[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 176 (Wednesday, December 7, 2016)]
[House]
[Pages H7343-H7346]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  EMMETT TILL UNSOLVED CIVIL RIGHTS CRIMES REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2016

  Mr. GOODLATTE. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass 
the bill (S. 2854) to reauthorize the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights 
Crime Act of 2007, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                                S. 2854

       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 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) meet regularly with eligible entities to coordinate 
     the sharing of information and to discuss the status of the 
     Department's work under this Act;
       ``(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 ``1969'' and inserting 
     ``1979'';
       (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 may, 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 or review 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) Public engagement.--
       ``(A) In general.--The Department shall hold meetings with 
     representatives of the Civil Rights Division, Federal Bureau 
     of Investigation, the Community Relations Service, eligible 
     entities, and where appropriate, state and local law 
     enforcement to discuss the status of the Department's work 
     under this Act.
       ``(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 of the next 
     10 subsequent fiscal years to carry out this paragraph.''; 
     and
       (B) in subsection (c)--
       (i) in paragraph (1)--

       (I) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``1969'' and inserting 
     ``1979'';
       (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 
     described in section 2(3), 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 ``1969'' and inserting 
     ``1979''; 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 ``1969'' and inserting 
     ``1979''; and
       (B) in subsection (b), by striking ``each of the fiscal 
     years 2008 through 2017'' and inserting ``fiscal year 2017 
     and each of the 10 subsequent fiscal years''; and
       (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 of the 10 
     subsequent fiscal years''; and
       (ii) by striking ``1969'' and inserting ``1979''; 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 to address tensions 
     raised by Civil Rights era crimes.'';
       (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 SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Virginia (Mr. Goodlatte) and the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Conyers) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Virginia.


                             General Leave

  Mr. GOODLATTE. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend 
their remarks and include extraneous materials on S. 2854, currently 
under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Virginia?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. GOODLATTE. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Madam Speaker, this bill is an important step in continuing to 
investigate the crimes and terror inflicted on so many involved in the 
civil rights movement. This bill will help to right those past wrongs 
and help to find justice for the families who lost loved ones in the 
civil rights effort.
  Specifically, this bill reauthorizes and updates the Emmett Till 
Unsolved Civil Rights Crimes Act that was passed 10 years ago. It 
responds to concerns that victims' families and those working in this 
area have had about the implementation of the original legislation. In 
doing so, it strengthens the collaboration between the FBI, the 
Department of Justice, and local law enforcement to make sure that the 
goals of this legislation are met. By providing clearer direction and 
improved coordination between all the relevant stakeholders, this bill 
will help to ensure that these crimes will be solved and families who 
lost loved ones will be able to find justice.
  This legislation also addresses some of the concerns with the Senate-
passed language by making sure that the bill is fully offset, that a 
sunset provision is included, and by providing greater clarity 
regarding the collaboration between various stakeholders.

[[Page H7344]]

  Finally, I thank both Ranking Members Conyers and Lewis--civil rights 
leaders and icons on these issues--for working with Senator Burr and 
other stakeholders to reach agreement on this bill, as well as for 
their tireless work on the underlying legislation.

