[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1369 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1369

To establish an Unsolved Crimes Section in the Civil Rights Division of 
                       the Department of Justice.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              July 1, 2005

  Mr. Talent (for himself, Mr. Dodd, Mr. Alexander, Mrs. Clinton, Mr. 
 Cochran, Ms. Collins, Mr. Coleman, Mrs. Dole, Mr. DeWine, Mr. Graham, 
Mr. Kerry, Mr. Kyl, Ms. Landrieu, Mr. Nelson of Florida, Mr. Lott, Mr. 
Santorum, Mr. Schumer, Mr. Martinez, Mr. Sununu, Ms. Snowe, Mr. Smith, 
and Mr. McConnell) introduced the following bill; which was read twice 
             and 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.

    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) 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.
            (3) 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.

    (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, the Chief shall be responsible for investigating 
        and prosecuting violations of criminal civil rights statutes, 
        in each case 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.--After investigating a complaint under 
        paragraph (1), 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 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 State or local 
        official regarding the appropriate venue for the case involved.
            (3) Referral.--After investigating a complaint under 
        paragraph (1), 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 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 2006 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.
                                 <all>