Although majorities in both parties voted for the bill, there were notable exceptions. Though he opposed forced segregation,[41]Republican Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona voted against the bill, remarking, "You can't legislate morality."Interesting fact to annoy your liberal and progressive relatives with: how Representatives and Senators voted by party:
The original House version:[22]
- Democratic Party: 152–96 (61–39%)
The Senate version:[22]
- Republican Party: 138–34 (80–20%)
- Democratic Party: 46–21 (69–31%)
The Senate version, voted on by the House:[22]
- Republican Party: 27–6 (82–18%)
- Democratic Party: 153–91 (63–37%)
Republican Party: 136–35 (80–20%)Yes, a larger percentage of Republicans voted for it than Democrats. Thus, the claim that the South went Republican because of racism makes no sense.
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 has a similar history, with Sen. Everett Dirksen (R-IL) being a sponsor:
Dirksen did not originally intend to support voting rights legislation so soon after supporting the Civil Rights Act of 1964, but he expressed willingness to accept "revolutionary" legislation after learning about the police violence against marchers in Selma on Bloody Sunday.[14]:95–96And yes, Sen. Dirksen is famous for, "A billion here, a billion there, after a while it adds up to real money." It appears that he never said it:
They had one gentleman report to them he had asked Dirksen about it on an airflight and received the reply: "Oh, I never said that. A newspaper fella misquoted me once, and I thought it sounded so good that I never bothered to deny it."
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