# Executive Order 10925 *Executive order of March 6, 1961, issued by President John F. Kennedy, establishing the President's Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity.* President John F. Kennedy signed Executive Order 10925 at the White House on March 6, 1961. Its preamble declared discrimination "because of race, creed, color, or national origin" contrary to the constitutional principles and policies of the United States.[^1] The order required every federal contracting agency to put a clause into each new contract. Under that clause the contractor agreed not to discriminate on those grounds and to "take affirmative action to ensure that applicants are employed" without regard to them (see [[Affirmative action]]).[^2] The order created the President's Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity. It named the [[Vice President of the United States]] as chairman and the Secretary of Labor as vice chairman.[^3] The committee could investigate contractors, hold hearings, publish the names of contractors that failed to comply, terminate contracts and bar non-complying contractors from further contracts.[^4] It was to report to the President at least once a year, with "specific references to the actions taken and results achieved" by each department and agency.[^3] On September 24, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson [D][^5] concurred in a memorandum from his Vice President recommending that the committee's functions be moved to existing agencies.[^6] The same day Johnson signed [[Executive Order 11246]].[^7] That order superseded Executive Order 10925, abolished the committee and gave contractor compliance to the Secretary of Labor.[^8] The Vice President from 1965 to 1969 was [[Hubert Humphrey]] of [[Minnesota]], elected on Johnson's ticket in 1964 with 486 electoral votes.[^5][^9] The sources assembled for this article do not include the committee's annual reports, or any count of contracts terminated or contractors debarred under the order.[^3][^4] ## Who - Kennedy issued the order "by virtue of the authority vested in me as President of the United States by the Constitution and statutes of the United States".[^1] - Under Section 102, the Vice President presided over the committee. The Secretary of Labor, as vice chairman, held "general supervision and direction of the work of the Committee".[^3] - Section 102 also named ten further officials as members:[^3] - the Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission; - the Secretary of Commerce; - the Attorney General; - the Secretary of Defense; - the Secretaries of the Army, Navy and Air Force; - the Administrator of General Services; - the Chairman of the Civil Service Commission; - the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. - Section 102 provided for an Executive Vice Chairman designated by the President. When the committee authorized it, the Executive Vice Chairman could take final action in individual cases.[^3] - The Vice President's 1965 memorandum told Johnson that he had "served as Chairman during your tenure as Vice President". It also said: "As Chairman of that Committee, I have had the opportunity to observe its operation".[^6] - In the 1964 election, Johnson [D] and Humphrey defeated Barry M. Goldwater [R] and William E. Miller.[^5] ## What - Section 101 established the President's Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity.[^3] - Section 201 directed the committee to study federal employment practices. It was to recommend "additional affirmative steps which should be taken" by executive departments and agencies.[^10] - Section 202 directed every executive department and agency to study its own employment practices. The studies were to include "statistics on current employment patterns".[^10] - Section 203 reaffirmed the nondiscrimination policy of Executive Order 10590. Section 204 abolished the President's Committee on Government Employment Policy and transferred its powers to the new committee.[^10] - Section 301 prescribed a seven-paragraph contract clause. The paragraphs required the contractor to:[^2] - extend nondiscrimination and affirmative action to employment, upgrading, demotion, transfer, recruitment, layoff, pay and selection for training; - state in job advertisements that qualified applicants would be considered without regard to race, creed, color or national origin; - notify labor unions of its commitments; - open its books to the contracting agency and the committee; - accept cancellation and possible ineligibility for further contracts for non-compliance; - include the clause in subcontracts. - Section 403 revoked Executive Order 10479 of August 13, 1953, together with orders 10482, 10733 and 10557. It abolished the Government Contract Committee and transferred that committee's records to the new committee.[^11] ## When - The order is dated March 6, 1961. Section 402 made it effective thirty days after its execution.[^11] - Section 202 set a deadline for agency reports and recommendations: no later than sixty days from the order's effective date.[^10] - Executive Order 10925 dates Executive Order 10590 to January 18, 1955.[^10] Executive Order 11246 lists the same order as dated January 19, 1955.[^8] - On February 5, 1965, Johnson signed [[Executive Order 11197]]. It created the [[President's Council on Equal Opportunity]], chaired by the Vice President. The Chairman of the President's Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity was among its members.