OPINION BALLOT

RECEIVED
JUL 26 1966
BOB DOLE

Subject: Should Congress pass the Civil Rights Act of 1966?

My dear Congressman:

AGAINST ITS PASSAGE: Hon. James F. Battin (R-Mont) says, "Mr. Speaker, sometime during this session of the Congress the members of the House will be called on to vote on a momentous issue. I refer to title IV of the Administration's Civil Rights bill (H.R. 14765) which would force a home-owner or other residential property owner to sell or rent his property to persons other than those of his choice. I doubt that I have ever read a bill which is so destructive of the right of private property ownership as is this one... In the final analysis we must recognize that bias or prejudice are spiritual defects which no secular law can cure... " (Cong. Rec. May 18, 1966 - page 10439)

Scott County Times of Forest, Miss. says, "This is my home. At least, I thought it was. I bought the land, I negotiated for a loan. I make payments every month. On this home I pay taxes. I can buy a horse, a cow, a bicycle, a TV set, a boat, or a set of golf clubs in the same manner, and I can give them away or sell them for a price, if I can find a buyer... Yet there are people in government and in certain pressure groups who demand that the sale of a home - the most sacred of all man's possessions - be controlled by law. They say he has no right to choose a buyer... Any man regardless of race or religion, deserves the right of choosing the successor who will occupy his homestead... " (Cong. Rec. June 1, 1966 - page A2985)

FOR ITS PASSAGE: Hon. W. D. Edwards (D-Cal) says, "Mr. Speaker, in my committee, the Committee on Judiciary, we are now debating a subject with which we have relatively little experience - open housing. In considering the new civil rights recommendations we must think about two things - first, what has the ghetto meant for the overwhelming majority of negroes, and second, what has been the experience of those areas which have been integrated. The first question has been answered for us in Watts. It is the uncertainties of the second question which makes it more difficult and controversial.'

'The value of testimony by builders who have operated under fair housing policies is thus heightened... Mr. Wayne R. Brown, chairman of the board, (Brown & Kauffmann, Inc., Palo Alto, Cal.) has recently written Chairman Emanuel Celler to express their support of title IV of the new bill.. "Dear Sir: Our firm is the largest builder of higher priced homes in Northern California. We have constantly advocated and practiced open occupancy in housing and have actively supported "fair-housing" laws in the State of California. We urge you to lend your support to the speedy passage of title IV of the Civil Rights Act of 1966. Sincerely, Wayne R. Brown." (Cong. Rec. June 9, 1966 - page A3128)

Here is my thinking (handwritten) Against. We are for civil rights but this is a wrong approach. It infringes on other sacred rights. (end handwritten)
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Occupation: Farmer

Address: Deerfield
City: Kansas
State:

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