                              {time}  1900

  It is important that the Federal Government investigates and 
prosecutes these crimes to the greatest extent possible, and this 
important legislation will give the Department of Justice the ability 
and the direction to do just that.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. CONYERS. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Madam Speaker, in June of 2007, this body passed, and the President 
subsequently signed, the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act. 
Since that time, the Department of Justice and cold case advocates have 
reviewed hundreds of cases in a search for justice and a sense of 
closure for the families of those who fell victim to racial violence in 
one of the most tumultuous periods of this Nation's history.
  For those who did not live through the civil rights era, it is 
difficult to understand the combined climate of excitement for change 
that coexisted with one of fear and violence. Simply for acting on 
their ideals of racial equality, innocent people--young and old, Black 
and White--were struck down.
  In some cases, unfortunately, State and local law enforcement 
colluded with the perpetrators of anti-civil rights violence; and 
attempts at justice often proved to be a charade, ending with jury 
nullification or tampering by racist citizens' councils.
  The civil rights community has reported that for every infamous 
killing that tore at the South in the 1950s and 1960s, there were many 
more that were barely noted or investigated. We, I am proud to say, 
passed the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act in 2007 to help 
bring these cases to light and seek justice for victims and their 
families.
  Even after nearly a decade of effort by advocates in the Justice 
Department, it remains clear that much work remains to heal the wounds 
of this period of history. To that end, the Emmett Till Reauthorization 
Act will create a formal framework for public engagement between the 
Department of Justice and cold case advocates to share information and 
review the status and closure of cases through 1980.
  The legislation further authorizes appropriations and tasks the 
Department's Community Relations Service with bringing together law 
enforcement agencies and communities to address the tensions raised by 
civil rights era crimes.
  The title of this bill serves as a reminder of one of the many lives 
that was cut much too short as a result of racially motivated hate and 
violence. Emmett Till was a 14-year-old African American young man from 
Chicago who allegedly whistled at a White woman. Shortly thereafter, he 
was found murdered and tortured.
  Though his accused killers were tried, they were acquitted by an all 
White jury. Despite attempts at gaining a Federal indictment in the 
case, his torture and murder remain unpunished. While his family still 
grieves, they have channeled their sorrow into activism for those 
victims still seeking justice.
  I believe that it remains important that the perpetrators of civil 
rights era crimes be brought to justice, even 50 years later. While 
justice has been delayed for the victims of these crimes, the fact that 
we are raising these cold cases breathes new life into our new justice 
system. I am thankful to the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, 
Chairman Goodlatte.
  Ultimately, that commitment bodes well for our collective future and 
reconciliation within these communities. So I, accordingly, urge my 
colleagues to join those of us who are leading in this movement and 
effort and support this important legislation.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. GOODLATTE. Madam Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my 
time.
  Mr. CONYERS. Madam Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to 
the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee).
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, I thank the dean of this institution. 
Anyone who has had the privilege of working with John Conyers and John 
Lewis have nothing but admiration and understanding through their 
teachings of the lives which they lived. This important legislation is 