[^12] - On September 24, 1965, Johnson signed two orders.[^7] - Executive Order 11246 dealt with equal employment opportunity. - [[Executive Order 11247]] provided for coordination by the Attorney General of enforcement of [[Title VI]] of the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]]. - Executive Order 11246 took effect thirty days after its date.[^8] - The codified text of Executive Order 11246 records several later changes:[^13] - Part I was superseded by Executive Order 11478 of August 8, 1969. - Section 202 was amended by Executive Order 11375 of October 13, 1967, and Executive Order 12086 of October 5, 1978. - Section 403 was amended by Executive Order 12107 of December 28, 1978. - The codified contract clause reads "race, color, religion, sex, or national origin". The 1961 clause read "race, creed, color, or national origin".[^13][^2] ## Where - Part II of the order covered employment within the executive branch. Part III covered government contractors and subcontractors.[^10][^2] - Section 303 allowed the committee to exempt three classes of contracts:[^2] - work performed outside the United States with no recruitment of workers inside it; - standard commercial supplies or raw materials; - contracts below specified amounts of money or numbers of workers. - Section 304 directed the committee to use its best efforts to bring labor unions working under government contracts into compliance. It could act through state and local officials, among other channels.[^4] - Part III of Executive Order 11246 extended the contract provisions to federally assisted construction contracts.[^13] ## Why - The 1961 preamble gave the order's purposes in its own terms:[^1] - an obligation "to promote and ensure equal opportunity for all qualified persons"; - the efficient use of available manpower; - a review that revealed "an urgent need for expansion and strengthening of efforts"; - the need for a single committee. - The Vice President's 1965 memorandum gave the case for ending the committee. It said that interagency committees "would now only diffuse responsibility", and that the committee's functions could be "even more effectively administered if transferred to existing agencies".[^6] - The same memorandum described the federal government's employment record as "one of steady progress, but much remains to be done".[^6] The 1961 order had required employment statistics and annual reports of results achieved.[^10][^3] The memorandum's assessment does not cite figures from those reports.[^6] - The memorandum also stated that the changes "do not represent a determination that civil rights problems in this country are resolved or eliminated".[^6] ## How - Section 302 required contractors to file Compliance Reports with the contracting agency, and to make their subcontractors file them as well. The committee could review the reports on request. Bidders could be required to file reports before an award.[^2] - Under Section 307, each contracting agency was primarily responsible for compliance. Its compliance officers were to proceed "by conference, conciliation, mediation, or persuasion".[^4] - Section 309 authorized investigations of contractors and of employee complaints. Section 310 barred any debarment order without a hearing.[^4] - Section 312 listed the sanctions available:[^4] - publishing names; - recommending enforcement proceedings to the Department of Justice; - recommending criminal proceedings for false information; - terminating contracts; - barring further contracts. - Section 312(f) required conciliation efforts first.[^4] - Section 315 required notice of terminations and debarments to the Comptroller General.[^4] - Sections 316–318 provided for Certificates of Merit, which could exempt holders from compliance reporting.[^4] - Under Executive Order 11246, the Secretary of Labor took over administration and enforcement. Section 207 directs the Secretary to notify the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or the Department of Justice when union practices may violate Title VI or [[Title VII]] of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.[^8][^13] ## How much - Under Section 401, each contracting agency except the Department of Justice was to share the committee's expenses. No agency was to supply more than fifty per cent of the funds.[^11] - The Department of Labor was to provide space and facilities. The Department of Justice's contribution was limited to legal services.[^11] - Section 402 directed the [[General Services Administration]] to revise standard government contract forms.[^11] - The 1965 memorandum stated that the reorganization "will also result in substantial savings". It gives no dollar figure.[^6] ## How many - Section 102 seated the following members:[^3] - the Vice President; - the Secretary of Labor; - ten named officials; - an Executive Vice Chairman; - any other members the President appointed. - The Section 301 contract clause had seven numbered paragraphs.[^2] - Executive Order 11197 seated the Vice President as chairman and sixteen listed officeholders.[^12] - Section 403(a) of Executive Order 11246 superseded five executive orders: 10590, 10722, 10925, 11114 (June 22, 1963) and 11162 (July 28, 1964).[^8] - The 1965 memorandum states that "hundreds of the Nation's leading business and labor organizations" had made pledges under the Plans for Progress program.[^6] Executive Order 11246 assigned administrative support for that program to the Secretary of Labor.