Correspondence from United Steelworkers of America

Item

Title
Correspondence from United Steelworkers of America
Date
1965-05-03
Description
The Senate debated whether the Federal Government had the authority to ban poll taxes in state and local elections. As introduced, the administration bill did not ban such poll taxes. On April 9, the Senate Judiciary Committee reported a bill with a complete ban on poll taxes. Senate leaders Mike Mansfield (D-MT) and Everett Dirksen (R-IL) deleted the provision and substituted one authorizing federal courts to determine if local poll taxes were racially discriminatory. In a letter Francis C. Shane, Executive Secretary, United Steelworkers of America Committee on Civil Rights, urged Congressman Arch Moore to support a voting rights bill that eliminated all poll taxes. Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA) sponsored a floor amendment that restored the committee-reported bill’s ban on all poll taxes. On May 11, the Senate narrowly defeated Kennedy’s amendment.
Rights
Copyright not evaluated
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/
Source
Governor Arch A. Moore Jr. papers, West Virginia & Regional History Center
https://archives.lib.wvu.edu/repositories/2/resources/965
Site pages
VRA in Congress