[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 29 (Thursday, February 14, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1385-S1387]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS
By Ms. HARRIS (for herself, Mr. Booker, Mr. Scott of South
Carolina, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Whitehouse, Mr. Jones, Mr. Reed,
Ms. Warren, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Van Hollen, Mr. Brown, Mr. King,
Mr. Markey, Ms. Klobuchar, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. Coons, Ms.
Baldwin, Mr. Kaine, Ms. Duckworth, Mr. Warner, Ms. Cortez
Masto, Mr. Durbin, Mrs. Shaheen, Mr. Wyden, Ms. Hassan, Mr.
Murphy, Mrs. Gillibrand, Mr. Tillis, Mr. Rubio, Ms. Smith, Mr.
Cardin, Mrs. Fischer, Mr. Sanders, Ms. Stabenow, Mr. Perdue,
Mr. Bennet, Ms. Collins, Mr. Lankford, Mr. Inhofe, Mr. Isakson,
Mrs. Hyde-Smith, Ms. Ernst, Mr. Grassley, Mrs. Capito, Mr.
Cassidy, Mr. Portman, and Ms. Murkowski):
S. 488. A bill to amend title 18, United States Code, to specify
lynching as a deprivation of civil rights, and for other purposes;
considered and passed.
S. 488
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 ``Justice for Victims of
Lynching Act of 2019''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) The crime of lynching succeeded slavery as the ultimate
expression of racism in the United States following
Reconstruction.
(2) Lynching was a widely acknowledged practice in the
United States until the middle of the 20th century.
(3) Lynching was a crime that occurred throughout the
United States, with documented incidents in all but 4 States.
(4) At least 4,742 people, predominantly African Americans,
were reported lynched in the United States between 1882 and
1968.
(5) Ninety-nine percent of all perpetrators of lynching
escaped from punishment by State or local officials.
(6) Lynching prompted African Americans to form the
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
(referred to in this section as the ``NAACP'') and prompted
members of B'nai B'rith to found the Anti-Defamation League.
(7) Mr. Walter White, as a member of the NAACP and later as
the executive secretary of the NAACP from 1931 to 1955,
meticulously investigated lynchings in the United States and
worked tirelessly to end segregation and racialized terror.
(8) Nearly 200 anti-lynching bills were introduced in
Congress during the first half of the 20th century.
(9) Between 1890 and 1952, 7 Presidents petitioned Congress
to end lynching.
(10) Between 1920 and 1940, the House of Representatives
passed 3 strong anti-lynching measures.
(11) Protection against lynching was the minimum and most
basic of Federal responsibilities, and the Senate considered
but failed to enact anti-lynching legislation despite
repeated requests by civil rights groups, Presidents, and the
House of Representatives to do so.
(12) The publication of ``Without Sanctuary: Lynching
Photography in America'' helped bring greater awareness and
proper recognition of the victims of lynching.
(13) Only by coming to terms with history can the United
States effectively champion human rights abroad.
(14) An apology offered in the spirit of true repentance
moves the United States toward reconciliation and may become
central to a new understanding, on which improved racial
relations can be forged.
(15) Having concluded that a reckoning with our own history
is the only way the country can effectively champion human
rights abroad, 90 Members of the United States Senate agreed
to Senate Resolution 39, 109th Congress, on June 13, 2005, to
apologize to the victims of lynching and the descendants of
those victims for the failure of the Senate to enact anti-
lynching legislation.
(16) The National Memorial for Peace and Justice, which
opened to the public in Montgomery, Alabama, on April 26,
2018, is the Nation's first memorial dedicated to the legacy
of enslaved Black people, people terrorized by lynching,
African Americans humiliated by racial segregation and Jim
Crow, and people of color burdened with contemporary
presumptions of guilt and police violence.
(17) Notwithstanding the Senate's apology and the
heightened awareness and education about the Nation's legacy
with lynching, it is wholly necessary and appropriate for the
Congress to enact legislation, after 100 years of
unsuccessful legislative efforts, finally to make lynching a
Federal crime.
(18) Further, it is the sense of Congress that criminal
action by a group increases the likelihood that the criminal
object of that group will be successfully attained and
decreases the probability that the individuals involved will
depart from their path of criminality. Therefore, it is
appropriate to specify criminal penalties for the crime of
lynching, or any attempt or conspiracy to commit lynching.
