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For release 9:00 a.m. (E.D.T.) I STATEMENT BY GEORGE C. WALLACE GOVERNOR OF ALABAMA BEFORE THE SENATE COMM ITTEE ON COMMERCE IN OPPOSITION TO SENATE BILL 1732 9: 00 a. m. ( E • D . T. ) JULY 15 , 19 63 Mr. Chairman -- Members 0£ the Senate Committee on Commerce. I appreciate the opportunity to appear before you today and give my views on the important matters now before this Committee. The leaders 0£ the Fede r a l government have so mis-

a· used the Negroes £or selfish poli t ica] reasons that our en-c:a-=,,,~,.. tire concept of i 1ber¥y •ffll!lgl.-,c.c.ifi]~J- ~ -- --- ow in peril . . -. We daily s e e our governme nt go to ridiculous e x tremes and take unheard-of actions to appe a se t he min ority bloc vo t e leade r s 0£ t his country . ' I was ap pa l led and amaz e d to re ad 0£ r e cen t st a te me n t s by Pen t agon off i cials r el at ive t o p r op osed civil ri g h t s inv est ig a t i o ns on our mi l itary i n st alla t ions . The r e was a I time when mil i tary i n s ta l lat ions were es tab li s h e d in acco r d anc e with the requirements of the nat ional defe n se post u re. Today t h ese officials use the t h reat 0£ withdrawal 0£ mil i tary bas es to a c c omplish polit i cal purposes. Any officer or officia l issuing such orders should have his �- 2 - I background investigated. Although he may not be affiliated with our enemies, his actions play into t heir hands by jeopardizing the security of this nation. The Air Force is e ncouraging its personnel to engage in street demons t rations with rioting mobs and is even offering tr a ining cred i t s as a n inducement. Perhaps -we will now see Purpl e Hearts a warded £or street brawling heretofore th e y we r e awa rded on t h e f ield of combat. I not e that b y way o f f u rt he r intimidation, one of the P res i d en t r s c ommi ttees has re commend e d t h a t a n y bus- iness be p l a c e d off l imi ts to military p e r s onn e l unless t hey s ur re nder to current Federal ideolog i es. I s the real pur p o se of th is integration movement t o d i sar m this c ountry as the Commu nists have p l anned? For a c entury certain po l iticians h a v e t a l ked abou t Sout h ern mobs, which were actual l y non-existent. Bu t now that we have Negro mobsters and mobs run ni ng in the streets of our cities , these politicians and the press refer to them as demonstrators. These so-called demonstrators break laws, destroy property, injure innocent people and create civil strife �- 3 I and disorder 0£ major proportions. Yet they receive sympathy and approval 0£ the leaders 0£ our Federal government. / I personally resent the actions 0£ the Federal . / g_o vernment which have created thes e conditions. As a loyal American and as a loya l S outhern Governor, who has never belonged to or assoc ia ted with any subversive element, I resent the £awning and p a wing over such people as Martin Luther King and his pro-Communist friends and associates. When this bunch 0 £ i n cend i a ries comes t o Washington they are give n red c arpet t re a tmen t, a n d I da r e say i£ they came in t o thi s r oom h ere , some 0 £ t he member s 0£ this Committee wo u ld £ee l c ompelled to g r e et them in such a mann e r a s t o p u bl icl y demonstr a te t heir con ce r n £o r so called civi l r i gh ts. Last Friday Governor Ba rnett s h owe d t his Commit te e a pic ture 0£ Martin Luther King and a gr oup 0£ Commu n is t leaders attending a meeting together. -t- ~ - ~'- As wi de l y reported in the press in t h e last two months, Kingrs top l ieutenant in Alabama , Fred L. Shuttlesworth , a self - styled 11Reverend11, was elected president 0£ the 11 Southern Conference Educational Fund11 which is headquartered in New Orleans and active in seventeen Southe r n states. This organizat ion h a s been des c ribed �- 4 I by both the Sena te Internal Securit y Subcommi tt ee and the House Un-American Activities Committee as an organi z ation rrset up to promote Communism 11 throughout the South. The Cincinnati Enquirer, in its issue o f Sunday, June 9, 1963 , quotes the following statement of Shut t les wort h as to his leadership of this Communist or gan i zatio n: rrGene ra l ly, the House committees are governed by Southerners who will label any organizat ion subversive or c ommunistic that seeks to further the Ameri can aims of inte gration, justice and fair-play. rrTo a segregationist , integration means Communism . I c an think of noth- ing mor e u n-Ame rican than the House Commit tee on Un-American Activities. 