[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.
____________________