Following the attacks on the Selma to Montgomery civil rights marchers, Senator Williams met with a group comprised of church representatives and civil rights workers from Delaware to discuss the Voting Rights bill. Senator Williams stated that he supported civil rights legislation and would vote for a legislation guaranteeing every American citizen the right to vote, but would not commit to a vote until he had seen the language of the legislation.

News journal (Wilmington, Del.). "Clipping from Wilmington Morning News Journal on Senator Williams and the Voting Rights legislation." Papers of Senator John J. Williams, University of Delaware Library. Accessed 27 March 2023. http://acsc.lib.udel.edu/items/show/36.