would be filed with the Commission. The Commission would turn it over to the State commission. The State commission would fail to act on it and therefore the Federal Commission would get it back again and in this procedure an awful lot of time would go by before the complainant had a determination as to whether the complaint was adequate. Mr. MITCHELL. Again I hate to hog the show but I have lived with this thing so long that I think the public is entitled to know the facts. The only reason for all this deference to these States where there are laws is pure, unadulterated politics. The Federal Government has preemption in our system of government and has the last word on constitutional questions and Federal laws. There is no reason in the world why there should be any statutory requirement which makes it mandatory for this Commission to first clear with some State agency. This Commission ought to have the discretionary right to defer to States but when we were working on this legislation there were a lot of people who had pet State laws who said "we have to make sure that our State has a full opportunity to exercise its jurisdiction." The result is that the poor complainant is in the shuttlecock position that you so aptly point out, Senator Clark. He gets battered back and forth. If he has the good fortune to be released quickly by the Commission and he happens to fall into the hands of a good lawyer like Mr. Rauh or Mr. Greenberg he gets redress as they have gotten by taking cases into court very promptly. There is no reason why the Federal Government shouldn't do that and I think it is just foolish to have all this deference paid to the States where there are enforceable laws. Senator CLARK. Mr. Mitchell, let's face it. You did not make your considerable reputation in the civil rights field, by becoming an advocate of States rights. Mr. YOUNG. Senator Clark, I am going to have to ask to be excused. Senator CLARK. Mr. Young, you have been a great help to us. I am sorry you have to leave. Mr. YOUNG. Thank you very much. Mr. GREENBERG. I would like to add to what Mr. Mitchell said that at the State as well as the Federal level the necessity is a good statute but that is only the beginning. If a good statute is not enforced adequately it is perhaps worse than no statute because it breeds cynicism. We have made a study of the New York statute not with respect to employment but with respect to housing which is one of the matters within its jurisdiction and we have found that as far as the New York statute is concerned with respect to housing which is under the same Commission that it is exceedingly inadequate and have filed some complaints with respect to that so that the mere existence of a State law amounts to nothing. I would endorse what Mr. Mitchell said, that there should be some discretionary power in the Commission to evaluate the value of a State law and where appropriate act without reference to the State. Senator CLARK. I would like to have printed in the record at this point pages 58 through 64, inclusive, of the First Annual Report of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission which gives at least some of the data the subcommittee has been looking for with respect to the distribution among the States, the different kinds of complaints which have been received. (The material referred to follows:) ANALYSIS OF CHARGES July 2, 1965-June 30, 1966 TOTAL MATTERS ANALYZED The Office of Compliance has received and analyzed the following matters: 8854 The following action has been taken (individual charges): Deferred for state or local FEPC action Additional information required :. No probable jurisdiction Other (close, withdrawn, pending reanalysis) Recommended for investigation Status of Investigations (Individual charges) Investigations completed In process and pending. 977 ..1383 ..2063 658 ...3773 ..1659 ... 2114 Status of Conciliations Recommended for conciliation (following Commission finding of cause): RECOMMENDED FOR INVESTIGATION, DEFERRED, AND 513 146 Of the 8854 matters received and analyzed, the following have been recom- |