In this press release of January 7, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson declared that “this year is the year when… Congress should enact a hospital insurance program for the aged” and outlined major features of the program. Representative Cecil King…

For years, Wilbur Mills (D-AR), Chair of the House Committee on Ways and Means, had been an obstacle to health reform, but in the 89th Congress his leadership was crucial in passing legislation that gave the nation Medicare. A committee meeting on…

The Ways and Means Committee deliberations on health legislation culminated on March 24, 1965 when the committee voted on draft legislation that Mills had proposed at the March 2 meeting. This tally sheet from the March 24 executive session…

When H.R. 6675 reached the floor, it was the first time that a Social Security-based health plan had been debated in the House of Representatives. Republicans continued to fight for a fully voluntary health plan and opposed the universal, Social…

When H.R. 6675 reached the Senate, the risk to the bill came from liberals eager to expand coverage by adding amendments to the bill. One such amendment added to the bill by the Senate Finance Committee shifted coverage of specialized medical…

In January, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson met with civil rights leaders and told them that he would push for a law protecting voting rights after Congress passed an education bill and Medicare. Civil rights leaders refused to wait. After they…

Broad, bipartisan support for voting rights was signaled by the 66 Senators who were eager to sign as sponsors of an administration-backed bill that had been quietly negotiated with Senate leaders. When introduced on March 18, 1965, 46 Democrats and…

The number of sponsors indicated that voting rights legislation was likely to pass on the floor, if an acceptable bill could be reported from the committee. Minutes after the bill was introduced, Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield (D-MT), and…

On January 23, 1964, the Twenty-fourth Amendment, banning the poll tax in all federal elections, was ratified. As introduced, S. 1564 did not ban poll taxes for state and local election. The administration and many senators did not believe such a…

As the Senate floor debate entered its third week, Mansfield and Dirksen began to explore ways to end debate and bring the bill to a vote. As they quietly polled members, on May 21, 1965, Philip A. Hart (D-MI), the bill’s floor manager, initiated a…