Boehner Pays Tribute to Father of Civil Rights Act, Congressman William McCulloch

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman John Boehner (R – West Chester) today released the following statement ahead of a ceremony to be held in the U.S. Capitol marking the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Boehner paid tribute to one of the bill’s renowned fathers, Congressman William McCulloch. President Lyndon B. Johnson, who signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law on July 2, 1964, publicly recognized McCulloch for his central role in the bill’s enactment, acknowledging McCulloch as "the most important and powerful force" behind the effort. During his time in office, Congressman McCulloch represented what would later become part of Ohio’s 8th Congressional District, including the 8th District’s Piqua, OH.

“As our nation comes together to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act, many will rightly recall the names of those who stood in the face of violence and directly challenged the injustices that had gone on for too long. It was a movement whose time had come, and at its forefront was a farm kid from Ohio, William McCulloch. It was Congressman McCulloch who led this House in shaping a bill that would prove capable of fulfilling the promise of justice and liberty for all, and it’s with the following words that McCulloch has inspired me to keep his legacy alive through my own service, ‘We are a nation of many people and views. In such a nation, the prime purpose of a legislator, from wherever he may come, is to accommodate the interests, desires, wants, and needs of all our citizens… In a democratic society like ours, the purpose of representative government is to soften tension – reduce strife – while enabling groups and individuals to more nearly obtain the kind of life they wish to live.’”

NOTE: Speaker Boehner, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) recently announced that they will hold a ceremony on Tuesday, June 24, 2014, to mark the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Livestream of the ceremony will be available at www.speaker.gov/live.

On April 7, 2014, Congressman Boehner penned a letter to the organizers of the LBJ Presidential Library’s Civil Rights Summit, commending the library for its efforts in celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.