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Labor Action, 7 October 1946

 

Workers Party Candidates Answer
NAACP Questionnaire

NAACP Questions to Candidates for Congress
Answers by Shachtman and McKinney

 

From Labor Action, Vol. 10 No. 40, 7 October 1946, p. 6.
Transcribed & marked up by Einde O’Callaghan for ETOL.

 

FAIR EMPLOYMENT

1. Will you actively work for the passage of federal legislation to establish a Fair Employment Practice Commission with power to enforce its orders? YES

  1. (Relates to Senatorial candidates.)
     
  2. If you are elected to the House, will you sign a discharge petition to bring the FEPC bill to the floor for vote? YES

2. Will you insist that all federal departments and agencies hire, assign and upgrade their personnel on the basis of qualifications, without regard to their race, religion or national origin? YES

CIVIL RIGHTS

3. Will you actively work for the enactment of a federal statute abolishing the poll tax? YES

  1. (For Senate.)
     
  2. If you are elected to the House, will you sign a discharge petition on the anti-poll tax bill? YES

4. Will you insist that no qualified citizen shall be denied the ballot in Federal elections, and call for a Congressional investigation when there is evidence that such ballot has been denied? YES

5. Will you actively support and vote for the passage of anti-lynching legislation? YES

  1. (For Senate.)
     
  2. If you are elected to the House, will you sign a discharge petition on the anti-lynching bill? YES

6. If elected to the House, will you vote against further appropriations for Rankin’s Committee on Un-American Activities? YES

  1. Will you support a resolution to abolish that Committee? YES

WELFARE LEGISLATION

7. Will you vote for housing legislation such as the Wagner-Ellender-Taft Housing Bill which provides for the construction of a million units annually of public and private housing? YES

8. Will you actively work for the passage of health legislation such as the Wagner-Murray National Health Bill, providing for pre-paid health insurance, maternal and child care aid? YES

9. Will you vote to amend the Fair Labor Standards Act so as to increase the minimum wage for persons covered by the Act from 40 cents per hour to 05 cents the first year, 70 cents the second and 75 cents the third? YES – And we would fight for an even higher minimum wage to provide a guaranteed annual wage of $2,500 for the worker.

10. Will you actively work to secure the early enactment of a federal Aid to Education Bill? YES

11. Will you actively work for the early consideration and passage of legislation such as the Wagner-Murray-Dingell Bill extending the benefits of Social Security laws to domestic and agricultural workers? YES

12. Will you offer and work for the adoption of amendments designed to prohibit racial segregation and discrimination wherever federal funds are used to aid education, housing, health, and employment? YES

ARMED FORCES

13. Will you work to promote the integration of qualified citizens in all branches of the armed forces without regard to race, religion or national origin? YES

VETERANS

14. Will you work to assure that veterans of minority races receive full benefits and participate in all phases of the GI rehabilitation program, including housing, hospitalization, education, employment, training and loans? YES

LABOR

15. Will you oppose all legislation which would impair the right of organized labor to bargain collectively, engage in peaceful picketing, or strike? YES

LIBERALIZE RULES OF CONGRESS

16. If elected to the House, will you support:

  1. Resolution revising House rules so as to take away the power of the Committee on Rules to bottle up proposed legislation thereby preventing the same from coming to the floor in due course for vote? YES
     
  2. Resolution to reduce the number of signatures required on a discharge petition from 218 to 145 (one-third of House membership) the number that was necessary before the rule was changed in 1935? YES

17. If you are elected to the Senate will you actively support a resolution providing that filibusters may be shut-off by simple majority vote? YES

 
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