St. Paul recorder. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1934-2000, 1947-04-04
Seven Senators Sponsor
Bipartisan FEPC Bill;
Ives Leads Movement

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Senator Irving NJ. Ives, Republican,
Of New York, on behalf Of himself
and a bipartisan group of seven
other Senators, introduced in the
Senate last Thursday bill to ere
ate a five-member federal fair en-
ployment practice commission with
enforcement powers.
The other sponsors Of the meas
ure are Senators Leverett Salton-
stall Of Massachusetts,, H. Alex
ander Smith Of New Jersey, Wayne
Morse Of Oregon, Republicans, and
Dennis Chavez of New Mexico,
Sheridan Downey Of California,
James E. Murray Of Montana, and
Francis ]. Myers Of Pennsylvania,
Democrats.
Differing materially from earlier
bills in methods Of procedure and
enforcement, the measure Il mod
elled after the Ives-Quinn law which
created the New York State Com
missioner Against Discrimination
and which Senator Ives sponsored
in the New York State legislature.
What Bill Authorizes
The bill authorizes the commits.
sion to conduct preliminary inves-
tigation Of sworn charges Of race
or religious discrimination. II the
charges are substantiated, the duty
devolves upon the commission to
seek the elimination Of the discrim-
inatory practices by informal
methods Of conference, Cancellation
and persuasion"
II the commission fails to elimi-
nate the practices, which are de-
nOunced by the bill as unlawful,
and to obtain compliance with the
provisions Of the bill, the next step
in its procedure would be to hold
hearings on the charges before one
Of Its members or an agent.
At the close Of this hearing, the
entire record would be transferred
to the Commission, three members
Of which would sit and ''hear on
such record the parties"
The commission would state its
findings Of fact and issue an order
requiring any person to "eease and
desist from such unlawful practices
and to take such affirmative action,
including reinstatement or hiring
Of employees, with or without back
pay, as viii effectuate the policies"
outlined in the bill.
In conformity with the Adj
ministratiye Procedure Act, the
commission would be authorized
TO apply for enforcement 10 the
United States Circuit Court Of
appeals, or the United States
District Court, II the circuit
court Is in vacation, within the
circuit where the violation IL al.
legged to have occurred. Appeals
may be taken from the district
court to the circuit court Of app
peals and from the latter court
to the United States Supreme
Court.
The terms Of the bill would apply
to any employer engaged in inter-
state commerce or in operation af-
fecting interstate commerce, any
federal governmental agency, and
any labor organization having 80
or more members.
Defines Unlawful Practice
It defines as an unlawful employ
ment practice for an employer to
refuse to hire, to discharge or other
wise discriminate against any per-
sons with respect TO terms, con-
ditions or privileges Of employment
on account Of race, religion, color,
national origin or ancestry, or to
utilize any employment agency,
placement service, training school,
labor organization or any other
source which practices race or re-
ligious discrimination.
The bill also makes 1t an unlaw-
full employment practice for any
labor organization to discriminate
against any individual or to limit,
segregate or classify its member
ship in any way which would de-
prive or tend to deprive such In
diVidual Of employment opportuni-
ties, limit his employment oppor-
tunities or otherwise adversely az
feet his status as an employee or .
job applicant, or adversely affect
his wages, hours or employment
conditions on account Of race, re-
ligion, color, national origin or an
cestry.