Speech #890048440

New York 61.9 percent. California 62.7 percent. I do not intend to offer an amendment to the pending amendment to provide that all literacy tests should be eliminated. although I believe that they should be. I do not know what the response of Senators who support the pending amendment would be if I offered such an amendment. I am sure that many of them would stand with me in support of the elimination of the literacy test throughout the country. On the other hand. many Senators have indicated in debate that they believe a literacy test in some form is not only defensible under the Constitution. but also necessary and desirable. In my own judgment. there is no doubt that literacy tests have been used to discriminate on the basis of race or color. and also on the basis of cultural origin. We discriminate against immigrants and other Americans who have not yet established themselves. The same is true with reference to poll taxes. which have been used to discriminate on the basis of race or color. they have also discriminated against the poor whites. In my opinion. the MansfieldDirksen proposal on the poll tax issue is adequate to the purposes of the bill.