[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5236 Introduced in House (IH)]







109th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5236

To establish an Unsolved Crimes Section in the Civil Rights Division of 
     the Department of Justice, and an Unsolved Civil Rights Crime 
Investigative Office in the Civil Rights Unit of the Federal Bureau of 
                 Investigation, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 27, 2006

   Mr. Lewis of Georgia (for himself, Mr. Hulshof, Mr. Cleaver, Mr. 
   Jefferson, Mr. Hastings of Florida, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. Towns, Mrs. 
 McCarthy, Mr. Serrano, Mr. Marshall, Mr. Delahunt, Mr. Brown of Ohio, 
  Mr. Berman, Mr. Clay, Mr. McDermott, and Mr. Schiff) introduced the 
  following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To establish an Unsolved Crimes Section in the Civil Rights Division of 
     the Department of Justice, and an Unsolved Civil Rights Crime 
Investigative Office in the Civil Rights Unit of the Federal Bureau of 
                 Investigation, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act''.

SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that all authorities with jurisdiction, 
including the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other entities within 
the Department of Justice, should--
            (1) expeditiously investigate unsolved civil rights 
        murders, due to the amount of time that has passed since the 
        murders and the age of potential witnesses; and
            (2) provide all the resources necessary to ensure timely 
        and thorough investigations in the cases involved.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Chief.--The term ``Chief'' means the Chief of the 
        Section.
            (2) Chief investigator.--The term ``Chief Investigator'' 
        means the Chief Investigator of the Office.
            (3) Criminal civil rights statutes.--The term ``criminal 
        civil rights statutes'' means--
                    (A) section 241 of title 18, United States Code 
                (relating to conspiracy against rights);
                    (B) section 242 of title 18, United States Code 
                (relating to deprivation of rights under color of law);
                    (C) section 245 of title 18, United States Code 
                (relating to federally protected activities);
                    (D) sections 1581 and 1584 of title 18, United 
                States Code (relating to involuntary servitude and 
                peonage);
                    (E) section 901 of the Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 
                3631); and
                    (F) any other Federal law that--
                            (i) was in effect on or before December 31, 
                        1969; and
                            (ii) the Criminal Section of the Civil 
                        Rights Division of the Department of Justice 
                        enforced, prior to the date of enactment of 
                        this Act.
            (4) Office.--The term ``Office'' means the Unsolved Civil 
        Rights Crime Investigative Office established under section 5.
            (5) Section.--The term ``Section'' (except when used as 
        part of the term ``Criminal Section'') means the Unsolved 
        Crimes Section established under section 4.

SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF SECTION IN CIVIL RIGHTS DIVISION.

    (a) In General.--There is established in the Civil Rights Division 
of the Department of Justice an Unsolved Crimes Section. The Section 
shall be headed by a Chief of the Section.
    (b) Responsibility.--
            (1) In general.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
        Federal law, and except as provided in section 5, the Chief 
        shall be responsible for investigating and prosecuting 
        violations of criminal civil rights statutes, in cases in which 
        a complaint alleges that such a violation--
                    (A) occurred not later than December 31, 1969; and
                    (B) resulted in a death.
            (2) Coordination.--
                    (A) Investigative activities.--In investigating a 
                complaint under paragraph (1), the Chief shall 
                coordinate investigative activities with State and 
                local law enforcement officials.
                    (B) Venue.--After investigating a complaint under 
                paragraph (1), or receiving a report of an 
                investigation conducted under section 5, if the Chief 
                determines that an alleged practice that is a violation 
                of a criminal civil rights statute occurred in a State, 
                or political subdivision of a State, that has a State 
                or local law prohibiting the practice alleged and 
                establishing or authorizing a State or local law 
                enforcement official to grant or seek relief from such 
                practice or to institute criminal proceedings with 
                respect to the practice on receiving notice of the 
                practice, the Chief shall consult with the official 
                regarding the appropriate venue for the case involved.
            (3) Referral.--After investigating a complaint under 
        paragraph (1), or receiving a report of an investigation 
        conducted under section 5, the Chief shall refer the complaint 
        to the Criminal Section of the Civil Rights Division, if the 
        Chief determines that the subject of the complaint has violated 
        a criminal civil rights statute in the case involved but the 
        violation does not meet the requirements of subparagraph (A) or 
        (B) of paragraph (1).
    (c) Study and Report.--
            (1) Study.--The Chief shall annually conduct a study of the 
        cases under the jurisdiction of the Chief or under the 
        jurisdiction of the Chief Investigator and, in conducting the 
        study, shall determine the cases--
                    (A) for which the Chief has sufficient evidence to 
                prosecute violations of criminal civil rights statutes; 
                and
                    (B) for which the Chief has insufficient evidence 
                to prosecute those violations.
            (2) Report.--Not later than September 30 of 2006 and of 
        each subsequent year, the Chief shall prepare and submit to 
        Congress a report containing the results of the study conducted 
        under paragraph (1), including a description of the cases 
        described in paragraph (1)(B).
    (d) Authorization of Appropriations.--
            (1) Authorization.--There is authorized to be appropriated 
        to carry out this section $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2007 and 
        each subsequent fiscal year.
            (2) Additional appropriations.--Any funds appropriated 
        under this subsection shall consist of additional 
        appropriations for the activities described in this section, 
        rather than funds made available through reductions in the 
        appropriations authorized for other enforcement activities of 
        the Department of Justice.

SEC. 5. ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE IN FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION.

    (a) In General.--There is established in the Civil Rights Unit of 
the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the Department of Justice an 
Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Investigative Office. The Office shall be 
headed by a Chief Investigator.
    (b) Responsibility.--
            (1) In general.--In accordance with an agreement 
        established between the Chief Investigator and the Chief, the 
        Chief Investigator shall be responsible for investigating 
        violations of criminal civil rights statutes, in cases 
        described in section 4(b).
            (2) Coordination.--
                    (A) Investigative activities.--In investigating a 
                complaint under paragraph (1), the Chief Investigator 
                shall coordinate the investigative activities with 
                State and local law enforcement officials.
                    (B) Referral.--After investigating a complaint 
                under paragraph (1), the Chief Investigator shall--
                            (i) determine whether the subject of the 
                        complaint has violated a criminal rights 
                        statute in the case involved; and
                            (ii) refer the complaint to the Chief, 
                        together with a report containing the 
                        determination and the results of the 
                        investigation.
    (c) Authorization of Appropriations.--
            (1) Authorization.--There is authorized to be appropriated 
        to carry out this section $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2007 and 
        each subsequent fiscal year.
            (2) Additional appropriations.--Any funds appropriated 
        under this subsection shall consist of additional 
        appropriations for the activities described in this section, 
        rather than funds made available through reductions in the 
        appropriations authorized for other enforcement activities of 
        the Department of Justice.

SEC. 6. COMMUNITY RELATIONS SERVICE OF THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE.

    In addition to any amounts authorized to be appropriated under 
title XI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000h et seq.), 
there are authorized to be appropriated to the Community Relations 
Service of the Department of Justice $1,500,000 for fiscal year 2007 
and each subsequent fiscal year, to enable the Service (in carrying out 
the functions described in title X of such Act (42 U.S.C. 2000g et 
seq.)) to provide technical assistance by bringing together law 
enforcement agencies and communities in the investigation of violations 
of criminal civil rights statutes, in cases described in section 4(b).
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