Emanuel Celler | |
|---|---|
 Celler in 1967 | |
| 39th Dean of the United States House of Representatives | |
| In office January 3, 1965 – January 3, 1973 | |
| Preceded by | Carl Vinson |
| Succeeded by | Wright Patman |
| Chair of theHouse Judiciary Committee | |
| In office January 3, 1955 – January 3, 1973 | |
| Preceded by | Chauncey W. Reed |
| Succeeded by | Peter W. Rodino |
| In office January 3, 1949 – January 3, 1953 | |
| Preceded by | Earl C. Michener |
| Succeeded by | Chauncey W. Reed |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromNew York | |
| In office March 4, 1923 – January 3, 1973 | |
| Preceded by | Lester D. Volk |
| Succeeded by | Elizabeth Holtzman |
| Constituency | 10th district (1923–1945) 15th district (1945–1953) 11th district (1953–1963) 10th district (1963–1973) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Emanuel Celler (1888-05-06)May 6, 1888 Brooklyn, New York, U.S. |
| Died | January 15, 1981(1981-01-15) (aged 92) New York City, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Alma mater | Columbia University (BA,LLB) |
| Occupation | Lawyer |
Emanuel Celler (May 6, 1888 – January 15, 1981) was an AmericanDemocratic politician fromNew York who represented parts of theNew York City boroughs ofBrooklyn andQueens in theUnited States House of Representatives for nearly 50 years, from March 1923 to January 1973. He served as thedean of the United States House of Representatives from 1965 to 1973. Celler chaired theHouse Committee on the Judiciary for eleven terms between 1949 and 1973 and was a leading advocate for the liberalization of immigration and naturalization laws, from his early stand against theImmigration Act of 1924 to his sponsorship of theImmigration and Nationality Act of 1965. He ranks as the fifth longest-serving congressman in history[a] and the longest-serving member of either house of Congress in New York's history.
Celler strongly supported help for Jewish refugees fleeingEurope duringWorld War II. As Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee for all but two years between 1949 and 1973, he ushered the majorcivil rights legislation including theCivil Rights Act of 1964,Voting Rights Act of 1965, and theImmigration and Nationality Act of 1965. In the early 1970s, Celler took a position in opposition to the women'sEqual Rights Amendment.
He was defeated in the 1972primary byElizabeth Holtzman, becoming the most senior Representative ever to lose a primary.
Emanuel Celler was born on May 6, 1888, inBrooklyn,New York. His parents, Josephine (née Müller) and Henry H. Celler, were each the children of German immigrants. His paternal grandparents and maternal grandmother wereJewish; his maternal grandfather wasCatholic. He retrospectively described his family as "respectable and middle-class";[1] his father operated awhiskey business that ultimately failed, compelling him to opt for a job as a wine salesman, which Celler inherited upon his abrupt death in 1910.[2]
He graduated fromBoys High School (Brooklyn, 1906),Columbia College (1910), andColumbia Law School (1912), prior to his admission to the New York bar. In the midst of theFirst World War, he was involved in the examination of draft appeals.[3]
Celler was first elected to the House in 1922, defeating incumbent RepublicanLester D. Volk.
As a representative-elect in December 1922, Celler forcefully criticized theSecond Ku Klux Klan as "a national menace," a "cancer and disease that is harassing our body politic," and "worse thanBolshevism."[4]
During his first twenty-two years in Congress, 1923–1945, Celler'sBrooklyn andQueens-based district was numbered asNew York's 10th congressional district.Redistricting in 1944 put him into the15th district from 1945 to 1953; from 1953 to 1963 his district was the11th; and for his final decade in theUnited States Congress, 1963–1973, it was back to its 1922 designation as the 10th. For his final campaign in 1972, the district had been renumbered asthe 16th.
Celler made his first important speech on the House floor during consideration of the Johnson–ReedImmigration Act of 1924. Three years earlier, Congress had imposed a quota that limited immigration for persons of any nationality to 3 percent of that nationality present in the United States in 1910, with an annual admission limit of 356,000 immigrants. This national origin system was structured to preserve the ethnic and religious identity of the United States by reducing immigration fromEastern and Southern Europe, thereby excluding many Jews, Catholics, among others. Celler was vehemently opposed to the Johnson-Reed Act, which passed theisolationist Congress and was signed into law. Celler had found his cause and for the next four decades he vigorously spoke out in favor of eliminating the national origin quotas as a basis for immigration restriction.
