page_title: Karl E. Mundt
section_title: Accomplishments in the U.S. Congress
hierarchical_section_title: Karl E. Mundt / Accomplishments in the U.S. Congress
caption_attribution_description: English: South Dakota United States Congressional Delegation, 87th Congress 1961-1963. Left to right: Ellis Y. Berry, Joseph H. Bottum, Karl E. Mundt, Ben Reifel.
context_page_description: Karl Earl Mundt was an American educator and a Republican member of the United States Congress, representing South Dakota in the United States House of Representatives and in the United States Senate.
context_section_description: In the House of Representatives, Mundt sponsored and supported proposals for "Buy American" legislation, was a member of the Foreign Affairs committee from 1941 to 1948, and played a key role in encouraging the United States to join the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1945. He was a key proponent of the Voice of America, which was established as a result of the Smith-Mundt Act, signed into law in 1948. He was a member of the House Un-American Activities Committee from 1943 to 1948. HUAC's activities during this period included the Alger Hiss hearings and investigations of the motion picture industry. Mundt was unsuccessful in attempts to have HUAC continue investigating the Ku Klux Klan.
  He also introduced a modification to Title 50, criminalizing the passage of certain classified information to foreigners.
  Mundt voted in favor of the Civil Rights Acts of 1957, 1960, 1964, and 1968, as well as the 24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the confirmation of Thurgood Marshall to the U.S. Supreme Court.
  As a Senator, Mundt served on the Senate's Appropriations Committee, Foreign Relations Committee, Government Operations Committee, and Permanent Investigations Subcommittee, and he represented the Senate on the Intergovernmental Relations Advisory Commission. In 1954, he chaired the Senate Subcommittee on Investigations for the Army-McCarthy Hearings. His accomplishments as a Senator included obtaining support for Missouri River projects, establishment of the EROS Data Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, agriculture programs, and Interstate highway construction in South Dakota.
caption: South Dakota's congressional delegation in the 87th U.S. Congress.
  L-R: Ellis Y. Berry, Joseph H. Bottum, Karl E. Mundt, and Ben Reifel.
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