a reflection of their commitment to these families and their personal 
knowledge of the pain that so many families still now experience 
through unsolved civil rights crimes.
  Emmett Till was one of the most noteworthy and violent, and many of 
us still are able to see in our vision the picture of the open casket, 
of brutalized and beaten young Emmett Till, a 14-year-old boy, and what 
he had to suffer. His mother was willing to go through what might have 
been considered absolute humiliation in terms of seeing her son's body 
open to the world; but because it was such a heinous crime, she was 
willing for the world to see.
  This legislation is enormously important because it extends, until 
2027, the authority of the Department of Justice to investigate and 
prosecute unsolved criminal civil rights cases and expands, by a 
decade, the time period for which the Department can reopen cases to 
investigate. Under current law, the cutoff date was 1970. The Emmett 
Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act of 2007 remains necessary 
legislation intended to complete some of the Nation's most important 
unfinished business.
  I will just say, in concluding, this legislation will have to be a 
document which the Members of Congress will have to breathe life into. 
We will have to insist, regardless of the changing of the guard at the 
Department of Justice, that this section have the kind of funding that 
is necessary. So the task of this Congress is not finished by the 
authorization; it must be funded.
  Many families have come to my office in deep pain needing more 
resources for that section, more lawyers, more energetic activity. And 
so I say to those who may be assigned to this at the Department of 
Justice, take this as a special cause. It is not just unsolved cold 
cases. It is a smear on the democracy of this Nation. It is a stain. It 
is a taint that we should live above by insisting that every family 
have justice for the murder of their loved ones, particularly those who 
were in the battle of civil rights when many in this country lived in 
the second-class shadow of racism and discrimination.
  The civil rights battles were real; they were violent in some 
instances; but thank God there were leaders like John Lewis, John 
Conyers, many in this Congress, and certainly the late Dr. Martin 
Luther King, who always believed, as I do, that we can do this through 
peace and nonviolence. This is a tool of nonviolence. We must insist 
that they do their task and that we solve these unsolved murderous 
civil rights cases, and we do so to heal the Nation and to continue to 
promote our democracy.
  Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of House Amendment to S. 
2854, the ``Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crimes Reauthorization 
Act.''
  I thank our colleague, John Lewis of Georgia, who is widely 
recognized as the moral conscience of the House for sponsoring the 
original legislation and I thank Chairmen Goodlatte and Ranking Member 
Conyers, for their work in shepherding this reauthorization through the 
Congress.
  This legislation reauthorizes the ``Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights 
Crimes Act of 2007,'' which I co-sponsored and strongly support when it 
was reported favorably by the Judiciary Committee, passed by the House 
and Senate, and signed into law by President George W. Bush on October 
7, 2008 as Public Law 110-344.
  The legislation before extends until 2027 the authority of the 
Department of Justice to investigate and prosecute unsolved criminal 
civil rights crimes, and it expands by a decade the time period for 
which the department can reopen cases to investigate; under current law 
the cut-off date is 1970.
  The Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crimes Act of 2007 is and 
remains necessary legislation intended to complete some of the nation's 
most important unfinished business.
  And that is to solve some of the most depraved acts of violence 
against persons belonging to a racial group that was vulnerable, 
politically powerless, and innocent, and against those persons who 
risked life and limb to help them secure the rights promised in the 
Declaration of Independence and made real in the Constitution.

