[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 152 (Wednesday, September 24, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9353-S9355]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            THE EMMETT TILL UNSOLVED CIVIL RIGHTS CRIME ACT

  Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I thank the majority leader, Senator Harry 
Reid. I thank Senator Coburn of Oklahoma as well. He has had a hold on 
this bill, the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act, which I 
coauthored going back some 3 years ago. In fact, Jim Talent, our former 
colleague from Missouri, was the original author of this legislation. I 
was his original partner in this effort going back to 2005. He left the 
Senate and was replaced by Claire McCaskill, a great friend and 
wonderful Senator from Missouri.
  I introduced this bill separately along with Senator Leahy and some 
12 other Members of the Senate, including Thad Cochran of Mississippi 
and Lamar Alexander of Tennessee. This has been a bipartisan effort 
that has been tied up for the last couple years, regretfully, but 
nonetheless that is

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what it was. Today, the news that this bill has now passed the Senate 
is good news. I am deeply grateful to the majority leader, again, for 
sticking with an issue and not walking away from something as important 
as this is.
  Some might argue that this is a long time in coming, others who say 
it is too little too late. In many ways, I suppose they could be right.
  The subject matter, the name on this bill, Emmett Till, dates back 53 
years.
  Fifty-three years ago, a young boy of 14 was killed for no other 
reason than the color of his skin. His life was extinguished in the 
most brutal fashion imaginable.
  When Emmett Till's body was discovered in the Tallahatchie River, it 
had been weighted down by a 75-pound cotton gin fan, tied around the 
boy's neck with barbed wire. His clothes had been stripped from him and 
burned. Emmett's body could only be identified by a ring the young boy 
had been wearing.
  At the trial of the two White men who would later confess to the 
crime, few African-Americans dared to even testify at the trial, such 
was the atmosphere at the time. The all-White jury acquitted the two 
men, deliberating for a mere 67 minutes, which one juror reportedly 
said only took so long because they paused to drink a soda. The 
rationale for acquittal? That the prosecution had failed to prove that 
the body recovered from the river was even Emmett Till, so mutilated 
was his face and body.
  A year later, the two defendants bragged about the killing to a 
magazine for a sum of $4,000.
  Believe me when I say: there was no justice in this case--nor in 
countless other civil rights cases that remain unsolved to this day.
  The failures of our legal system to bring to justice those who 
committed brutal crimes based solely on racial prejudice is not merely 
sad or tragic--in a country such as ours and at this moment in our 
history, it is inexcusable.
  The sad truth is that for far too long, hate crimes were rarely 
investigated in this country. For far too long, murderers could walk 
free as long as they chose the so-called ``right'' victims. And so, 
whatever the merits of this legislation, The Emmett Till Act cannot 
erase that memory. It cannot erase even a single year that lapsed 
between crime and justice.
  What it can do is keep even more years from piling on.
  If we want to remove the great stain on our justice system that is 
the hundreds, maybe even thousands, of civil rights-era crimes that 
remain unsolved, we need to reopen the books on as many as we can.
  That is what this legislation would do--bring justice to those who 
perpetrated these heinous crimes because of racial hatred by creating a 
mechanism that allows us to pursue them.
  Can it bring back and make whole those who have suffered and were 
murdered by a racist criminal hand? Of course not. But in passing this, 
this Congress can reaffirm our Nation's commitment to the truth and to 
making equal justice not a dream but a reality.
  As such, the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act would give 
the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation 
increased resources to reopen Civil Rights-era criminal cases which 
have gone cold--that is, unsolved civil rights murder cases that 
occurred prior to 1970.
  It would do so by designating a deputy chief in the criminal section 
of the Civil Rights Division of the DOJ and a supervisory special agent 
in the civil rights unit of the FBI. These officials will be tasked 
with spearheading and coordinating efforts by Federal, State, and local 
law enforcement officers and prosecutors to bring long-time fugitives 
to justice.
  For these purposes, it authorizes $10 million annually for fiscal 
years 2008 through 2017. This legislation also authorizes $2 million 
annually for DOJ to make grants to State and local law enforcement and 
$1.5 million annually for the Community Relations Service within DOJ to 
partner with local communities. I know that sounds like a lot of money, 
but when you talk about $700 billion to take care of some failed 
institutions verses a few million to pursue these cases, I hope my 
colleagues would recognize the value.
  The time has come to confront the injustices of the past openly and 
honestly. For some of these crimes, it is too late. Last year, 
Tallahatchie County in Mississippi officially apologized for the trial 
in the Emmett Till case in which these two confessed killers lived the 
rest of their lives in freedom. To be sure, they are now dead and 
beyond the reach of justice.
  But there was some measure of justice for the families of Andrew 
Goodman, James Chaney and Michael Schwerner--young civil rights workers 
who participated in the historic Freedom Rides in 1963.
  Edgar Ray Killen was allowed to roam free for more than three 
decades. But his belated conviction in 2005 is proof that we can 
provide closure and hold those responsible for terrible crimes, even 
years after they have occurred.
  With this legislation, we will launch one of the most exhausting 
manhunts in the history of our country to pursue those responsible for 
these acts. We can tell those who committed crimes who still roam this 
country free that they should never, ever, ever again enjoy a sleep-
filled night; that is, as long as they live, the U.S. Government, our 
Government, will do everything in its power to apprehend them and bring 
them to the bar of justice.
  That is the message we can convey today, with this legislation, to 
the families, the friends, and others who have lost loved ones, who put 
their lives on the line to press for justice and for helping our Nation 
achieve that ``more perfect Union'' that each and every generation has 
tried to achieve. Those ideals are at the heart of this effort. We may 
never be that perfect Union, but, as Abraham Lincoln understood 
intrinsically, each generation bears the responsibility for bringing us 
closer to that ideal.
  With this legislation, the Senate and this Congress on this date 
early in the 21st century is saying simply: We will not forget, and we 
will not yield.
  The hour is, obviously, very late. Memories are dimming. Those who 
can bring some important information to the legal authorities are 
passing away. This bill may be the last and best chance we will have as 
a nation to write a hopeful postscript in the struggle for racial 
equality in our Nation and to provide closure for these families at 
last.
  We all bring a unique commitment to this case. Representative John 
Lewis, my great and dear friend in the other body who has worked so 
hard to see this bill become law, was a hero of the civil rights 
movement--is still a hero, I might point out--who nearly gave his life 
ensuring that the promise of America can be realized for all of our 
citizens and in all of our communities. Others may simply recognize 
when justice has not been served.
  I have spoken many times about my father on this floor, in this 
Chamber, about how in the 1930s he was among the first, as a member of 
the Justice Department, long before the Civil Rights Division, to 
prosecute the Ku Klux Klan and other civil rights cases for the 
Department of Justice. I have spoken about his work as a prosecutor 
pursuing Nazi war criminals at the Nuremberg war trials, where he stood 
face to face with the men who committed crimes that were so horrifying, 
so enormous, that few believed they could have possibly happened--
until, that is, my father set out meticulously proving them, step by 
step, piece by piece. I believe the same is true of civil rights crimes 
in this country.
  His body of work, including his service to this body, never fails to 
remind us that when we reaffirm our commitment to the rule of law, when 
we act not out of vengeance but in pursuit of justice, we most live up 
to the promise as Americans. However tardy that pursuit may be, 
affirming that enduring commitment is what this effort is about today.
  Again, I thank immensely the majority leader and others who have been 
a part of this effort. We thank Jim Talent, the Senator from Missouri, 
who originally authored this bill, and I am proud to have joined with 
him some 3 years ago and proud to have picked up that mantle in this 
Congress, along with, as I say, 13 of our other colleagues here, to be 
a part of this effort that has produced this passage a few minutes ago.
  I wish to thank the steadfast support of allies and friends such as 
John

