey countered. 7152 had passed by a vote of 73 to 27. In the Senate, however, the filibuster continued. Dirksen’s substitute quickly gained support from key representatives in the House, particularly from Ohio representative William McCullough, who had been so instrumental in House passage of the bill. Although cloture motions have become common in the modern Senate, they were rare in the decades following adoption of the first cloture rule in 1917. By the opening of the 88th Congress (1963–1965), Members of the House had already begun to react to the civil rights crisis.