[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 114 (Thursday, July 14, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5183-S5185]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  EMMETT TILL UNSOLVED CIVIL RIGHTS CRIMES REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2016

  Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
Committee on the Judiciary be discharged from further consideration of 
S. 2854 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The clerk will report the bill by title.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (S. 2854) to reauthorize the Emmett Till Unsolved 
     Civil Rights Crime Act of 2007.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
  Mr. BURR. Mr. President, I rise today to applaud the Senate's passage 
of the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crimes Reauthorization Act, 
bipartisan legislation that I introduced in April with Congressman John 
Lewis. We were joined in this effort by Senators Leahy, McCaskill and 
Blunt, as well as Representative Jim Sensenbrenner.
  The goal of this legislation is simple and noble: to bring truth to 
light and bring justice to the victims of racially motivated murders.
  The original bill was championed by Representative Lewis and civil 
rights activist and cold case researcher Alvin Sykes in 2007, and it 
aimed to ensure that those who had quite literally gotten away with 
murder during the civil rights era were prosecuted under the law.
  And recognizing that while many of these civil rights era cases can't 
be prosecuted due to legal challenges, the investigation of these cold 
cases is important to revealing the truth about the injustices 
committed against African-Americans and the failure of the legal system 
to protect them. Uncovering and confronting this dark part of our 
nation's history is invaluable to strengthening our rule of law.

[[Page S5184]]

  Mr. President, it was important to pass this bill today because on 
August 28--a day that will arrive during the Congressional recess--the 
Till family and others in the civil rights community will remember the 
murder of Emmett Till. As my colleagues know, Emmett Till was a 14-
year-old-boy from Chicago who was brutally murdered in Mississippi in 
1955 after whistling at a white woman.
  The two individuals who were charged with the murder of Emmett Till 
were tried. But after only a 67-minute deliberation of the jury, the 
two men were acquitted of capital murder. Both men later confessed to 
the murder to a reporter, but under our Constitution, these individuals 
could not be retried.
  Had Emmett Till not been murdered, his family would have been 
celebrating his 75th birthday this month instead of remembering his 
death next month.
  The Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., once said that ``the time is 
always right to do what is right.'' We can't bring Emmett Till back, 
but we can honor his legacy and do what is right by uncovering these 
unimaginable wrongs.
  Under the original Emmett Till Act, the Department of Justice and FBI 
have investigated 105 of 113 cold cases involving 126 victims. There 
has been one successful prosecution at the State level since the 
passage of this law, in which a former police officer plead guilty for 
manslaughter in the death of a civil rights activist.
  Yet there is growing evidence gathered by activists, lawyers, and 
researchers that more unsolved murders exist, and the mandate of the 
original law is not yet complete. For example, in 2012, the Cold Case 
Justice Initiative at Syracuse University submitted 196 names of 
victims of racially suspicious cases to the DOJ that warrant review. To 
my knowledge, these names have not been investigated.
  The Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Right Crimes Reauthorization Act would 
enable the Department of Justice and FBI to carry on the critical 
mission of investigating unsolved murders, and when possible, securing 
justice through our legal system.
  It would enable them to investigate a broader time span of crimes 
than the original bill, recognizing that racially motivated violence 
did not end in 1969.
  And it would provide for increased collaboration among the federal 
government, State and local officials, and cold case researchers, to 
ensure a full array of resources are dedicated to this end.
  Many of these crimes may not be able to be prosecuted due to statutes 
of limitations, the death of witnesses, or other legal issues. But even 
if these investigations do not lead to prosecutions, giving these 
families the real truth about what happened to their loved ones is not 
only important to them as they cope with their grief, it is also 
important for understanding our history, ensuring the rule of law, and 
sending the message to future generations that every single American is 
worthy of the protections of our laws.
  In Letter from Birmingham Jail, Dr. King wrote that ``justice too 
long delayed is justice denied.'' For many victims, full justice will 
never be realized because justice has been delayed too long. It is the 
purpose of this bill to ensure that justice is not delayed any longer, 
and it is my hope that the House of Representatives will soon pass this 
bill and the President will sign it into law.
  Thank you, Mr. President.
  I yield the floor.
  Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Burr 
substitute amendment be agreed to, and the bill, as amended, be 
considered read a third time.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment (No. 4975) in the nature of a substitute was agreed to, 
as follows:

                (Purpose: In the nature of a substitute)

       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.--
       ``(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).'';

[[Page S5185]]

       (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.
  The bill was ordered to be engrossed for a third reading and was read 
the third time.
  Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I know of no further debate on the 
measure.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Hearing no further debate, the bill having 
been read the third time, the question is, Shall it pass?
  The bill (S. 2854), as amended, was passed.
  Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the motion 
to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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