[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 152 (Wednesday, September 24, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9350-S9352]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          EMMETT TILL UNSOLVED CIVIL RIGHTS CRIME ACT OF 2007

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 237, H.R. 923.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will report the bill by 
title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (H.R. 923) to provide for the investigation of 
     certain unsolved civil rights crimes, and for other purposes.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I am pleased that the Senate will 
unanimously pass the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act, H.R. 
923, a bipartisan bill to provide critical tools and resources for the 
Department of Justice and FBI to expeditiously investigate and 
prosecute decades-old unsolved civil rights cold case crimes.
  This bill overwhelmingly passed the House of Representatives last 
year and unanimously passed the Senate on two previous occasions, in 
the 108th and 109th Congresses. Its consideration in the Senate has 
been needlessly delayed due to a Republican objection. Finally, this 
bipartisan legislation will be sent to the President.

[[Page S9351]]

  This legislation includes the Missing Child Cold Case Review Act, a 
critical measure which I sponsored last Congress. It allows inspectors 
general of Federal law enforcement agencies to authorize staff to 
provide much needed assistance to the National Center for Missing and 
Exploited Children--NCMEC--inactive case files. In order to bolster 
their efforts to solve these heart-wrenching cases, NCMEC needs the 
assistance and the cooperation of inspectors general. I am pleased that 
this legislation will help the men and women at NCMEC carry out this 
important mission.
  The primary purpose of the Till bill is to track down those whose 
violent acts during a period of national turmoil remain unpunished. In 
1955, the brutal murder of a 14-year-old African-American teenager 
named Emmett Till stirred the conscience of our country. No one has 
been punished for this tragic and brutal murder. Fifty-two years later, 
Emmett Till's family and the families of hundreds of other Americans 
who lost their lives in the fight for equal rights, still await 
justice.
  Racially motivated violence during this turbulent time left a scar on 
the fabric of our democracy. Far too often, its goal was to divide 
communities and intimidate certain citizens from achieving full 
participation in our democracy and exercising their constitutional 
rights to vote, to travel, and to stay in a federally protected 
enclave, and, most often, the right to live where you please.
  The Federal Government has traditionally been the guardian of last 
resort for our Nation's most vulnerable inhabitants. Yet sadly for much 
of our Nation's history, African-Americans and other citizens involved 
in civil rights activities were not protected in the full enjoyment of 
their rights. Indeed, as FBI Director Mueller acknowledged last year, 
``[m]any murders during the civil rights era were not fully 
investigated, were covered up or were misidentified as accidental death 
or disappearance.'' With the passage of the Till bill today, we once 
again acknowledge past governmental missteps and seek to right these 
wrongs.
  The Till bill provides the necessary tools for the Federal 
Government, along with State and local officials, to investigate and 
prosecute civil rights decades-old unsolved crimes. First, the bill 
creates two new offices to investigate and prosecute these decades-old 
cold case crimes. Rather than creating a new unit or section within the 
Justice Department, the legislation allows precious Federal resources 
to be used by the FBI field offices and Federal prosecutors in the 
states where these prosecutions will occur.
  Second, it will empower the Community Relations Service of the 
Department of Justice to work with local communities in identifying 
unsolved cases. In a similar vein, the bill also allows the Justice 
Department to issue grants to State and local law enforcement agencies 
for investigation and prosecution of violations of State and local laws 
similar to Federal criminal civil rights statutes. Many Federal 
criminal civil rights prosecutions may be time-barred or face ex post 
facto concerns. Allowing Federal grants to State and local entities 
will allow for justice to prevail even where Federal law may be 
inadequate.
  Third, the bill incorporates my recommended change to provide 
oversight over this initiative. Congress will be able to track how many 
cold cases were selected for further inquiry and how many were not. 
This change strengthens oversight and protects ongoing investigations 
from being compromised. In a February 2007 press conference, the 
Director of the FBI announced that the FBI and Justice Department would 
work with civil rights organizations to bring closure to decades-old 
