Day: May 20, 2010

Let me be clear: I support the Civil Rights Act because I overwhelmingly agree with the intent of the legislation, which was to stop discrimination in the public sphere and halt the abhorrent practice of segregation and Jim Crow laws. As I have said in previous statements, sections of the Civil Rights Act were debated on Constitutional grounds when the legislation was passed. Those issues have been settled by federal courts in the intervening years. My opponent’s statement on MSNBC Wednesday that I favor repeal of the Civil Rights Act was irresponsible and knowingly false. I hope he will correct the record and retract his claims.

– GOP Kentucky Senate candidate Rand Paul walking back earlier statements opposing provisions in the Civil Rights Act that made it illegal for white business owners to refuse service to African-American patrons on the grounds that the law represented government interference in private business. Paul’s Democratic opponent is Attorney General Jack Conway.

Among Senator McConnell’s most vivid memories and most formative events in his career was watching his boss Sen. John Sherman Cooper help pull together the votes to break the filibuster and pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964. He has always considered the law a monumental achievement for the country and is glad to hear Dr. Paul supports it as well.

– Don Stewart, spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), reacting to Rand’s statement. McConnell supported Rand’s opponent in the primary.

Let him think that.

— House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), in an interview with The Hill, when asked about House Minority Leader John Boehner’s (R-OH) recent claim that there are 100 House seats in play.