The Honorable Oscar De Priest (R-IL)

During his three consecutive terms (1929-1935) as the only black representative in Congress, Oscar De Priest introduced several anti-discrimination bills. His 1933 amendment barring discrimination in the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was passed by the Senate and signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. A second anti-lynching bill failed, even though it would not have made lynching a federal crime.