In July 1939, a strongly worded letter from Celler to U.S. Secretary of StateCordell Hull helped set in motion an extremely prolonged process of 45 years that finally led in 1984, three years after Celler's death, to full, formaldiplomatic relationsbetween the United States and theHoly See.[5]
In the 1940s, Celler opposed both theisolationists and theFranklin D. Roosevelt administration by forcefully advocating that the United States relax immigration laws on an emergency basis to rescue those fleeingthe Holocaust. In 1943, he called President Roosevelt's immigration policy "cold and cruel" and blasted the "glacier-like attitude" of the State Department. Celler was also aZionist who supported the recognition ofIsrael and requested the lifting of the American embargo imposed on both sides during the1948 Palestine war.[6]
In 1950, he was the lead House sponsor of legislation to strengthen theClayton Antitrust Act of 1914; the bill, written withTennessee SenatorEstes Kefauver, became theCeller-Kefauver Act, which closed key regulatory loopholes, empowering the government to preventvertical mergers andconglomerate mergers which could limit competition.
In 1951, Celler conducted hearings in theUnited States House Judiciary Committee to examine theanti-trust exemption granted toMajor League Baseball (MLB).[7] Celler entered the hearings believing that MLB needed laws to support the reserve clause.[8] Star players, such asLou Boudreau andPee Wee Reese, indicated their support of the reserve clause. Minor league veteranRoss Horning testified about his experiences in baseball, which he said were more common for rank-and-file players.[9]Cy Block, who appeared briefly in the major leagues, testified about his experiences and how the reserve clause prevented him from getting an extended trial in the major leagues.[10] Celler's final report suggested that the Congress should take no action, allowing for the matter to be settled in thefederal judiciary of the United States. In 1953, theSupreme Court of the United States upheld MLB's anti-trust exemption and the reserve clause inToolson v. New York Yankees, Inc..[9]
In the early 1950s, theRepublican SenatorJoseph McCarthy attacked Celler's patriotism. At the1952 Democratic National Convention, Celler gave a speech in which he responded to Sen. McCarthy, saying:
"Deliberately and calculatedly,McCarthyism has set before itself the task of undermining the faith of the people in their Government. It has undertaken to sow suspicion everywhere, to set friend against friend and brother against brother. It deals in coercion and in intimidation, tying the hands of citizens and officials with the fear of the smear attack."
As Chairman of theHouse Judiciary Committee from 1949 to 1973 (except for a break from 1953 to 1955 when the Republicans controlled the House), Celler was involved in drafting and passing theCivil Rights Act of 1964, theCivil Rights Act of 1968 and theVoting Rights Act of 1965. He worked closely with Rep.William Moore McCulloch (R-OH), the Ranking Member, to craft sufficient bipartisan support in the House to overwhelm Southern Democrat opposition in the Senate. In January 1965, Celler proposed in the House of Representatives theTwenty-fifth Amendment, which clarifies an ambiguous provision of theConstitution regarding succession to thepresidency. Also in 1965, he proposed and steered to passage theHart-Celler Act, which eliminated national origins as a consideration for immigration. This was the culminating moment in Celler's 41-year fight to overcome restriction on immigration to the United States based on national origin. The U.S.Gun Control Act of 1968 directly evolved from Celler's Bill H.R. 17735.[11][12]
In June 1972, Celler (then the House of Representatives' most senior member) unexpectedly lost the Democratic primary to a somewhat more liberal Democrat, attorneyElizabeth Holtzman, who eked out a 635-vote victory over Celler,[13] based chiefly on Celler's opposition tofeminism and theEqual Rights Amendment. At the time, Celler was the most senior congressman ever to have been ousted in a primary. Even though Celler remained on the ballot as the candidate of theLiberal Party, he decided not to campaign and endorsed Holtzman in September.[14] This allowed Holtzman to win the general election that November with 66% of the vote, versus 23% for her Republican opponent. Celler received 7%.[15]
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In his final years, Celler remained busy, speaking about immigration and myriad other topics that occupied his half-century of public service. During theWatergate scandal of 1973–1974, he was a frequent guest on television and radio programs, discussing thehearings and the position of Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, which he held for a record number of years. If not for his electoral loss a few months before, Celler, notPeter Rodino of New Jersey, would have been conducting thehearings. Celler was on good terms withRichard Nixon and in the early part of the hearings indicated that he would have taken a less adversarial position than Rodino.
In 1978, shortly before his 90th birthday, he granted an interview in which he reflected on New York and national politicians.[16]
Emanuel Celler died in his home in Brooklyn on Jan 15, 1981 at the age of 92.[17]
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromNew York's 10th congressional district 1923–1945 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromNew York's 15th congressional district 1945–1953 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromNew York's 11th congressional district 1953–1963 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromNew York's 10th congressional district 1963–1973 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Earl Michener (1st time),Chauncey Reed (2nd time) | Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee 1949–1953, 1955–1973 | Succeeded by Chauncey Reed (1st time),Peter Rodino (2nd time) |
| Honorary titles | ||
| Preceded by | Dean of the House 1965–1973 | Succeeded by |
