[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 923 Engrossed in House (EH)]

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 923

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT


 
   To provide for the investigation of certain unsolved civil rights 
                    crimes, 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 ``Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights 
Crime Act of 2007''.

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. DEPUTY CHIEF OF THE CRIMINAL SECTION OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS 
              DIVISION.

    (a) In General.--The Attorney General shall designate a Deputy 
Chief in the Criminal Section of the Civil Rights Division of the 
Department of Justice.
    (b) Responsibility.--
            (1) In general.--The Deputy Chief shall be responsible for 
        coordinating the investigation and prosecution of violations of 
        criminal civil rights statutes that occurred not later than 
        December 31, 1969, and resulted in a death.
            (2) Coordination.--In investigating a complaint under 
        paragraph (1), the Deputy Chief may coordinate investigative 
        activities with State and local law enforcement officials.
    (c) Study and Report.--
            (1) Study.--The Attorney General shall annually conduct a 
        study of the cases under the jurisdiction of the Deputy Chief 
        or under the jurisdiction of the Supervisory Special Agent and, 
        in conducting the study, shall determine--
                    (A) the number of open investigations within the 
                Department for violations of criminal civil rights 
                statutes that occurred not later than December 31, 
                1969;
                    (B) the number of new cases opened pursuant to this 
                Act since the previous year's study;
                    (C) the number of unsealed Federal cases charged 
                within the study period, including the case names, the 
                jurisdiction in which the charges were brought, and the 
                date the charges were filed;
                    (D) the number of cases referred by the Department 
                to a State or local law enforcement agency or 
                prosecutor within the study period, the number of such 
                cases that resulted in State charges being filed, the 
                jurisdiction in which such charges were filed, the date 
                the charges were filed, and if a jurisdiction declines 
                to prosecute or participate in an investigation of a 
                case so referred, the fact it did so;
                    (E) the number of cases within the study period 
                that were closed without Federal prosecution, the case 
                names of unsealed Federal cases, the dates the cases 
                were closed, and the relevant federal statutes;
                    (F) the number of attorneys who worked, in whole or 
                in part, on any case described in subsection (b)(1); 
                and
                    (G) the applications submitted for grants under 
                section 5, the award of such grants, and the purposes 
                for which the grant amount were expended.
            (2) Report.--Not later than 6 months after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, and each year thereafter, the Attorney 
        General shall prepare and submit to Congress a report 
        containing the results of the study conducted under paragraph 
        (1).

SEC. 4. SUPERVISORY SPECIAL AGENT IN THE CIVIL RIGHTS UNIT OF THE 
              FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION.

    (a) In General.--The Attorney General shall designate a Supervisory 
Special Agent in the Civil Rights Unit of the Federal Bureau of 
Investigation of the Department of Justice.
    (b) Responsibility.--
            (1) In general.--The Supervisory Special Agent shall be 
        responsible for investigating violations of criminal civil 
        rights statutes that occurred not later than December 31, 1969, 
        and resulted in a death.
            (2) Coordination.--In investigating a complaint under 
        paragraph (1), the Supervisory Special Agent may coordinate the 
        investigative activities with State and local law enforcement 
        officials.

SEC. 5. GRANTS TO STATE AND LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT.

    (a) In General.--The Attorney General may award grants to State or 
local law enforcement agencies for expenses associated with the 
investigation and prosecution by them of criminal offenses, involving 
civil rights, that occurred not later than December 31, 1969, and 
resulted in a death.
    (b) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated $2,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2008 through 2017 
to carry out this section.

SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    (a) In General.--There are authorized to be appropriated, in 
addition to any other amounts otherwise authorized to be appropriated 
for this purpose, to the Attorney General $10,000,000 for each of the 
fiscal years 2008 through 2017 for the purpose of investigating and 
prosecuting violations of criminal civil rights statutes that occurred 
not later than December 31, 1969, and resulted in a death. These funds 
shall be allocated by the Attorney General to the Deputy Chief of the 
Criminal Section of the Civil Rights Division and the Supervisory 
Special Agent of the Civil Rights Unit of the Federal Bureau of 
Investigation in order to advance the purposes set forth in this Act.
    (b) 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 2008 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).

SEC. 7. DEFINITION OF ``CRIMINAL CIVIL RIGHTS STATUTES''.

    In this Act, the term ``criminal civil rights statutes'' means--
            (1) section 241 of title 18, United States Code (relating 
        to conspiracy against rights);
            (2) section 242 of title 18, United States Code (relating 
        to deprivation of rights under color of law);
            (3) section 245 of title 18, United States Code (relating 
        to federally protected activities);
            (4) sections 1581 and 1584 of title 18, United States Code 
        (relating to involuntary servitude and peonage);
            (5) section 901 of the Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 3631); 
        and
            (6) any other Federal law that--
                    (A) was in effect on or before December 31, 1969; 
                and
                    (B) the Criminal Section of the Civil Rights 
                Division of the Department of Justice enforced, before 
                the date of enactment of this Act.

SEC. 8. SUNSET.

    Sections 2 through 6 of this Act shall cease to have effect at the 
end of fiscal year 2017.

SEC. 9. AUTHORITY OF INSPECTORS GENERAL.

    Title XXXVII of the Crime Control Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 5779 et 
seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 3703. AUTHORITY OF INSPECTORS GENERAL.

    ``(a) In General.--An Inspector General appointed under section 3 
or 8G of the Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) may 
authorize staff to assist the National Center for Missing and Exploited 
Children--
            ``(1) by conducting reviews of inactive case files to 
        develop recommendations for further investigations; and
            ``(2) by engaging in similar activities.
    ``(b) Limitations.--
            ``(1) Priority.--An Inspector General may not permit staff 
        to engage in activities described in subsection (a) if such 
        activities will interfere with the duties of the Inspector 
        General under the Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. 
        App.).
            ``(2) Funding.--No additional funds are authorized to be 
        appropriated to carry out this section.''.

            Passed the House of Representatives June 20, 2007.

            Attest:

                                                                 Clerk.
110th CONGRESS

  1st Session

                               H. R. 923

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT

   To provide for the investigation of certain unsolved civil rights 
                    crimes, and for other purposes.