held solely or in part for the purpose of electing a candidate for the office of President, Vice President, presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate or Commissioner from a Territory or possession. As defined in section 591 of the same title, the term "election" does not include a primary election. Section 1 of the bill would amend section 594 so as to make the section hereafter applicable to primary elections. Section 2004 of the revised statutes, formerly set forth in section 31 of title 8 of the United States Code but now contained in section 1971 of title 42, provides that all citizens of the United States who are otherwise qualified by law to vote at any election by the people in any State, Territory, etc., shall be entitled and allowed to vote without distinction of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. Section 2 of the bill would amend this section in a number of respects. First, it would extend its scope to primary elections. Second, the phrase “previous condition of servitude" would be omitted from the enumeration of factors which are not to form the basis of discrimination and in its place the words "religion or national origin" would be substituted. Third, a new sentence would be added to the section as follows: "The right to qualify to vote and to vote, as set forth herein, shall be deemed a right within the meaning of, and protected by, the provisions of title 18, United States Code, section 242, as amended, section 1979 of the Revised Statutes (8 U. S. C. 43), and other applicable provisions of law." Section 242 of title 18 imposes criminal penalties upon anyone who, under color of law, willfully subjects any inhabitant of any State, Territory, or district to the deprivations of any rights protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States. Section 1979 of the Revised Statutes (now 42 U. S. C. 1983) provides for civil liability under similar circumstances. Section 3 of the bill would provide that any persons violating the provisions of the first section shall be subject to suit by the party injured, or by his estate, in an action at law, suit in equity, or other proper proceeding for damages or preventive or declaratory or other relief. The section further would provide that the Attorney General may enforce the provisions of the act in the United States district courts, as defined therein. It would also provide that the district courts will have jurisdiction concurrently with State and Territorial courts. Section 4 of the bill is a customary severability clause. The purpose of this bill, as stated in its title, is to protect the right to political participation. This purpose is a laudable one with which the Department of Justice is in full accord. Whether this particular measure should be enacted constitutes a question of policy concerning which the Department of Justice prefers to make no recommendation. The Bureau of the Budget has advised that there is no objection to the submission of this report. Sincerely, WILLIAM P. ROGERS, Deputy Attorney General. Mr. YOUNG. The next bill is S. 904, a bill to strengthen the laws relating to convict labor, peonage, slavery, and involuntary servitude, introduced February 1, 1955, by Mr. Humphrey (for himself, Mr. Douglas, Mr. Lehman, Mr. McNamara, Mr. Langer, Mr. Magnuson, Mr. Morse, Mr. Murray, Mr. Neely, and Mr. Neuberger). Referred February 7, 1955, to the Constitutional Rights Subcommittee. The bill is still pending in subcommittee; report requested and received from the Attorney General. S. 904 would amend sections 1581, 1583 and 1584 of title 18, United States Code, relating to peonage and slavery. Section 1581 makes it a crime to hold or return any person to a condition of peonage. The amendment would make an attempt to do so a crime. Section 1583 makes it a crime (a) to kidnap a person with intent that such person be sold into slavery, and (b) to entice a person to go on board a vessel with the intent that he be made a slave or transted outside the country for that purpose. The amendment would make an attempt to accomplish either of these offenses a crime. It would also make it a crime to hold a person with intent that such person be sold into slavery. Section 1584 makes it a crime to hold a person in involuntary servitude or sell him to such a condition. The amendment would make the attempt a crime. Maximum penalties under these sections remain 5 years imprisonment and $5,000 fine. I offer the bill, S. 904, as part of the record at this point, Mr. Chairman. Senator JOHNSTON. It may be made part of the record. [S. 904, 84th Cong., 1st sess.] A BILL To strengthen the laws relating to convict labor, peonage, slavery, and involuntary servitude Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That subsection (a) of section 1581 of title 18, United States Code, is amended to read as follows: "(a) Whoever holds or returns any person to a condition of peonage, or arrests any person with the intent of placing him in or returning him to a condition of peonage, or attempts to hold, return, or arrest any person with such intent, shall be fined not more than $5,000 or imprisoned not more than five years, or both." SEC. 2. Section 1583 of such title is amended to read as follows: "SEC. 1583. Whoever holds or kidnaps or carries away any other person, or attempts to hold, kidnap, or carry away any other person, with the intent that such other person be held in or sold into involuntary servitude, or held as a slave; or "Whoever entices, persuades, or induces, or attempts to entice, persuade, or induce, any other person to go on board any vessel or other means of transportation or to any other place within or beyond the United States with the intent