[^8] ## In the Minnesota record ### Who - Hubert Humphrey represented Minnesota in the Senate from 1949 to 1964. He presided over the Senate as Vice President from 1965 to 1969 and returned to the Senate in 1971.[^9] - He served as floor manager for the Civil Rights Act of 1964, working with his Republican counterpart, Thomas Kuchel.[^9] - In 1948 he gave a Democratic convention speech that the Senate Historical Office describes as calling for full equality. He later sponsored the [[Humphrey-Hawkins]] Full Employment bill of 1978.[^9] - The 1965 memorandum came from the Vice President, who was then chairman of the committee. It recommended moving the committee's functions to existing agencies. It also recommended ending the Council on Equal Opportunity created earlier that year.[^6][^9] ### When - In the 1964 election, Hubert H. Humphrey "of Minnesota" received 486 vice-presidential electoral votes to William E. Miller's 52. Minnesota's 10 electoral votes went to Johnson and Humphrey.[^5] - The memorandum and Executive Order 11246 are dated September 24, 1965.[^6][^7] - Humphrey died on January 13, 1978, and lay in state in the Capitol Rotunda.[^9] ## Notes [^1]: The American Presidency Project, John F. Kennedy, *Executive Order 10925—Establishing the President's Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity* (March 6, 1961) — signature, date, authority and preamble. https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/executive-order-10925-establishing-the-presidents-committee-equal-employment-opportunity [^2]: The American Presidency Project, John F. Kennedy, *Executive Order 10925* (March 6, 1961) — Part III, Secs. 301–303: contract clause, Compliance Reports, exemptions. https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/executive-order-10925-establishing-the-presidents-committee-equal-employment-opportunity [^3]: The American Presidency Project, John F. Kennedy, *Executive Order 10925* (March 6, 1961) — Part I, Secs. 101–103: establishment, composition, annual reports. https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/executive-order-10925-establishing-the-presidents-committee-equal-employment-opportunity [^4]: The American Presidency Project, John F. Kennedy, *Executive Order 10925* (March 6, 1961) — Secs. 304–318: unions, compliance, investigations, hearings, sanctions, Certificates of Merit. https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/executive-order-10925-establishing-the-presidents-committee-equal-employment-opportunity [^5]: National Archives and Records Administration, *1964 Electoral College Results* — Johnson [D] 486, Goldwater [R] 52; Humphrey of Minnesota 486, Miller 52; Minnesota's 10 votes. https://www.archives.gov/electoral-college/1964 [^6]: The American Presidency Project, Lyndon B. Johnson, *Memorandum on Reassignment of Civil Rights Functions* (September 24, 1965) — Johnson's concurrence and the appended memorandum from the Vice President. https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/memorandum-reassignment-civil-rights-functions [^7]: The American Presidency Project, Lyndon B. Johnson, *Memorandum on Reassignment of Civil Rights Functions* (September 24, 1965) — note recording that Johnson signed Executive Orders 11246 and 11247 that day. https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/memorandum-reassignment-civil-rights-functions [^8]: Office of the Federal Register, National Archives, *Executive Order 11246—Equal employment opportunity* (codification; order of September 24, 1965) — Secs. 201, 402, 403(a), 405: Secretary of Labor's responsibility, Plans for Progress, superseded orders, effective date. https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/codification/executive-order/11246.html [^9]: U.S. Senate, Senate Historical Office, *Hubert Humphrey: A Featured Biography* — Senate service 1949–1964, Vice President 1965–1969, floor manager of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with Thomas Kuchel, death January 13, 1978. https://www.senate.gov/senators/FeaturedBios/Featured_Bio_HumphreyHubert.htm [^10]: The American Presidency Project, John F. Kennedy, *Executive Order 10925* (March 6, 1961) — Part II, Secs. 201–204: federal employment studies, sixty-day reports, Executive Order 10590, abolition of the prior committee. https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/executive-order-10925-establishing-the-presidents-committee-equal-employment-opportunity [^11]: The American Presidency Project, John F. Kennedy, *Executive Order 10925* (March 6, 1961) — Part IV, Secs. 401–403: funding, effective date, General Services Administration, revocations. https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/executive-order-10925-establishing-the-presidents-committee-equal-employment-opportunity [^12]: The American Presidency Project, Lyndon B. Johnson, *Executive Order 11197—Establishing the President's Council on Equal Opportunity* (February 5, 1965) — Secs. 1–2: establishment and membership. https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/executive-order-11197-establishing-the-presidents-council-equal-opportunity [^13]: Office of the Federal Register, National Archives, *Executive Order 11246—Equal employment opportunity* (codification) — amendment notes (Executive Orders 11375, 11478, 12086, 12107), Sec. 202 text, Sec. 207, Part III. https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/codification/executive-order/11246.html