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take 14 86 small 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, your position in regard to Cuba has always been one of firmness. What do you feel about Castro's threat about shooting down our reconnaissance planes?

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I think that the president has given him just the exact answer that we're going to continue to fly those reconnaissance planes at low and high altitudes. And if he shoots down here in your nation's capital, Is Senator George Smathers reporting to the people of Florida? This takes the form of an informal discussion.

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Let's join the discussion. Sheriff. Senator, I'd like to get your comments. Castro threat to us to shoot down any planes that we send over Cuba. Well, I think the president United States, answered Castro just right when he said that we're going to continue to fly at high level and low level in order to protect our own security.

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Further than that, if he shoots down any of our planes, he must take the consequences. That's in line with your attitude of firmness. towards Cuba is absolutely. I think there's probably an easier solution to this matter than that, however, and I've recently suggested that I don't know that anybody will follow it.

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But why don't the Russians who are now leaving and there are all leaving? Why don't they take those guns with them? They were the ones who brought those surface to air missiles in there. Let them take them home with them. Then there won't be really any need to have the reconnaissance flights thereafter because we can Pretty well.

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We pretty well know what this the Cubans have. Plus the fact that will then turn this problem of fighting Castro over to the Cubans exiles who would like that job. Anyway, I'd like to turn our attention to the Senate now if we may, the civil rights discussion is still going on, and I understand that they pulled one of their parliamentary rules on you as the first one to have that happen.

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Well, yes, they rule, was that I had spoken more than twice on one subject and I got up the other night. Then Senator Humphrey made a point of order that I was exceeding the rule However, that's no problem, really. To get around. All I had to do was offer an amendment to the bill, and under the rules, I can make two speeches on the amendment, and then I withdraw the amendment, and so I can later offer it again.

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However, it does indicate that the civil rights debate is getting to a coming to a climax and that there will be pretty soon, uh, all around the session sessions all around the clock on next sessions. I've already had to talk now on two occasions into past midnight and into the next morning, but I'm sure that we're going to see in the next few weeks it gets very critical and very difficult now.

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This rule situation was taken care of by the introduction of an amendment I believe was on Wednesday or the middle of this past week. How did that come about and what does that do? Well, as I said, the amendment permits you to make two speeches, additional speeches, and so I offered an amendment to make it, which said that if you discriminate against a person because of his age and his employment, that's also violating his civil rights, and I think that's something I'll have a lot more to say about later.

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But since that time, we've now got and we're now debating a trial by jury amendment, and that is the current a matter of discussion in regard to the civil rights actions elsewhere. I believe that you wrote a letter to J. Edgar Hoover, the director of the FBI.

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Have you heard from him? Yes. What? I wrote him and inquired about an article which was written by Stuart. I'll stop, which I saw in the paper, which said that certain Communist had moved into these militant pro civil rights organization and had assumed the leadership of it.

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And Joe Allsop, who was a very responsible reporter, named the the Communist leaders and what organization? So I wrote a letter to Mr J. Edgar Hoover and asked him, Would he give us some clarification and some elucidation on this point and let us know what his agency thought about it?

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I have received a letter from Mr Hoover in which he says that he would be glad to, but that matter can only be released by the attorney general of the United States. So I AM today writing a letter to the Attorney General asking if he will not release this information with respect to how many of these organizations these pro and these militant, pro civil rights organizations have been infiltrated by communist leadership.

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Now, what is your opinion of the situation in New York, particularly in regard to the world's fair? Well, I think that, of course, these people there are hurting themselves and hurting their cause. They're helping, actually, those of us who oppose the civil rights bill, I thought it was rather amusing that they would pick it the the Florida exhibit, and say in it that Smathers must go and that Hollande must go or and then refusing to let people into the exhibit.

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I think all that does is to bring on them a considerable criticism, and I don't think it really hurts us. Senator Holland or me. Thank you very much. Senator George Smathers, Senator Smathers. Let's get back to the civil rights bill itself. That is the whole bill and block we have discussed from time to time, various titles.

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I don't think you have given us your feelings in regard to Title one on voting well briefly, I feel like this. I think every citizen should vote irrespective of his race, color or his creed. And throughout Florida, when I have campaigned and I've campaigned the number of times over Florida, I have encouraged citizens of every race and colour and creed to vote.

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And of course, I've asked them to vote for me when I was campaigning. Uh, I don't really believe, however, that we need this particular section of the civil rights bill, because what that section does is to take away from the states that which is given to the states by the Constitution, the right to set the qualifications of voters and the qualifications of actually candidates.

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You will recall that in the first section of in the first part of our Constitution, it says that and the electors shall be determined in a federal election in accordance with the qualification set up by the state legislatures to elect members to the most numerous legis house of their state legislature.

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Now that specifically gave the authority to control the qualifications of electors to the States. Since that time, there has been no change in that constitutional provisions. As a matter of fact, it has. The courts have had uphold two or three times that the Constitution has given the states that right.

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But in this bill titled one, they take that right away from the States and they set up certain qualifications for voters which were irrespective were irregardless of what the state's rights are. And I think it's a further infringement of the federal government on states' rights, and therefore I'm against it even though I'm not opposed.

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And I do encourage all citizens, including Negro citizens, to go vote. And I'm happy that there is a very great percentage of them in our state who do vote Senator. As a matter of fact, most states and including the state of Florida do not have restricted qualifications as to voting, do they?

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We don't have any restrictive qualifications. Whatever. We merely say something that that that they do have to demonstrate some knowledge of the Constitution and they do have to be literate. They have to be able to read and write. I think I think everyone would agree that those aren't too difficult restrictions and as a matter of fact, there very leniently applied, and I don't recall of any instance, in Florida in recent years where any citizen Negro citizen or white citizen has been deprived of his right to vote if he's gone to the polls and been willing to vote senator in regard, the title.

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Six. This is really a serious one as far as Florida is concerned with you. Go into that and explain your viewpoints on it. Well, Title six briefly, as you know, authorizes the department of the federal government and agency, the federal government, with the approval of the president to cut off all federal aid to a state or to a locality.

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If, in the judgment of the department and the president there has practiced discrimination now, this is a very far reaching provision. As a matter of fact, when President Kennedy was alive and was asked about this particular section just about a year ago, when he appeared at the American Society of Newspaper Editors, he said that he did not want that authority, and he didn't believe that any president should be given that authority because it was too far reaching, uh, for what it does.

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And he went on to say in his explanation is, Do I see it As a matter of fact, it's not too practical anyway, because most of the federal aid programs, such as the particular welfare program and the school lunch program and programs of that character they help the students and the old people who are in need of help and regrettably, but the facts are that most of people in that category are Negro citizens.

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So when you cut off that program because one of them has been discriminated against, the people you hurt are the very ones that the bill is ostensibly seeking to help. So it doesn't make a great deal of sense. In addition to that, it's far reaching and punitive in the effect that it could be used against a whole state, even though there had been only one alleged discrimination in one part of the state.

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And the whole federal program could be cut off even though the people in that state pay their taxes, conform with the law, have not practiced discrimination except in one isolated instance, and the whole program could be cut off. It gives to the central government and these agencies entire provisions in the civil rights bill and should be gotten rid of thank you very much.

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Senator George Smathers, I return you to your station announcer