[[Page H7345]]

  Madam Speaker, in 1989, the Civil Rights Memorial was dedicated in 
Montgomery, Alabama, the birthplace of the modern Civil Rights 
Movement.
  The Memorial honors the lives and memories of 40 martyrs who were 
slain during the movement from 1954 to 1968, including Emmett Till.
  But we know that many more people lost their lives to racial violence 
during that era.
  In fact, at the time the Memorial was dedicated, the killers of 13 of 
the 40 martyrs whose names are inscribed on the Memorial had not been 
prosecuted or convicted.
  In 10 of the 40 deaths, defendants were either acquitted by all-white 
juries or served only token prison sentences.
  We also know there are many cases that still cry out for justice.
  These unsolved crimes represent a continuing stain on our nation's 
honor and mock its commitment to equal justice under law.
  The legislation before us is intended to help us remove that stain 
once and for all.
  The 40 victims selected for inclusion in the Civil Rights Memorial 
fit at least one of three criteria: (i) they were murdered because they 
were active in the civil rights movement; (2) they were killed by 
organized hate groups as acts of terror aimed at intimidating blacks 
and civil rights activists; or, (3) their deaths, like the death of 
Emmett Till, helped to galvanize the movement by demonstrating the 
brutality faced by African Americans in the South.
  The 40 persons who fit the selection criteria ranged in age from 11 
to 66.
  Seven were white, and 33 were black.
  They were students, farmers, ministers, truck drivers, a homemaker 
and a Nobel laureate.
  But Madam Speaker, there are many, many other victims besides the 40 
who are remembered on the Memorial.
  The Southern Poverty Law Center reports that its research uncovered 
approximately 75 other people who died violently between 1952 and 1968 
under circumstances suggesting that they were victims of racial 
violence.
  For most of them the reason their names were not added to the 
Memorial is because not enough was known about the details surrounding 
their deaths.
  Sadly, the reason so little is known about these cases is because 
they were not fully investigated or, in some cases, law enforcement 
officials were involved in the killings or subsequent cover-ups.
  And because the killings of African Americans were often covered up 
or not seriously investigated, there is little reason to doubt that 
many slayings were never even recorded by the authorities.
  The reason justice had not been served was the callous indifference, 
and often the criminal collusion, of many white law enforcement 
officials in the segregated South.
  There simply was no justice for African Americans during the civil 
rights era.
  The whole criminal justice system--from the police, to the 
prosecutors, to the juries, and to the judges--was perverted by racial 
bigotry.
  African Americans were routinely beaten, bombed and shot with 
impunity.
  Sometimes, the killers picked their victims on a whim.
  Sometimes, they targeted them for their activism.
  In other cases, prominent white citizens were involved and no 
consequences flowed.
  Herbert Lee of Liberty, Mississippi, for example, was shot in the 
head by a state legislator in broad daylight in 1961.
  It is, of course, fitting and proper that this legislation bears the 
name of Emmett Till, whose slaying in 1955 and his mother's decision to 
have an open casket at his funeral stirred the nation's conscience and 
galvanized a generation of Americans to join the fight for equality.
  Sadly, hundreds of them were killed in that struggle, and many of the 
killers, like those of Emmett himself, were never successfully 
prosecuted.
  Madam Speaker, the heart of the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights 
Cases Act is sections 3 and 4.
  Section 3 establishes a Deputy Chief of the Criminal Section of the 
Civil Rights Division.
  Section 3 now requires the Attorney General to designate a Deputy 
Chief of the Criminal Section of the Civil Rights division who will be 
responsible for coordinating the investigation and prosecution of 
violations of criminal civil rights statutes that occurred before 
December 31, 1979, and ended in death.
  Section 3 also requires a study and report to Congress about the 
number of cases opened, the number of federal prosecutions commenced, 
the number of cases of state and local prosecutions where the DOJ 
assisted, the number of cases that have been closed, and the number of 
open pending cases.
  Section 4 of the bill establishes a parallel component in the Civil 
Rights Unit of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to be headed by a 
Supervisory Special Agent designated by the Attorney General.
  This Supervisory Special Agent in the Civil Rights Unit is 
responsible for investigating violations of criminal civil rights 
statutes that occurred not later than December 31, 1979, and resulted 
in death.
  The Supervisory Special Agent should, where appropriate, coordinate 
investigations with State and local law enforcement officials.
  Madam Speaker, over the past half century, the United States has made 
tremendous progress in overcoming the badges and vestiges of slavery.
  But this progress has been purchased at great cost.
  Examples of unsolved cases include the 1968 ``Orangeburg Massacre'' 
at South Carolina State University where state police shot and killed 
three student protesters; the 1967 shooting death of Carrie Brumfield, 
whose body was found on a rural Louisiana road; the 1957 murder of 
Willie Joe Sanford, whose body was fished out of a creek in 
Hawkinsville, Georgia; the 1946 killing of a black couple, including a 
pregnant woman, who was pulled out of a car in Monroe, Georgia, and 
dragged down a wagon trail before being shot in front of 200 people.
  Solving these cases like these is part of the great unfinished work 
of America.
  Madam Speaker, 53 years ago, Medgar Evers was murdered in Jackson, 
Mississippi; justice would not be done in his case for more than twenty 
years.
  But that day was foretold because the evening before the death of 
Medgar Evers, on June 11, 1963, President John F. Kennedy addressed the 
nation from the Oval Office on the state of race relations and civil 
rights in America.
  In his historic speech to the nation President Kennedy said:

       We are confronted primarily with a moral issue. It is as 
     old as the scriptures and is as clear as the American 
     Constitution.
       One hundred years of delay have passed since President 
     Lincoln freed the slaves, yet their heirs, their grandsons, 
     are not fully free. They are not yet freed from the bonds of 
     injustice. They are not yet freed from social and economic 
     oppression. And this Nation, for all its hopes and all its 
     boasts, will not be fling free until all its citizens are 
     free.

