Attorney General Merrick B. Garland Statement on the 60th Anniversary of the Civil Rights Act

The Justice Department issued the following statement today from Attorney General Merrick B. Garland on the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964:

“The Civil Rights Act of 1964, signed into law 60 years ago today, gave the Justice Department some of its most important tools to protect Americans from discrimination, including at school, in the workplace, in voting, and in places of public accommodation.

Today, we remember the generations of Americans who risked their lives – and the many who sacrificed their lives – in the struggle to claim the rights guaranteed to Black Americans, and to all Americans, under the Constitution.

We recognize the continued dedication of our partners in the civil rights community who are the inheritors of that legacy.

And we honor the public servants across the Justice Department who have worked to fulfill the promise of the Civil Rights Act over the past six decades and continue to do so today.

Before signing the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law 60 years ago, President Lyndon Baines Johnson addressed the American people, saying, ‘the Civil Rights Act is a challenge to all of us to work in our communities and our States, in our homes and in our hearts, to eliminate the last vestiges of injustice in our beloved country.’

Today, as we mark the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act, the Justice Department renews our commitment to meeting that challenge.”