111th Congress, 2nd Session
An extraordinary Joint Session of Congress to support a landmark voting rights bill of 1965
March 15, 1965
On this date, in response to a brutal assault by local officials against civil rights marchers in Selma, Alabama, President Lyndon B. Johnson held an extraordinary Joint Session of Congress to garner support for a landmark voting rights bill. At the invitation of bipartisan congressional leaders, Johnson addressed a prime time audience on the three major television networks. The President’s legislation guaranteed that African Americans could register and vote in local and federal elections by banning literacy tests, appointing federal vote registrars, and imposing federal penalties against anyone who interfered with voting. Thirteen demonstrators, protesting just outside the House Chamber, demanded that Speaker of the House John McCormack of Massachusetts reduce the size of the Alabama state delegation because of its voting rights abuses. The protestors sat for five hours and even met briefly with the Speaker before being removed just prior to President Johnson’s speech. Reviews of the President’s legislation were mixed. Senator Allen J. Ellender of Louisiana threatened to filibuster the bill in the Senate while Speaker McCormack called it a “tribute to mature, civilized, and democratic government.” The Voting Rights Act, which overwhelmingly passed both the House and Senate, was signed into law on August 6, 1965.
Related Highlight Subjects
Cite this Highlight
Office of History and Preservation, Office of the Clerk, http://clerk.house.gov/art_history/highlights.html?action=view&intID=190, (December 08, 2010).For Additional Information
Office of History and Preservation(202) 226-1300
history@mail.house.gov
Subscribe to E-mail Updates
Sign up for monthly e-mail updates on House art and history.
On August 6, 1965, President Lyndon Baines Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965 in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol. The legislation suspended the use of literacy tests and voter disqualification devices for five years, authorized the use of federal examiners to supervise voter registration in states that used tests or in which less than half the voting-eligible residents registered or voted, directed the U.S. Attorney General to institute proceedings against use of poll taxes, and provided criminal penalties for individuals who violated the act.
Image courtesy of Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library
Teaching Tip
House Legislation
Have students search the highlight dates and locate reference to any legislative document (bill, resolution, speech, etc.). Ask students to track down the document at a local depository library. Students should research the historical background of the document and make a brief presentation which includes reading all or portions of the document aloud. To locate a nearby federal depository library go to http://catalog.gpo.gov.