11 Recentl y Mar t i n Lu ther King publicly professed to have fi r ed a known Co mmun i s t, J a~k OtDell , who had been on his payro ll . But as disc overed by a me mbe r o f the United States Congre ss , this p ub l ic p rofes si o n wa s a l i e and Ot De l l had re mai ned on Ki ng ts payro l l. �- 5 / On a recent visit to this country, why was it that Ben Bella, a Communist in my opinion, had his first conference in this countr y with Martin Luther King? And then Ben Bella flew to Cuba and embraced the Communist Castro and said tha t he is one of the worldrs greatest. Is there any connection? I come here today as a n American , as a Governor of a Sovereign State and as an ·individual with full respect for Constitutional gov ernment. I app ear to respectfully call upon the Congress of the United States to defeat in its entirety the Civil Rights Act of 19 63. The Presiden t of the United States stated in his message accompany ing Senat e Bill 1732 that " enactment of the Civil Right s Act of 1 963 at t h i s ses s i o n of Congress -however long i t may t a k e a nd h owever t r oub lesome it may be -is imperative" . The P res i dent might we l l h ave f urther stat e d: rrand h oweve r many p eople it hurts or b u sine ss es it des troys and r e gardless of the rights of t h e vast majority of our p e ople rr . In my judgment , the President of the United States and the Attorney Gen e r al of the United States , by �- 6 / design and political motivation, are sponsoring and fostering a comple t e and all inclusive change in our whole concept of government and society -- a revolution of government against the people. Senate Bill 1732 -- the so-called public accomodations bill -- would, together with the Presidentts full civil rights package , bring about government of the government, by the government a nd £or the government. The free and uncontrolled use of private property is the basic and historic concept of Anglo - Saxon jurisprudence . The primary reason our fore fa thers came from Europe to carve this nation out of a raw and savage wilderness was £or the purpose of using , con t rolling and enjoying their private property and to pursue their chosen professions without £ear of inte rf e r ence f rom ki ngs , tyr a nts, despots, and I might add, Presidents . I don t t th ink it rs necessary today to talk to y ou at lengt h about the c ons ti t uti onal basis £or l e gisl at i on such as this. You know that simi lar le g isla ti on has b een d e clared unconstitutional . You know th a t in the 1883 Civil Rights Cas e the Supreme Court of the United States ruled out the Comme rce �- 7 - Clause as the basis for legislation nearly identical in effect to that contained in Senate Bill 1732. You know that the 14th Amendment -- which amendment is of doubtful origin and questionable validity was held by the 18 8 3 Court to merely allow legislation predicated upon the corr e ction of the operation of state laws only and in n o sense gave the legislative branch the right to enact st at u t es providing a code for the regulation of private rights . No part of the bill b efor e you qualifies as to constitutionality even assuming t h a t y ou oper a te on the premise that th e 1 4 th Ame ndme n t wa s va lidl y r a tifie d in accorda nc e wi t h t he r equ ireme n ts of t he Constitu t ion -and it was not. Ge ntl e me n , 1111 te ll you wh a t this Senat e Bill 1732 does it pla c es upon a l l bus ines s me n a nd profess -~ ion a l p eop le t h e yoke of invo lun tary se r vi t u d e -- it should be d e signa ted as t h e 11 1nv oluntary S er vitude Act of 1 96311. Under the provisions of Senate Bi l l 1732, i f y ou are engaged in any profession where you offer yo u r personal s e rvi ces, you cannot refuse to serve anyone without �/ - 8- fear of vi o lating this Act. I dohtt know of any business or profession that does not have some abstract connection with interstate travel or interstate movement of goods. Under the provisions of this Act, the lawyer, doctor, hairdresser or barber, plumb e r, public secretary-stenographer, etc., would no longer be free to choos e their clientele. Nobody who offers services to the public or a~tempts to engage in his chosen profession will be free to operate wi t hout fe ar t hat th e police state which is now vigorousl y re a ring its head wil l d ictate his every move and tell him e xac t l y how he can run his business. In £ac t, if t h2 pro v isions o f t he Ac t a re pass ed and enforced many indi vidu a l s will no long e r h a v e a ny busin ess . Section 3 ( b ) o f the Act pr o v i de s : HThe p r o- vision of th i s Ac t shal l not app l y t o a b onafide pri vate club o r o ther es t a b lishment not ope n t o t he public , excep t t o t h e exten t t hat the facil i tie s o f such e s tab lis h me n t s ar e made avail a b l e to the custome rs or patrons of an e s tablishment wi t h i n t h e s c ope o f sub - section (a) . I submit to y ou that I am at a loss to unde r stand the true meaning �- 9 / and full import of this exception. I am wondering if it constitutes a nsleeperrr in this Act designed to destroy the privacy of private clubs and rrother establishments 11 . In fact , what is the definition of the