that he be made a slave or held in involuntary servitude, shall be fined not more than $5,000 or imprisoned not more than five years, or both." SEC. 3. Section 1584 of such title is amended to read as follows: "Whoever knowingly and willfully holds to involuntary servitude, or sells into any condition of involuntary servitude, any other person for any term, or brings within the United States any person so held, or attempts to commit any of the foregoing acts, shall be fined not more than $5,000 or imprisoned not more than five years, or both." Mr. YOUNG. I have before me a letter of April 19, 1955, addressed to Harley M. Kilgore, chairman, Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, and signed by William P. Rogers, Deputy Attorney General. The letter is a departmental report on S. 904, which is the present bill, and I offer that as part of the record. (The request for report and report is as follows:) UNITED STATES SENATE, COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY, February 8, 1955. Hon. HERBERT BROWNELL, JR., Washington, D. C. DEAR MR. ATTORNEY GENERAL: The Judiciary Committee is herewith transmitting S. 904 for your study and report thereon in triplicate. To facilitate the work of the committee, it is urgently requested that your report be submitted within 20 days. The committee should be formally advised in writing if any delay beyond this time period is necessary. Most sincerely yours, Chairman. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, OFFICE OF THE DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL, Hon. HARLEY M. KILGORE, Chairman, Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, Washington, D. O. DEAR SENATOR: This is in response to your request for the views of the Department of Justice concerning the bill (S. 904) to strengthen the laws relating to convict labor, peonage, slavery, and involuntary servitude. The bill would amend sections 1581, 1583, and 1584 of title 18 of the United States Code, the provisions of law which relate to peonage and involuntary servitude, so as to make criminal all attempts to commit the acts proscribed by such sections. The proposal to amend section 1583 would also make the section applicable not only to the enticement of persons to go on board a "vessel" with the intent that such persons be made slaves but to similar enticement to go on board any other means of transportation. The Department of Justice would have no objection to the enactment of this legislation. The committee, however, may wish to consider amending the title of the bill to delete the reference to "convict labor" since such is not within the scope of the sections to be amended. The 13th amendment to the Constitution expressly exempts involuntary servitude "as punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted" from the constitutional prohibitions against slavery and involuntary servitude. The Bureau of the Budget has advised that there is no objection to the submission of this report. Sincerely, WILLIAM P. ROGERS, Deputy Attorney General. Senator HENNINGS. May I inquire whether counsel has other correspondence relating to the preceding bills from the Attorney General? You seem to have correspondence here, and in another instance you say that no opinion was asked of the Attorney General. Has counsel any other correspondence with the Attorney General? Mr. YOUNG. No, sir. The only correspondence I have is departmental correspondence where the calendar shows that a request has been made to the Department for report, and whether report has come back or not. I have none of the correspondence that would have been made to the Subcommittee on Constitutional Rights. Senator HENNINGS. You have none of that? Senator HENNINGS. Mr. Chairman, may I request that counsel obtain that correspondence and make it a part of the record at this time? It would seem to me that if we are going to put certain letters in, that all the correspondence should be put in the record. Counsel is here offering correspondence relating to S. 904. But counsel says he does not have correspondence, although we know it exists, relating to the preceding legislation, and I ask, Mr. Chairman, that without objection that correspondence be obtained as quickly as possible. I assume Mr. Smithey has it, and I ask that it be made a part of this record at this time. Senator JOHNSTON. If you have it, produce it. Senator HENNINGS. I don't know why some correspondence seems to be germane and relevant, and other correspondence not. I would like to have it all put in. Mr. YOUNG. I can explain why this is in, and not the other, if you wish. Senator JOHNSTON. Go ahead and do that. Mr. YOUNG. I am a staff member on the full committee. The only files I have available are the files of the full committee. When the full committee receives a bill, it, of course, refers it to a subcommittee, and if a request is made to a department, it is calendared or listed in the calendar, and when the reply comes back from the department it is calendared or listed in the calendar. The only correspondence available to me is that departmental correspondence. I do not have the records, nor have I seen them, of the other correspondence. Senator HENNINGS. May I assure counsel that the correspondence to which I refer is the departmental correspondence. Mr. YOUNG. Thank you, sir. Senator HENNINGS. I am sure Mr. Smithey has it. Mr. YOUNG. I have no intention of performing a disservice to your position, Senator, by putting some letters in and not others. I believe we could leave them all out. Senator HENNINGS. I don't mean to suggest that for a moment, and I don't mean to question counsel's seriousness of purpose, or his integrity of purpose. But I do think that all