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Lewis in the Congress, the House of Representatives, who made this 
possible, and many organizations that helped us shepherd this 
legislation through the Senate: the NAACP, the Southern Law Poverty 
Center, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, and so many others.
  In addition, I thank the Emmett Till Justice Campaign and its 
president, Alvin Sykes. We heard Senator Coburn talk about this a few 
moments ago, and I wish to associate myself with his remarks. He is a 
remarkable individual. Mr. Sykes's determination has helped the Senate 
get to this historic moment.
  I wish to mention Simeon Wright, as I had the pleasure of meeting 
Simeon Wright and his wife a few weeks ago. Simeon Wright is Emmett 
Till's cousin, and he was sharing that bed with him that night 53 years 
ago when his cousin was ripped out of that bed, never to be seen again, 
except for his mutilated body. Simeon Wright is getting on in years 
now. But it was an honor to meet him and his wife, and his 
determination and commitment on behalf of his family helped us arrive 
at this moment. So to Simeon Wright and his family, the moment has 
come, and this bill will now become law.
  It is vital that we bring to justice those individuals who committed 
these heinous crimes. It is essential to their families that we 
reaffirm this Nation's commitment to the rule of law.
  I thank all of my colleagues for supporting the Emmett Till Unsolved 
Civil Rights Crime Act.
  I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Wyoming is 
recognized.

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