Eff. Apr. 22, 1966, 31 F.R. 6187, 80 Stat. 1607

Prepared by the President and transmitted to the Senate and the House of Representatives in Congress assembled, February 10, 1966, pursuant to the provisions of the Reorganization Act of 1949, 63 Stat. 203, as amended [see 5 U.S.C. 901 et seq.].

COMMUNITY RELATIONS SERVICE

Section 1. Transfer of Service

Subject to the provisions of this reorganization plan, the Community Relations Service now existing in the Department of Commerce under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Pub. L. No. 88–352, July 2, 1964) [see Short Title note under 42 U.S.C. 2000a] including the office of Director thereof, is hereby transferred to the Department of Justice.

Sec. 2. Transfer of Functions

All functions of the Community Relations Service, and all functions of the Director of the Community Relations Service, together with all functions of the Secretary of Commerce and the Department of Commerce with respect thereto, are hereby transferred to the Attorney General.

Sec. 3. Incidental Transfers

(a) Section 1 hereof shall be deemed to transfer to the Department of Justice the personnel, property, and records of the Community Relations Service and the unexpended balances of appropriations, allocations, and other funds available or to be made available to the Service.

(b) Such further measures and dispositions as the Director of the Bureau of the Budget shall deem to be necessary in order to effectuate the transfers referred to in subsection (a) of this section shall be carried out in such manner as he shall direct and by such agencies as he shall designate.

Message of the President

To the Congress of the United States:

I transmit herewith Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1966, prepared in accordance with the Reorganization Act of 1949, as amended, and providing for reorganization of community relations functions in the area of civil rights.

After a careful review of the activities of the Federal agencies involved in the field of civil rights, it became clear that the elimination of duplication and undesirable overlap required the consolidation of certain functions.

As a first step, I issued Executive Orders 11246 and 11247 on September 24, 1965.

Executive Order 11246 simplified and clarified executive branch assignments of responsibility for enforcing civil rights policies and placed responsibility for the Government-wide coordination of the enforcement activities of executive agencies in the Secretary of Labor with respect to employment by Federal contractors and in the Civil Service Commission with respect to employment by Federal agencies.

Executive Order 11247 directed the Attorney General to assist Federal agencies in coordinating their enforcement activities with respect to title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination in federally assisted programs.

As a further step for strengthening the operation and coordination of our civil rights programs, I now recommend transfer of the functions of the Community Relations Service, established in the Department of Commerce under title X of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, to the Attorney General and transfer of the Service, including the Office of Director, to the Department of Justice.

The Community Relations Service was located in the Department of Commerce by the Congress on the assumption that a primary need would be the conciliation of disputes arising out of the public accommodations title of the act. That decision was appropriate on the basis of information available at that time. The need for conciliation in this area has not been as great as anticipated because of the voluntary progress that has been made by businessmen and business organizations.

To be effective, assistance to communities in the identification and conciliation of disputes should be closely and tightly coordinated. Thus, in any particular situation that arises within a community, representatives of Federal agencies whose programs are involved should coordinate their efforts through a single agency. In recent years, the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department has played such a coordinating role in many situations, and has done so with great effectiveness.

Placing the Community Relations Service within the Justice Department will enhance the ability of the Justice Department to mediate and conciliate and will insure that the Federal Government speaks with a unified voice in those tense situations where the good offices of the Federal Government are called upon to assist.