Randolph voted in favor of the
Civil Rights Acts of 1960,
1964, and
1968, as well as the
24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the
Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the confirmation of
Thurgood Marshall to the
U.S. Supreme Court. On November 4, 1977, President
Jimmy Carter signed environmental bills H.R. 2817 and H.R. 4297, singling Randolph out as the sole senator he wanted to thank for their passage.
Twenty-Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution Randolph was best known for sponsoring eleven times an amendment to the
Constitution that would grant citizens aged between 18 and 21 the right to vote. He first introduced the amendment in 1942, arguing that young soldiers fighting in
World War II should be able to vote. In 1970 amendments to the
Voting Rights Act lowered the voting age to 18 in both local and national elections. After the
Supreme Court found in
Oregon v. Mitchell that Congress only had the power to lower the voting age to 18 for national elections, and no power to lower it for state elections, Randolph was among the senators who re-introduced the amendment. It was ratified by three-fourths of the states in 1971 as the
Twenty-sixth Amendment, 107 days after it was approved by Congress. Following a request from President
Richard Nixon, on February 11, 1972 Jennings personally escorted Ella Mae Thompson Haddix to
Randolph County Courthouse in
Elkins, West Virginia to register to vote, becoming the first 18-year-old registered voter in the United States.
Equal Rights Amendment On August 26, 1970, the fiftieth anniversary of the ratification of the
Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution giving
women the right to vote, Randolph attracted widespread media coverage for negative comments he made concerning the
Women's Liberation Movement. Feminists had organized a nationwide
Women's Strike for Equality that day, and presented the sympathetic Senate leadership with a petition for the
Equal Rights Amendment. Randolph derided the protesters as "braless bubbleheads" and claimed that the equal rights activists did not speak for women, citing those more radical feminists that supported, as he put it, the "right to unabridged abortions". Randolph would later admit that his "bubbleheads" comment was "perhaps ill-chosen" and went on to support the Equal Rights Amendment. In 1972, when the amendment passed the Senate, Randolph was a co-sponsor.
Randolph-Sheppard Act While a member of the House of Representatives, Randolph was the main sponsor of the
Randolph-Sheppard Act, which was passed by Congress in 1936. This act, which is still in force, gives
blind people preference in federal contracts for food service stands on federal properties such as military bases, as well as some other jobs. Organizations for blind people such as the
National Federation of the Blind cite this act as one of the first and most successful programs to give blind people secure jobs with less supervision and more independence than other previous programs such as sheltered workshops. This act became one of the first instances of
affirmative action legislation.
Aeronautics legislation An aviation enthusiast, he often flew more than once a day to visit constituents in West Virginia and to commute to Washington. He was the founder and first president of the Congressional Flying Club. He was a strong advocate for programs to advance air travel and airport development. In 1938 he sponsored the
Civil Aeronautics Act, which transferred the federal civil aviation responsibilities from the
Department of Commerce to a new independent agency, the
Civil Aeronautics Authority (CAA). The legislation gave the CAA the power to regulate airline fares and to determine the routes that air carriers would serve. In subsequent years, Randolph co-authored the Federal Airport Act as well as legislation that created the
Civil Air Patrol, the
National Air and Space Museum, and
National Aviation Day. During his tenure in the Senate, he sponsored the Airport-Airways Development Act that created the Airport Trust Fund. As a co-author of the Appalachian Regional Development Act, he included provisions for the development of rural airports.
Synthetic Liquid Fuels Act In 1942 Randolph proposed a
Synthetic Liquid Fuels Act, which would fund the transformation of coal and its products into other useful forms of energy. To promote the viability of
synthetic fuels, in November 1943 Randolph and a professional pilot flew in an aircraft powered by gasoline derived from coal. The small, single-engine airplane flew from
Morgantown, West Virginia to National Airport in
Washington, D.C. Aided by Interior Secretary
Harold Ickes and Senator
Joseph C. O'Mahoney, the Synthetic Liquid Fuels Act was approved on April 5, 1944. The Act authorized $30 million for the construction and operation of
demonstration plants to produce synthetic liquid fuels.
Department of Peace He introduced legislation to establish a
Department of Peace in 1946 with the goal of strengthening America's capacity to resolve and manage international conflicts by both military and nonmilitary means. In the 1970s and 1980s he joined senators
Mark Hatfield and
Spark Matsunaga and Congressman
Dan Glickman in efforts to create a national institution dedicated to peace. After he had announced his retirement from Congress in 1984, Randolph played a key role in the passage and enactment of the
United States Institute of Peace Act. To guarantee its passage and funding, the legislation was attached to the Department of Defense Authorization Act of 1985. Approval of the legislation was in part a tribute to Randolph's long career in public service. The Jennings Randolph Program, which awards fellowships to enable outstanding scholars, policymakers, journalists, and other professionals from around the world to conduct research at the U.S. Institute of Peace, has been named in his honor. ==Life outside Congress==