term rrother establ:is hmentsrr? Does it include fraternal and social organizations, churches , religious organizations, the Masonic Lodge, the Order of the Eastern Star, the Knights of Columbus? Would this rrexception cl ause11 cover the following situation? A certain exclusive p riva te club having a membership compos ed entirel y of Italian-Americans has a rule allowing members to bring guests, many of whom travel in intersta t e commer c e. The club also has another strict rule that guests must be limited solely to Italian-Amer icans. Un der the provisions of th is Act may a member bring in a non Italian -American traveling in i nterstate c ommer ce desp i te the club rule forbidding it? Another example that arises would be the fac t that my Masonic Lodge has strict rules against bringing in non - Masons and/or Masons not of the same type organization as mine. I have taken many interstate traveling Masons to my Lodge. Can a member bring a non -Mason or Mason of anothe r type organization into my Lodge if he is a gues t traveling in inter state commerc e ? �- 10 / Section 5 of the Act provides for civil actions for preventive relief including injunction, restraining order or other order. implies? I wonder what this 11or other orderrr Does it not mean being heavily fined or placed in Federal Prison £or contempt of court if you refuse to obey? This same Section provides that this relief may be obtained by the person aggrieved or by the Attorney General of the United States and it provides further that the relief may be obtained where a person has not actually violated any section of the Act, but there are grounds to believe that any person is about to engage in any of the many prohibited acts. This is the beginning of 11thought- control" legislation. In other words, they can take you to court and try you for what you are thinking or possibl y thinking about doing -- whether you ever carry your thoughts into effect or not. It is interesting to note that in Section 2(g) of the Act, which in effect constitutes the preamble of the Act, it is stated as fact that discrimination reduces the mobility of the national labor force and prevents the most effective allocation of national resources, including �- 11 / the inter~tate movement of industries, particularly in some of the areas of the nation most in need of indus- trial and commercial expansion and development, This is a thinly veiled reference to the South which - contrary to the statement contained in the preamble of this bill -- is now and will continue to enjoy the greatest industrial growth of any section of the United States. I cannot help but wonder if some of these same people who are now so worried about our industrial growth are not some of the same people who fought the removal of the nPittsburgh Plus11 discriminatory freight rates which for so long kept the South from realizing its true patential in industrial growth. I cannot also help but wonder if one of the true motives in back of this act is, in part, a desire on the part of some to return the South toils position of disadvantage which disappeared with the removal of discriminat~ry freight rates. The President , the Attorney General, and every member of this Congress who has sponsored this legislation stand indicted before the American people . �- 12 - This group has invited the Negro to come North to a land of milk and honey. They accepted the proposition, and instead of finding this Utopia, they have found unemployment. They have been stacked in ghettos on top of one another, to become a part of every cityts Harlem. Thereby social and economic problems have been compounded. The end result is that this gross hypocrisy has brought guerilla warfare and insurrection to every large city in the United States endangering the lives of millions of our citizens. Because of this hypocritical spectacle, he no longer wants mere equal treatment, he expects and apparently intends to bludgeon the majority of this countryts citizens into giving him preferential treatment. He shows his sense of responsibility by flaunting law and order throughout this country, even threatening to intimidate the Congress of the United States. And all of this is done with the tacit approval of the sponsors of Senate Bill 1732. The physical danger I outline is no problem in the South. You and your family can travel to any place in the South , walk the streets of every section of cities and towns alone, without £ear of bodily harm. But I know , �- 13 - a n d y ou know , t h at you and you r fami l y c a nnot wa l k the st ree t s of our n atio nr s c a p i t a l wi t h o u t f e ar o f mugging, raping, kil l ~ ing o r o the r phy sical a ss au lt. And, ge n t l e me n , you r c o n stit u e n ts k n ow thi s, t o o, and 1hey are fed up wi t h i t . An d i f you wi ll c ome t o my offi c es , I wi ll s h ow you c o untl e s s t h ou san ds o f l e tters