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    "localId": "12167080",
    "label": "Press Release, Statement of the Attorney General on the Proposed Civil Rights Legislation before the Subcommittee on Constitutional Rights of the Senate Judiciary Committee",
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    "id": "12167080",
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    "contentType": "document",
    "title": "Press Release, Statement of the Attorney General on the Proposed Civil Rights Legislation before the Subcommittee on Constitutional Rights of the Senate Judiciary Committee",
    "citationUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/12167080",
    "collections": [
        "Records of E. Frederic Morrow, Administrative Officer, Special Projects Group (Eisenhower Administration)",
        "Personal Files of E. Frederic Morrow"
    ],
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    "productionDates": [
        {
            "day": 14,
            "logicalDate": "1957-02-14",
            "month": 2,
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{
    "seq": 16,
    "pageIndex": 0,
    "type": "photo",
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    "ocrText": "investigate general allegations of deprivation of civil rights, including the\nright to vote. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has an investigative juris-\ndiction in this subject matter, but its authority is limited to investigating\nspecific charges of violations of federal criminal statutes. Thus the services\nof the FBI can be utilized in this field only in gathering information and\nevidence in connection with specific charges which, if proven, can lead to\ncriminal prosecution.\nThroughout the government there are excellent agencies that compile in-\nformation on business and labor statistics, living costs, agricultural\nproblems, weather conditions - almost every facet of our daily life. There\nis no agency authorized to gather information concerning the most vital func-\ntion of our governmental life - our federally-protected constitutional rights,\nthe most important of which is the right to vote. They are rights without\nwhich government under the Constitution could not exist. The right to vote\nis itself the very life-blood of representative government. This is a vital\nfunction about which all citizens, and Members of Congress particularly,\nshould have full and complete information. Yet we do not have either the\nRead o\ninformation or adequate means of securing it.\nThe Commission proposed by the President would present the means of\nsecuring this vitally needed information.\nAt the outset of my statement I noted that S. 83 contained with reference\nto the proposed Commission some provisions additional to those recommended by\nthe Administration. One of these, the addition of the word \"sex\" on line 7,\npage 11, would make it the duty of the Commission to investigate allegations\nthat citizens are being subjected to unwarranted economic pressures by reason\nof their sex. This provision is not germane to the purpose of the legislation\nand should be stricken. If it is felt that there are serious problems of\n- 15 -"
}