  S. 2854 will help ensure that justice is received by those for whom 
justice has been delayed for more than two generations.
  In doing so, this legislation will help this Nation fulfill its hopes 
and justify its boast that in America all persons live in freedom.
  I strongly support this legislation and urge all Members to join me 
in voting for its passage.
  Mr. CONYERS. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. GOODLATTE. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume simply to say to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Conyers), the 
gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Lewis), and the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. 
Jackson Lee) that this is a quest for justice that needs to be ongoing. 
I am pleased to support this legislation, and I urge my colleagues to 
do so.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. LEWIS. Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of S. 2854, 
the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crimes Reauthorization Act.
  This is the Senate companion to H.R. 5067, the bill I introduced with 
the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Conyers) and the gentleman from 
Wisconsin (Mr. Sensenbrenner). This has been a bipartisan, bicameral 
effort from the first day, and I ask each and every one of our 
colleagues to support this important legislation.
  Ten years ago, I stood on the House Floor and promised to work 
tirelessly to pass this legislation. Two years later, we were 
successful in passing the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act. 
That legislation created a Federal strategy to bring justice and 
healing to the victims, survivors, and families.
  When the bill was signed into law, family members, academics, 
historians, lawyers, advocates started working towards a full 
accounting for these gross human and civil rights atrocities. The 
reauthorization that we are considering today responds to the their 
appeals to Congress to make the law whole--to ensure that their 
thoughtful, tireless work did not fall on deaf ears and end up in a 
forgotten drawer.
  So many people have died; so many families have mourned; so many 
communities have suffered. Mr. Speaker, as you know this bill is named 
for a 14-year-old boy who was brutally murdered 61 years ago for 
allegedly whistling at a white woman. Many people here tonight will 
recognize the names of Emmett Till, Medgar Evers, James Chaney, Andrew 
Goodman, and Michael Schwerner, but few know of the countless other 
possible victims of racially motivated crimes during this period.
  This bill restores hope for the families of so many who have 
unanswered questions--like the Atlanta Five in my congressional 
district. In 1974, five African-American men--Lee Roy Holloway, Robert 
Walker, Marvin Walker, John Sterling and Lonnie Merritt--left Atlanta 
for a

[[Page H7346]]

fishing trip near Pensacola Florida. Their families never saw them 
alive again. Their pain and that of so countless others is real.
  I said before, and I will say it again--we have a mission, an 
obligation, and a mandate to restore faith in the cornerstones of our 
democracy and accountability in the pursuit of truth and justice 
whenever possible. This bill does just that.
  In developing this legislation, we took the time to research and 
study what happened after the original bill was signed into law. We 
listened to and were guided by the advocates, by law professors, by 
families, and by the press. We worked across the aisle and across the 
Dome to develop a bill that fulfills our promise to never give up on 
this effort--to never abandon the pursuit of truth.
  Madam Speaker, at this time, I would like to thank the Civil Rights 
and Restorative Justice Project at Northeastern University School of 
Law; the Cold Case Justice Initiative at Syracuse University College of 
Law; the Emmett Till Justice Campaign; the Emmett Till Legacy 
Foundation; the Georgia Civil Rights Cold Case Project at Emory 
University; the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR); the Mamie 
Till Mobley Memorial Foundation; the National Association for the 
Advancement of Colored People (NAACP); the NAACP-Legal Defense Fund 
(NAACP-LDF); the National Urban League; and the Southern Poverty Law 
Center (SPLC). The leadership and staff of these institutions fought 
long and hard for this legislation. They deserve recognition and 
appreciation.
  I would also like to thank the thousands of people across the country 
who signed petitions, called, emailed, and urged for Congress to act. 
Mr. Speaker, we must thank them for their determination, their passion, 
and their commitment to justice.
  In closing, I would like to thank the Chair, the Ranking Member, the 
lead sponsors, our House Leadership, the staff, and all the Members who 
supported this effort. I ask each and every one of my colleagues to 
support this important legislation and let it become law.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Goodlatte) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, S. 2854, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________