unsolved civil rights crimes. Yet, just a few weeks ago, press reports 
indicated that the Justice Department and FBI have yet to prosecute a 
single case under the agency's cold case initiative already in place. 
This is further evidence that vigorous oversight is needed, and I hope 
this bill will help.
  Although I am happy this bill has finally passed the full Senate, 
this noncontroversial and bipartisan bill should not have taken several 
Congresses to pass. The Till bill was one of many bills that the 
majority leader included in S.3297, the Advancing America's Priorities 
Act. The majority leader selected three dozen legislative items from 
the jurisdiction of seven Senate committees, including eight Judiciary 
Committee bills, for this effort. These are all measures with 
bipartisan support and, we believe, the support of a strong bipartisan 
majority of the Senate. Each of these bills has the support of all 
Democratic Senators and had overwhelming support, but stalled on the 
Senate floor by Republican objection. Ensuring the civil rights of all 
Americans is a core American value, and I am disappointed that a single 
Republican objection prevented this bipartisan legislation from passing 
long ago by unanimous consent.
  Our Nation should always be thankful to those who risked their lives 
fighting for civil rights. During the recent reauthorization of the 
Voting Rights Act, I was reminded that the lives of Medgar Evers, 
Vernon Dahmer, Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman, James Chaney, and 
countless others, demonstrate that ordinary persons can change the 
world. Three months ago, we commemorated the 44th anniversary of the 
deaths of Chaney, Schwerner, and Goodman. The sacrifice and courage of 
these Americans--many of whom gave their lives toiling for freedom--
made our democratic ideals real, and continue to inspire future 
generations to fight for civil rights.
  This important bill is long overdue. As each day passes evidence 
fades and witnesses age. We must have a sense of urgency. Justice 
cannot afford to wait. Earlier this month, we witnessed an unfortunate 
example of the impact waiting too long to prosecute these cases can 
have on the administration of justice. Recently, the Fifth Circuit 
Court of Appeals overturned the conviction of former Klansman James 
Seale, who was charged with the 1963 abduction and killings of two 
African-American teenagers in Mississippi. At that time Mr. Seale 
committed the horrendous crimes a jury of his peers convicted him of, 
Congress had no statute of limitations on Federal kidnapping. I was 
disappointed that, in overturning his conviction, a court of appeals 
would misinterpret congressional intent and retroactively apply a 
procedural bar that we did not intend to apply to crimes that occurred 
almost a decade before.
  I thank Senator Dodd and my good friend Representative John Lewis for 
their leadership and hard work on this legislation. Representative 
Lewis is a civil rights hero who courageously marched and fought for 
equal justice in America. I know this bill is important to him, and I 
am deeply appreciative of his tireless efforts on this important 
legislation. I also thank Senator Cochran for his support. Last year we 
traveled overseas together, and I know this bill is important to him 
and his State. I thank the majority leader for his leadership in 
advancing this legislation. I also appreciate the help of Senator Byrd 
in helping us move this bill through the Senate. Lastly, I thank the 
many civil rights and law enforcement organizations who have worked so 
hard to enact this legislation: the NAACP, the Southern Poverty Law 
Center, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, the Emmett Till 
Justice Campaign, the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights under Law, the 
ACLU, the Fraternal Order of Police, and so many others.
  In July, I had the honor to meet Simeon Wright, Emmett Till's cousin, 
who was with Mr. Till on the horrible night he was kidnapped. This bill 
will begin the process of seeking restorative justice for families, 
like Mr. Wright, who were victimized by these horrific crimes and so 
justice went undone for so many years. We could not pass this 
legislation today without their efforts. Mr. Wright, and so many 
others, should be congratulated for their courage and their commitment 
to fighting for justice for so many years.
  With its passage, we take an important step towards finally bringing 
to justice individuals who committed heinous crimes against civil 
rights activists and African-American citizens. Equally important, we 
send an important message to all Americans about the depth of our 
commitment. We have made great progress in the last few decades towards 
achieving equal justice under law. The Unsolved Civil Rights Crimes Act 
brings us one step closer towards that important goal.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be 
read a

