Statement by the President Following Senate Passage of the Civil Rights Bill.

SENATE passage of the civil rights bill is a major step toward equal opportunities for all Americans. I congratulate Senators of both parties who worked to make passage possible.

I look forward to the day, which will not be long forthcoming, when the bill becomes law. That will be a milestone in America's progress toward full justice for all her citizens.

No single act of Congress can, by itself, eliminate discrimination and prejudice, hatred and injustice. But this bill goes further to invest the rights of man with the protection of law than any legislation in this century.

First, it will provide a carefully designed code to test and enforce the right of every American to go to school, to get a job, to vote, and to pursue his life unhampered by the barriers of racial discrimination.

Second, it will, in itself, help educate all Americans to their responsibility to give equal treatment to their fellow citizens.

Third, it will enlist one of the most powerful moral forces of American society on the side of civil rights--the moral obligation to respect and obey the law of the land.

Fourth, and perhaps most important, this bill is a renewal and a reinforcement, a symbol and a strengthening of that abiding commitment to human dignity and the equality of man which has been the guiding purpose of the American Nation for almost 200 years.

It is the product, not of any man or group of men, but of a broad national consensus that every person is entitled to justice, to equality, and to an even chance to enjoy the blessings of liberty. It is in the highest tradition of a civilization which, from the Magna Carta on, has used the fabric of law for the fulfillment of liberty.

Lastly, this bill is a challenge. It is a challenge to men of good will in every part of the country, to transform the commands of our law into the customs of our land. It is a challenge to all of us, to go to work in our States and communities, in our homes, and in the depths of our hearts to eliminate the final strongholds of intolerance and hatred. It is a challenge to reach beyond the content of the bill to conquer the barriers of poor education, poverty, and squalid housing which are an inheritance of past injustice and an impediment to future advance.

Programs to improve the life of all underprivileged Americans will go far to liberate those who have suffered under the heavy weight of racial discrimination.

I do not underestimate the depth of the passions involved in the struggle for racial equality. But I also know that throughout this country, in every section of this land, there is a large reservoir of good will and compassion, of decency and fair play which seeks a vision of justice without violence in the streets. If these forces do not desert the field, if they can be brought to the battle, then the years of trial will be a prelude to the final triumph of a land "with liberty and justice for all."