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My father was really was an orator. Now we don’t talk about orators anymore.

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But in that era people enjoyed listening to a really good speaker.

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And, of course the House and Senate weren’t on television

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or radio so the word would have to spread, you know.

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“Boggs is up.” And people would come to the gallery

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to listen to him because he was a fine speaker.

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The night before the debate on the Voting Rights Act of 1965

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we were at home it was summertime.

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And, I had graduated from college the year before and was

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living at home and I think my sister was around as well.

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And, we were having dinner and we started needling my father

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about speaking on the voting rights bill.

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He was Whip at the time. And, we said,

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“You know, you’re a leader. You need to, you need to get up

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and speak on this.” And he kept saying,

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“Stop giving me grief. I am going to vote for it.

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It’s going to cause me unshirted difficulty to vote for it

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because of representing New Orleans and neighboring parishes

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in Louisiana. And I am going to do that but

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I’m not going to speak for it. That’s political suicide.

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I’m not going to do it.” And, we just kept at him

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and finally he said, “Enough.” And so we finally were quiet.

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And so we didn’t come to Congress the next day because

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we didn’t expect him to speak. But he was on the floor

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and heard a fellow Louisianian get up and give a speech

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that saying that there was no discrimination in the state

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and that blacks could vote in Louisiana as easily as whites.

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And he just couldn’t stand it so, and he got up and made

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really what many people thought was the best speech of his life

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for voting rights. And, it was quite a moment because of course

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that piece of legislation was really the signal piece of legislation

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in the whole civil rights movement—having more effect

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really than any other piece of legislation.