On June 1, 1965, the House Judiciary Committee reported a revised H.R. 6400, but Celler endured a month’s delay in bringing the bill to the floor when Howard W. Smith (D-VA), chair of the House Committee on Rules, kept the voting rights bill bottled up in his committee. After Celler initiated proceedings to have the bill discharged, on June 24, the Rules Committee began hearings on the bill. Rules Committee minutes indicate that on July 1, Celler got crucial help from Rules Committee member Representative Richard Bolling (D-MO). Bolling’s motion to send the bill to the floor under an open rule passed the Rules Committee by a vote of 11 to 4. It authorized ten hours of debate and amendments and gave the minority party the chance to offer a substitute bill.