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Senate Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
Senate of Pennsylvania
Session of 2023 - 2024
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | July 2, 2024 12:06 PM |
|---|---|
| From: | Senator Art Haywood and Sen. Vincent J. Hughes |
| To: | All Senate members |
| Subject: | Commemorating the 60th Anniversary of the Civil Rights Act |
| In the near future, we plan to introduce a resolution commemorating the 60th anniversary of the passage of the Civil Rights Act, signed on July 2, 1964. Referred to by civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. as nothing less than a “second emancipation,” the Civil Rights Act was proposed by President John F. Kennedy in June 1963 and ultimately signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson, who pushed the bill forward following Kennedy’s assassination. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is a landmark civil rights and labor law that outlaws legal discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin. The act was later expanded to bring disabled Americans, the elderly, and women in collegiate athletics under its umbrella. By prohibiting unequal application of the law, the act continues to have an impact on the rights of individuals to access voting, public accommodations, education, employment, and federally funded programs. Although struggles against racism and discrimination continue over half a century later, the 60th anniversary of Civil Rights Act should be commemorated for ending the practice of legal segregation and celebrated for its role as one of the most significant legislative achievements in American history. The words delivered by President Johnson as he signed the bill into law ring true today: “My fellow citizens, we have come now to a time of testing. We must not fail.” Please join us in cosponsoring this resolution to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 in hopes of advancing the law’s foundational principles of nondiscrimination and treating Americans with dignity. |
Introduced as SR315