[[Page S9352]]

third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table 
and that any statements relating to the bill be printed in the Record.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  The bill (H.R. 923) was ordered to a third reading, was read the 
third time, and passed.
  Mr. REID. So staff once again was right, and I was wrong.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Under the previous order, the 
Senator from Oklahoma is recognized.
  Mr. COBURN. I thank my colleague from Florida for this short period 
of time to thank the majority leader for working in good faith on 
several of these bills.
  There is a gentleman in this country by the name of Alvin Sykes. If 
you haven't met him, you should. He is what America is all about. He 
promised the mother of Emmett Till before she died that he would make 
sure there would be an investigation into the death of her son, her 
young son, as well as others who were never properly investigated to 
the extent they should have been.
  We have wrangled a lot over this bill, and one of the reasons we have 
wrangled is because of the financial problem we find ourselves in today 
in this country. Begrudgingly, I have decided we could not, out of the 
waste of the Justice Department, get the Senate to concur that we 
should not spend additional money on it; that there is plenty of money. 
As a matter of fact, at the end of last year, there was $1.7 billion in 
unexpended funds and unobligated funds at the Justice Department. They 
also have a tremendous track record of waste in terms of conferences 
and of poor management. Moreover, they are the only agency of the 
Federal Government that, unlike every other agency, the unobligated 
balances do not automatically go back to the Treasury. They get to 
spend the money.
  So we have again failed to do the fiscally responsible thing. But I 
decided last night this is one of those rare exceptions when I can't 
convince the body that we ought to be more frugal. We could have 
accomplished the same thing with the funds over there, but the greater 
call was to allow this bill to pass.
  But I wanted to tell you something about America with this bill, and 
it has to do with Alvin Sykes. If you met him, you would immediately 
fall in love with him. He is poor as a church mouse. He has led this 
group with integrity. He has been an honest broker. He has not played 
the first political game with anybody in Washington. As a matter of 
fact, he has had games played on him and he has been manipulated. But 
the fact is he has held true to his belief and his commitment to the 
mother of Emmett Till. And because of that, we are going to see this 
bill come into fruition.
  I think that speaks so well about our country; that one person has 
truly made a difference, and that one person is Alvin Sykes. I can't 
say enough about this individual. I can't say enough about his stamina, 
his integrity, his forthrightness, his determination. All of the 
qualities that have built this country this gentleman exhibited as he 
worked to keep a promise to the dying mother of Emmett Till. So I come 
to the floor now to sing his praises, to recognize him publicly for his 
tremendous efforts, and all those on his board have made in making this 
come to fruition.
  I also wanted to spend a moment saying there is no reason why this 
body can't do something more aggressively in terms of protecting 
children in the midst of child pornography. We have the PROTECT Act, 
which cost $372 million, and which could easily be paid for, but we 
won't pay for it. The fact is, as the bill is written today, nothing 
will happen until a year from now with that bill, even if we pass it, 
because we are not going to appropriate funds for it.
  It is going to be like the Adam Walsh Act. We promised everybody we 
would do it, but have barely funded it at all. However, we could make a 
big difference with that by combining the PROTECT Act with the SAFE 
Act. The Justice Department has reiterated there are no fourth 
amendment concerns. The House passed the bill 390 to 2, and yet we have 
resistance--for political reasons, not for policy reasons--in bringing 
forth that bill.
  I also thank the Democratic staff, who have worked so hard to clean 
that bill up to eliminate the objections. It is my hope that before we 
leave here this week, we will do something. The reason the SAFE Act is 
important is because it will do something the moment it is signed into 
law. Internet service providers will have to start reporting to the 
Government, to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, 
child porn sites and the people who are utilizing them and putting them 
up. The PROTECT Act won't do any of that, but the SAFE Act will. So my 
hope is that through the rest of the remaining days of this session we 
can come together and put politics aside and truly make a difference.
  I talked to a Congressman from North Carolina two nights ago and he 
said there are 250 fathers who are filming sexual acts with little 
children and putting it on the Internet. The way you stop that is have 
the Internet service providers start reporting that to the FBI. And the 
fact we won't do that--for political reasons, not policy reasons--is a 
pox on us. That is in North Carolina alone. And not to pick on North 
Carolina, because it is the same in many other States. But that is a 
fact, and we know it is happening in other places. This is something 
where we can make a difference, and my hope is we can work that out.
  I thank again the Senator from Florida for this time, and I yield the 
floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Florida is 
recognized.

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