from every part of t h e United States prot e sting the conti nued u s u rpatio n of powe r b y t h e F ederal gov e rnment and t he failure to adh ere to the Co n sti t u tion o f t h e United State s. Peopl e who write me want t h eir elec ted represe n tatives to star t re p r ese n ti n g t h e m a nd n o t t h e minori ty b l o c voting mo bsters. A President who sponsors legis l at i on s uch as t h e Civil Rig h ts Act of 19 63 shou ld be retired from p u blic life . And this goes £o r a n y Governo r o r other p ub l ic off ic ial who ha s joi ned in this mad scrambl e for the minority bloc vote . Does not the present sit u ation in Washington, D . C . , give you some idea of the result you wo ul d obtain with this legi s lation? The nationrs capital is supposed to be the s upr e me example of what civil rig ht s legislation can accomplish. Itt s an example all right, an examp l e of a c i ty practically dese rt ed by white people. If you in the Congress a re re a lly si nc e r e about t hi s civi l rig ht s bus iness, why don tt yo u give home rule to the people of Washington ? the local reside nts can r un t h is ci ty. Letts see how I beli eve in local �- 14 - self government. Washington, D. C. I ch allenge you to vote for home rule in I suspect that if you attempted to do this, the Secretary of State would have to testify behind closed doors that this would result in damage to our image before the rest of the world. A few days ago, I n oted a report relea sed by Washington, D. C., police offici a l s which st a ted that during the last twelve months major crimina l offenses in this nationts capit al reached the second highest peak in histor y . , I s ug gest that if the Congress spent it s time try ing to stop these assaults, rapes, robbery and house-breaking, rather than in efforts which will destroy all rights of property, then you mi g h t accomplish something worthwhile. When I came here to testif y against the 1 957 Civil Rights Bill, it was said that our image would be affected in Afr ic a and Asia if th e bill fail ed to pass . Well, the 1957 Bill was passed a nd it appears that we are still supposed to wor ry about our image. I h a v e s tated before and wish to state again here today -- I will worry about our image in the rest of the world whe n the se foreign countries begin to ret urn 25 per cent of the foreign aid we are send i ng t h em because it comes fro m t he Sou t h. �- 15 - In my judgment, the rest of the world should be more concerned with wha t we think of them since we fee l bound and determined to provide their support . And while we are speak ing of a n image, the fede r a l government should wo rry about the image i t is creating in the Sou th and to f r eedom-loving people everywhere. I think you gentlemen ar e well aware of the reason you are having to consider Senate Bill 1732 . The Pres{dent of the Uni ted States anj t he Attorney General of t h e Unit e d States have u sed t h e powers of the executive branch in s uch a ma nner as to cr ea t e a t e nse and explosive sit u ation wh i ch t h ey can no longer control. Th e Pre sid e n t s o mu ch a s admitt e d this i n h is nationwide telecast which prefac ed the in t r oduc t ion of t h i s ci v il right s legis l ation. or ity bloc vot e . He wooed and won t h e min- S ince the n h e h as commit ted a se ri es o f blunders in tr y ing to appe as e the mob l eaders . These l eader s have now pr ess ur e d t h e P r e sident in t o t h e r idiculous P?s i ti on o f pl a cing hi s st amp of a ppr oval on mob violenc e and rioting in t h e s treets of this country. Th e e ntir e h a ndling o f t hi s raci a l si t uation by t h e present Admini st r a tio n h as s h own a n i n e ptness a nd to tal l a ck of unde rstandi n g in h a ndling the p r ob lems �- 16 - which hqve been cr e a t ed by the political efforts to capture t hese votes. The promised Ne w Fron t ier is a n a tion t orn b y strife and turmoil on the brink of civil warf a re. The onl y method it has bee n a ble to come up with is the us e of Federal t ro op s wh ich, strangel y , it se e ms, have b ee n us ed onl y in t h e S o uth although t h e most / serious disturb a nc es h a ve be e n i n p l a c e s like New Yo r k , New Jersey, Phil ade lphi a , Chic a go , Wa s hington, Los Angeles a n d Cambridge, Ma ryl a n j , It is not politically popular to send troops into t hese ci t ies -- a nd t h ey a r e g o ing t o £ind nex t No v e mb er it i s n o t po litic a ll y pop ul a r to sen d t h e m to Al a b a ma a n d Mi s sis s ippi. The Kennedy Adm ini stration i s in p o li t ic a l j eop a r dy, a n d i n a c a lcul ated attempt t o re co ve r from l os s es o f p olitic a l prest i g e , i t has s hif ted t h e b u rden of its gross mi s takes in jud g ment t o th e Congress of t h e Unit ed States -- a ll t h e wh i l e cater ing to a lawl ess mi nor i ty wh ic h shows