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Here is a great source

http://www.eotu.uiuc.edu/pedagogy/grogers/GRP/CRA1964_1.htm

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 resulted from one of the most controversial House and Senate debates in history. It was also the biggest piece of civil rights legislation ever passed. The bill actually evolved from previous civil rights bills in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s. The bill passed through both houses finally on July 2, 1964 and was signed into law at 6:55 P.M. EST by President Lyndon Johnson. The act was originally drawn up in 1962 under President Kennedy before his assassination. The bill originated from two others, and one of which was the Equal Opportunity Act of 1962 that never went into law. This bill made up the core of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Bureau of National Affairs 18-20).

There were many groups involved in the process of drawing up the bill and helping it to become a law. The main groups for the passage of the bill were the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, industrial unions of the AFL-CIO, many church groups, the White House, the Justice Department, and many northern Democrats and Republicans. The major groups that were opposed to the bill were the Coordinating Committee for Fundamental American Freedoms funded greatly from Mississippi, and the Southern Democratic caucus (Bickel 17). These groups voiced their opinion and helped representatives decide how they should vote. The many groups involved crossed party lines to debate and vote for a bill to better America.

Any bill that becomes a law has to go through the House of Representatives and the Senate with a passing vote. The Civil Rights Bill easily passed the House with Northern Democrats and the Republican supporters turning out a vote of 290 to 130. Lyndon Johnson stated after the bill went through the house that it was, “Now a task for the Senate…I hope the same spirit of nonpartisanship will prevail there to assure passage of the bill, guaranteeing the fundamental rights of all Americans” (Kenworthy). The bill then went to the senate where there was much debate and procrastination. Many senators opposed to the bill tried to use the “filibuster” technique, which basically is an extended talk for the purpose of killing a bill or getting drastic modifications. In fact, it was the longest debate in Senate history lasting 534 hours in total. The final vote in the Senate was 76 to 18 to pass their version of the bill since they made minor amendments to it (Bureau of National Affairs 18-21). A quote from Senator John Lesinski, democrat, showed why some were opposed to the bill, “There are still many private rights in America that under our Constitution are beyond the power of government to regulate and one of these is the right to pick and chose one’s associates, one’s friends and one’s customers in a private business” (Calls Bill Unconstitutional 33). The final vote in the House over the amendments the senate made was 289 to 126. This set the way for the bill to be signed by the President to become a law.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 contained eleven titles, or parts, that made the act complete. The first title, “Voting Rights”, made sure that there was no discrimination in literacy tests when determining voting ability. The “Public Accommodations” title said there would be no discrimination or segregation in hotels, motels, restaurants, gas stations, places that served food, theaters, and sports arenas. The Attorney General was given the power to enforce this. Title three, “Desegregation of Public Facilities” did exactly that, it desegregated all public facilities. The “Public Education” title gave the Attorney General the power to sue schools and bring them to court if they didn’t comply. “Civil Rights Commission” made that civil rights commission a permanent body. Title VI, “Federally Assisted Programs”, made sure there was no discrimination in any federal program. “Equal Opportunity Employment” enacted a commission to enforce this title against companies and labor unions. This title forced companies and unions with more than 25 people to not discriminate on the basis of sex, race, religion, color, or origin. Title eight, “Registration and Voting Statistics” made the Secretary of Commerce compile statistics on the denial of the right to vote. “Procedure After Removal in Civil Rights Cases” allowed federal courts to allow appeals of lower courts in the case of discrimination. “Community Relations Service” will provide a service to help communities resolve racial disputes. And the last title, “Miscellaneous” just fills in holes throughout the bill and provides power to federal officers (Summary of Provisions of Rights Bill). This entire bill fixed the previous civil rights bill’s loopholes and was the greatest piece of civil rights legislation of the era.

Though considered to be groundbreaking legislation, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 received very limited coverage in the major magazines of the time. But more disheartening than the amount of coverage the Civil Rights Act received is the lack of information each article contains. Both Newsweek and Time magazines, which are considered to be the leading news magazines of the 1960’s, did not have feature articles on this legislation when it passed through congress.