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on today's report from Washington, Senator Smathers discusses domestic and foreign problems of interest to the people of Florida and the nation. Now here is the first question Senator Smathers, the world without question is in a very serious situation today. I think it's a time for the people in this country to look within themselves and to their leaders here in the Congress.

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Now we'll start over again this too long, don't you think? I see one. Take 24 41. Yeah. On today's report from Washington, Senator Smathers discusses domestic and foreign problems of interest to the people of Florida and the nation. Now here is the first question matters as a result of the Supreme Court decision relative to prayers and schools, we've had a great deal of controversy that's arisen.

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You have introduced, I believe, an amendment which would take care of that matter. What does it do? Well, it provides that, constitutionally, that it record it recognizes that this is a country under God, that it's essentially a religious nation founded on religion and belief of an almighty.

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It's nonsectarian, of course, in its implications, but it provides that we will. We can have prayer in school of the non sectarian variety. It further provides that on coins and the opening of our official agencies and ceremonies and things of that nature, we can use the word God and should use the word God and that it should not be ruled out by the Supreme Court of the United States.

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It's not compulsory, is it? It would not be compulsory. Well, now, in line with that, of course, that brings up the question of prayer. Is there any such group of prayers which are truly nonsectarian in their nature? Yes, there are here in the Senate, for example, a doctor, Reverend Brown Harris, who is, of course, an outstanding clergyman.

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He delivers a prayer most every day to the Senate, and it's nonsectarian nature, but they're beautiful prayers and the most comforting, most inspiring. And actually there's a little book of his prayers, and I would certainly be happy to supply a book of those prayers to anyone who might be interested in receiving them.

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I can assure them that they will get great comfort and great encouragement from these prayers, but they're nonsectarian nature and beautifully done. Would you possibly make a package deal, so to speak and provide a copy of these prayers press a copy of your constitutional amendment because they tied together very clear.

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I would be happy to do that. And I'm further happy to say that thus far we have had a good deal of mail asking for the a constitutional amendment with respect to the prayers and the statement which I made in connection with it. One other technicality.

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How would they obtain that? Who would There, Right. Well, they would write to my office here, to me here in Washington, and, uh, we'd be happy to supply them with whatever it is they wanted. Well, Senator, we were discussing on our last week's report the question of this civil rights.

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Now, I did notice that when the ballgame opened this past week that there was a picture of you present. Were you participating with the civil in the civil rights discussion after the ballgame? Yes. What happened was the president invited the leadership of the Senate to go to a ball game with him and sit in the box.

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And we were out there and join this game. Beautiful day and everything and all of a sudden over the loud speaker there. This announcement said they're trying to get a quorum in the Senate in order to continue with the debate on the civil rights bill and with all senators return to the Senate.

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Well, a lot of people thought they were talking about the baseball team, which is named the Senators to, but we knew that we were the ones. And so we got up, and within the about 28 minutes we were 28 seconds, 28 minutes. I meant to say we were back from the stadium into the Senate chamber.

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And, of course, I have to speak on every Monday and every Thursday were divided into teams. And so Monday was my day, and I went on at 8 15 Monday evening and debated with Humphrey and with Scott and with a chicken, and was who else? McIntyre of New Hampshire and with various other senators until 12 15 on Tuesday morning.

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That is the longest session they've had this year, isn't it? That is continuous session. That's the longest session on civil rights or, for that matter, it's the longest session we've had. It's the longest session we've had on civil rights. It's indicative that each of these sessions will get longer, that the debates will get more sharp, that good dispositions will disappear, that this matter will get more critical and more crucial, and that there's going to be an effort made to bring about culture on the part of the leadership as soon as they believe that most senators are mad enough to vote closer.

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I think, however, that we who are opposed to the so called civil rights bill are making headway and that they will not be able to get closer. Thank you very much, Senator George Smathers, Senator Smathers. The proponents of the civil rights measure, I think, are trying to send up some sort of feelers as to the possibility of your group accepting civil rights if they water it down or if they weaken some of these amendments from their standpoint is the truth to that?

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I don't believe there's, uh, any major provisions that we could accept, even though, as I have said previously, I'm opposed to legal segregation and I'm opposed to discrimination, but I don't think that you can pass any law and eliminate those facets of our human nature and our human behavior.

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So what the bill does, actually, in essence, is in an effort to try to eliminate those very human characteristics it reaches in and destroys people's constitutional rights with respect to how they want to live, how they want to conduct their business, how with whom they wish to associate and things of that character.

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So I don't believe, in essence, that there's any major part of it that we could accept, even though we believe that certain goals should be accomplished with respect to the races within the United States. I'd like to have your comment on the attempt by some of the New York groups to stop traffic, for instance, on the opening of the World's Fair.

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Now they may not do it when it opens. I believe in the 22nd, but they might do it in the future. Is that harmful to their cause? I think it would be very detrimental to their cause. I think that we've already seen reaction uhh among the white people of the nation.

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As a matter of fact, uh, to these rather intemperate demonstrations on the part of so called civil rights leaders, and particularly do I find that people object to outsiders coming in and leading these kind of so called civil rights demonstrations. For some reason, there's not nearly the reaction against or feeling against a demonstration when it's participated in and led by local groups who can, with accuracy, say, This is what's happening to us, and this is what we don't think it's fair or right.

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But when outsiders come in from Boston, Massachusetts, or from some place up north, where they really don't have no the problem, they have not participated in trying to solve the problem in any constructive manner. But come in to make get a lot of publicity in connection with the problem that offends everybody.

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And I think that those type character of demonstrations, they're only going to worsen matters rather than help them. And certainly there's not going to get him any votes. Are your group in any way trying to show the American public across the nation in areas where civil rights is now not a problem, that it can become a problem?

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Well, you're doing it on the floor of the Senate. What we're trying to do is is to show this we're trying to show that while civil rights as such may not be a problem, for example, the state like Montana because they have less than one half of 1% of the population who are colored throughout many of the states of that area they don't really have any.

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They don't know what the problem is. They don't have very many colored citizens, so they don't really know what the problem is. But the danger, as far as their concern, is that this bill, in trying to solve the problem of racial antagonisms and trying to solve that problem, it gives to the attorney general and the federal government authority to regulate, in effect, the employment practices of an employer.

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To the extent that that government, the federal government, will sooner or later have it within its power to regulate the business and hiring and firing practices of a man in Montana or Wyoming or other states, even though they have no civil rights problem, I think you could clarify one point if you would.

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It means a lot in Florida, in the impacted areas where we get federal aid to our schools and there, and the commission rules that there is a segregation problem there. Would they be able to actually cut the money off from the state? Yes, that's one of the titles which we call the genocide section, which, what it mean?

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What would happen is that if there is a complaint at their segregation, for example, around a military base, or even in a school lunch program or anything of that character, then that agency has the authority in this bill to cut off the whole program, order to cut it off.

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And certainly only one area. But they can, in fact punish the state by cutting off the program, thereby punishing the innocent as well as the guilty, thereby doing great injustice to the state, even though the people there pay their taxes and or otherwise good citizens. It's a very dangerous provision of the bill.

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Thank you very much. Senator George Smathers. Yeah,