[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 114 (Thursday, July 14, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5178-S5179]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 4975. Mr. BURR (for himself, Mrs. McCaskill, Mr. Leahy, and Mr.
Blunt) proposed an amendment to the bill S. 2854, to reauthorize the
Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act of 2007; as follows:
Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the
following:
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Emmett Till Unsolved Civil
Rights Crimes Reauthorization Act of 2016''.
SEC. 2. INVESTIGATION OF UNSOLVED CIVIL RIGHTS CRIMES.
The Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act of 2007 (28
U.S.C. 509 note) is amended--
(1) in section 2--
(A) in paragraph (1), by striking ``and'' at the end;
(B) in paragraph (2), by striking the period at the end and
inserting a semicolon; and
(C) by inserting after paragraph (2) the following:
``(3) coordinate the sharing of information between the
Federal Bureau of Investigation, the civil rights community,
and other entities;
``(4) support the full accounting of all victims whose
deaths or disappearances were the result of racially
motivated crimes;
``(5) hold accountable under Federal and State law all
individuals who were perpetrators of, or accomplices in,
unsolved civil rights murders and such disappearances;
``(6) express the condolences of the authority to the
communities affected by unsolved civil rights murders, and to
the families of the victims of such murders and such
disappearances;
``(7) keep families regularly informed about the status of
the investigations of such murders and such disappearances of
their loved ones; and
``(8) expeditiously comply with requests for information
received pursuant to section 552 of title 5, United States
Code, (commonly known as the `Freedom of Information Act')
and develop a singular, publicly accessible repository of
these disclosed documents.'';
(2) in section 3--
(A) in subsection (b)--
(i) in paragraph (1), by striking ``occurred not later than
December 31, 1969, and'';
(ii) in paragraph (2), by inserting before the period at
the end the following: ``, and eligible entities''; and
(iii) by adding after paragraph (2) the following:
``(3) Review of closed cases.--The Deputy Chief shall, to
the extent practicable, reopen and review any case involving
a violation described in paragraph (1) that was closed prior
to the date of the enactment of the Emmett Till Unsolved
Civil Rights Crimes Reauthorization Act of 2016 without an
in-person investigation conducted by an officer or employee
of the Criminal Section of the Civil Rights Division of the
Department of Justice or by an agent of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation.
``(4) Task force.--
[[Page S5179]]
``(A) In general.--The Deputy Chief shall establish a task
force that includes representatives from the Federal Bureau
of Investigation, the Community Relations Service of the
Department of Justice, State and local law enforcement
agencies, and eligible entities to assist, as appropriate,
with conducting a thorough investigation of, and to make
recommendations to the Deputy Chief regarding, the cases
involving violations described in paragraph (1).
``(B) Authorization of appropriations.--In addition to
amounts made available to carry out this Act under section 6,
there is authorized to be appropriated to the Attorney
General $1,500,000 for fiscal year 2017 and each subsequent
fiscal year to carry out this paragraph.''; and
(B) in subsection (c)--
(i) in paragraph (1)--
(I) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``that occurred not
later than December 31, 1969'';
(II) in subparagraph (F), by striking ``and'' at the end;
(III) in subparagraph (G), by striking the period at the
end and inserting ``; and''; and
(IV) by inserting after subparagraph (G) the following:
``(H) the number of cases referred by an eligible entity or
a State or local law enforcement agency or prosecutor to the
Department within the study period, the number of such cases
that resulted in Federal charges being filed, the date the
charges were filed, and if the Department declines to
prosecute or participate in an investigation of a case so
referred, the fact that it did so, and the outreach,
collaboration, and support for investigations and
prosecutions of violations of criminal civil rights statutes,
including murders and including disappearances described in
section 2(4), within Federal, State, and local
jurisdictions.''; and
(ii) in paragraph (2), by inserting before the period at
the end the following: ``and a description of the activities
conducted under subsection (b)(3)'';
(3) in section 4(b)--
(A) in paragraph (1), by striking ``occurred not later than
December 31, 1969, and''; and
(B) in paragraph (2), by inserting before the period at the
end the following: ``, and eligible entities'';
(4) in section 5--
(A) in subsection (a), by striking ``occurred not later
than December 31, 1969, and''; and
(B) in subsection (b), by striking ``each of the fiscal
years 2008 through 2017'' and inserting ``fiscal year 2017
and each subsequent fiscal year'';
(5) in section 6--
(A) in subsection (a)--
(i) by striking ``each of the fiscal years 2008 through
2017'' and inserting ``fiscal year 2017 and each subsequent
fiscal year''; and
(ii) by striking ``occurred not later than December 31,
1969, and''; and
(B) by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:
``(b) Community Relations Service of the Department of
Justice.--Using funds appropriated under section 3(b)(4)(B),
the Community Relations Service of the Department of Justice
shall provide technical assistance by bringing together law
enforcement agencies and communities in the investigation of
violations described in section 4(b).'';
(6) in section 7--
(A) in the heading, by striking ``definition of `criminal
civil rights statutes''' and inserting ``definitions'';
(B) in paragraph (6), by redesignating subparagraphs (A)
and (B) as clauses (i) and (ii), respectively, and indenting
the clauses accordingly;
(C) by redesignating paragraphs (1) through (6) as
subparagraphs (A) through (F), respectively, and indenting
the subparagraphs accordingly;
(D) by striking ``In this Act, the term'' and inserting:
``In this Act:
``(1) Criminal civil rights statutes.--The term''; and
(E) by inserting at the end the following:
``(2) Eligible entity.--The term `eligible entity' means an
organization whose primary purpose is to promote civil
rights, an institution of higher education, or another
entity, determined by the Attorney General to be
appropriate.''; and
(7) by striking section 8.
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