correspondence should be in the record. I don't want to get into an argument about this. I think that if some correspondence is relevant, other correspondence is relevant also. Mr. YOUNG. That is correct. Senator HENNINGS. And may we have the other letters? (NOTE: All available correspondence relative to mentioned bills has been introduced into and made a part of this record.) Senator WELKER. Mr. Hennings, may we purge the record of any inference that our able staff member has for some reason withheld any correspondence? Senator HENNING. I have already made the statement that I don't for a moment impugn the integrity of Mr. Young or his purposes; I simply say that all correspondence, if any, departmental correspondence, should be in. I say to my distinguished friend from Idaho that I believe it should all be in. Senator WELKER. I believe it should all be in, but, at the same time, I don't want to see any inference left that Mr. Young has done something for which he should be criticized. Senator HENNINGS. If there is any inference, I certainly want to state again I wish to make no such inference. But I do believe that all such correspondence should be in the record, and I have respectfully requested that Mr. Young get the correspondence. Mr. YOUNG. I will, sir. The subcommittee has it; I can procure it with the greatest of ease and make it all a part of the record. And, I won't introduce any more of these, just a few at a time, so that it all goes in at the same time. And in that way, there will be no question of selectivity of correspondence involved. Senator HENNINGS. I am sure Mr. Smithey has that available. He has been the counsel for the Committee on Constitutional Rights. Mr. YOUNG. I will procure it. The next bill is S. 905, a bill to amend and supplement existing civil-rights statutes, introduced February 1, 1955, by Mr. Humphrey (for himself, Mr. Douglas, Mr. Lehman, Mr. McNamara, Mr. Langer, Mr. Magnuson, Mr. Morse, Mr. Murray, Mr. Neely, and Mr. Neuberger). Referred February 7, 1955, to Constitutional Rights Subcommittee. Bill is still pending in subcommittee. S. 905: This bill amends and supplements existing civil-rights legislation. More precisely, it does five things: 1. It makes existing civil-rights legislation applicable to "inhabitants" of the United States instead of "citizens," as the law now provides. 2. While present civil-rights law relates to conspiracies by two or more persons, the proposed change in this bill would make the same action by an individual a crime. 3. In case of conspiracy or any individual action to deny civil-rights, this bill creates a right of civil action against the perpetrator. 4. This bill increases the penalty in cases where individuals, acting under color of law, subject any inhabitant to different punishment because of his race or citizenship, which punishment results in death or maiming of the inhabitant. The penalty in such cases could be a fine of $10,000, imprisonment for a period of 20 years, or both. 5. This bill enumerates some of the rights, privileges, and immunities, the deprivation of which violates section 242 of title 18, and perhaps subjects the perpetrator to the penalty just mentioned. I offer the bill at this time for the record and request for report from the Attorney General. Senator JOHNSTON. It may be placed in the record. [S. 905, 84th Cong., 1st sess.] A BILL To amend and supplement existing civil-rights statutes Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That title 18, United States Code, section 241, is amended to read as follows: "SEC. 241. (a) If two or more persons conspire to injure, oppress, threaten, or intimidate any inhabitant of any State, Territory, or District in the free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege secured to him by the Constitution or laws of the United States, or because of his having so exercised the same; or "If two or more persons go in disguise on the highway, or on the premises of another, with intent to prevent or hinder his free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege so secured, they shall be fined not more than $5,000 or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both. "(b) If any person injures, oppresses, threatens, or intimidates any inhabitant of any State, Territory, or District in the free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege secured to him by the Constitution or laws of the United States, or because of his having so exercised the same; or "If any person goes in disguise on the highway, or on the premises of another, with intent to prevent or hinder his free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege so secured, such person shall be fined not more than $1,000 or imprisoned not more than one year, or both; or shall be fined not more than $10,000 or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both, if the injury or other wrongful conduct herein shall cause the death or maiming of the person so injured or wronged. "(c) Any person or persons violating the provisions of subsections (a) or (b) of this section shall be subject to suit by the party injured, or by his estate, in an action at law, suit in equity, or other proper proceeding for damages or preventive or declaratory or other relief. The district courts, concurrently with State and Territorial courts, shall have jurisdiction of all proceedings under this subsection without regard to the sum or value of the matter in controversy. The term 'district courts' includes any district court of the United States as constituted by chapter 5 of title 28, United States Code (28 U. S. C. 81 et seq.), and the United States court of any Territory or other place subject to the jurisdiction of the United States." |