u tter disregard and contempt £or law and order. �- 17 - This bill will not remedy the situation. This bill will inflame the majority of the citizens of this country. When you determine that you will control and destroy private property rights -- you invite chaos. I charge that Senate Bill 173 2 cons t itutes the first step toward land reform -- a long step in a socialistic scheme of government which will bring the total des~ruction of private property rights. -- ------- Property is powe r and when we lose our rights to proper t y we will have lost our power to govern ourselves. If y ou int e nd to pass this bill, you should make preparation s to withdr a w a ll our troops from Be rlin, Viet Nam and the rest of t he world bec a u se they will be needed to police America. Yo u are go ing to make the American peop l e l aw vi olators because they are not going to comply with this type legislation. It is s u spected, a nd I suggest that Senate Bill 1 732 is s u c h a ridiculous p i ece of legislation that it probably is a mere smokescreen which is calculated to draw the atten tion of th e people to it, thereby blinding t h em to othe r parts of the civil right s package which are e qually abominab l e . �- 18 - No part of the Civil Rights Act of 1963 is acceptable and we people in the State of Alabama and the South will take the lead £or all freedom-loving people of this country -- black or white -- in an all-out effort to defeat any man who supports any feature of the civil rights package. The executive branch of this government has ignored the Constitution of the United States and fostered the march toward cen tralization and t he ultimate destr u ct ion of our system. The Judicial branch has perverted t he Constitution of the United States in a manne r which shocks the conscience of the American people . The Congress of t he Uni ted States is t he last remaining bulwark against t h e des t ruc t ion of our system of governme nt. I ask yo u to ignore politic a l pressures which will destroy · our e ntir e free e nt erpris e system -- t h at y ou determine t h at thi s coun try will not h a v e governme n t by i ntimidation -- that you n ot see fit to destroy established busin esses and personal se rvic e professio n s -- t h at you not place t h e vast ma jority o f American citizens in involuntary ser vitude that you stand up for Ameri ca. �- 19 - I cha ll e n ge t h e Pr es ide n t and the Congre ss t o submit this propos ed l e gi slation to t h e p e ople as a national referendum . I promise yo u that you wil l get the sho c k of y ou r life becau se t h e peop l e will overwhe l ming l y r e j e c t t h is encroachment upon the i r right to own and enjoy pr iv ate p rope r ty . I say t h at it is high time freedo m-l ov ing people of t h is nation stand up and be counted and if t h e tree of ' li berty needs refreshing by t h e political blood of those wh o ignore the heritage established for us by the F ounding Fathers, then so be it. Gentlemen, I appreciate this opportunity to appear before you today and before leaving I have a requ est I would like to make . I have charged here today that th e re are communist influences in the integration movement. From the mountain of evidence available everyone should reali ze that they are true. You have heard these charges before you -- you have seen the evidence -- why donrt you do something about it? Dontt sweep th is matter under the rug letis expose these enemies -- they a re enemies of both black �- 20 - and white in this country -- bring them out in the open. As the Governor of a sovereign state, I ask the Congress to investigate these communist activities. not be taken lightly. This reques t should A le t ter through the mail to the Justice Department from some one claiming t hey have been denied the right to vote brings a flood of Federal Investi g a tors down the neck of some Sout h e rn r eg is t r a r. He re you have had at least two Governors to ask that this communist matter be investigated. Will you give u s this r e sponse? I n closing, I would li ke to te ll you t h a t the \ public policy of Alabama is for the up-lifting of t he Negroes in Alabama. During th e fir st year of my admini strat ion we h a ve incr eased t h e a pp ropr i at ion to Neg r o educ at iona l institut ions 22 p e r cent. We a re building t hree n e w trade schools to train the m f or the jobs tha t we are maki n g avail a bl e to t hem b y a fas t g r owi n g i n d u s t r i a l expansion in o u r state . lieve th e I do n ot be - passage of the l eg i s l a ti o n would be in t he int e re st of e i t h er th e whit e or Negr o citizen , b u t wo uld h amp er t h e sol u ti o n of problems £acing bot h races . As I sai d i n my Inau g ur a l Addr e ss in Janu a r y, my hope and prayer is t h at God will b l ess al l of the peop l e of my state and this nation, both black and whit e. I thank you . �