(19) The United States Senate agreed to unanimously Senate
Resolution 118, 115th Congress, on April 5, 2017,
``[c]ondemning hate crime and any other form of racism,
religious or ethnic bias, discrimination, incitement to
violence, or animus targeting a minority in the United
States'' and taking notice specifically of Federal Bureau of
Investigation statistics demonstrating that ``among single-
bias hate crime incidents in the United States, 59.2 percent
of victims were targeted due to racial, ethnic, or ancestral
bias, and among those victims, 52.2 percent were victims of
crimes motivated by the offenders' anti-Black or anti-African
American bias''.
(20) On September 14, 2017, President Donald J. Trump
signed into law Senate Joint Resolution 49 (Public Law 115-
58; 131 Stat. 1149), wherein Congress ``condemn[ed] the
racist violence and domestic terrorist attack that took place
between August 11 and August 12, 2017, in Charlottesville,
Virginia'' and ``urg[ed] the President and his administration
to speak out against hate groups that espouse racism,
extremism, xenophobia, anti-Semitism, and White supremacy;
and use all resources available to the President and the
President's Cabinet to address the growing prevalence of
those hate groups in the United States''.
(21) Senate Joint Resolution 49 (Public Law 115-58; 131
Stat. 1149) specifically took notice of ``hundreds of torch-
bearing White nationalists, White supremacists, Klansmen, and
neo-Nazis [who] chanted racist, anti-Semitic, and anti-
immigrant slogans and violently engaged with counter-
demonstrators on and around the grounds of the University of
Virginia in Charlottesville'' and that these groups
``reportedly are organizing similar events in other cities in
the United States and communities everywhere are concerned
about the growing and open display of hate and violence being
perpetrated by those groups''.
(22) Lynching was a pernicious and pervasive tool that was
used to interfere with multiple aspects of life--including
the exercise of Federally protected rights, as enumerated in
section 245 of title 18, United States Code, housing rights,
as enumerated in section 901 of the Civil Rights Act of 1968
(42 U.S.C. 3631), and the free exercise of religion, as
enumerated in section 247 of title 18, United States Code.
Interference with these rights was often effectuated by
multiple offenders and groups, rather than isolated
individuals. Therefore, prohibiting conspiracies
[[Page S1386]]
to violate each of these rights recognizes the history of
lynching in the United States and serves to prohibit its use
in the future.
SEC. 3. LYNCHING.
(a) Offense.--Chapter 13 of title 18, United States Code,
is amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 250. Lynching
``Whoever conspires with another person to violate section
245, 247, or 249 of this title or section 901 of the Civil
Rights Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3631) shall be punished in the
same manner as a completed violation of such section, except
that if the maximum term of imprisonment for such completed
violation is less than 10 years, the person may be imprisoned
for not more than 10 years.''.
(b) Table of Sections Amendment.--The table of sections for
chapter 13 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by
inserting after the item relating to section 249 the
following:
``250. Lynching.''.
______
By Mr. GRASSLEY (for himself, Mr. Rubio, Mr. Jones, Mr. Scott of
Florida, Mr. Manchin, and Mr. Gardner):
S. 495. A bill to amend title 18, United States Code, to reauthorize
and expand the National Threat Assessment Center of the Department of
Homeland Security; to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Eagles Act
Mr. President, I come to the floor today to take a moment and
remember the tragedy that occurred a year ago at the Marjory Stoneman
Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
One year ago today, on Valentine's Day, 17 innocent lives were lost
at the hands of a troubled, evil young man who entered a high school
and opened fire.
The tragedy in Parkland cannot be forgotten.
We in the Senate cannot afford to forget such senseless acts of
violence, and instead must continue to fight to prevent dangerous
attacks in our country and our schools.
I remain dedicated to keeping weapons out of the hands of those who
seek to harm others.
That is why I am proud to reintroduce the EAGLES Act of 2019.
Along with Senators Rubio, Scott from Florida, Jones, Manchin, and
Gardner, I am reintroducing a piece of legislation today that
proactively works to mitigate threats of violence on school campuses.
The EAGLES Act is named after the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High
School Mascot, the Eagles.
It reauthorizes and expands the U.S. Secret Service's National Threat
Assessment Center which is used to study targeted violence and develop
best practices and training to identify and manage threats before they
result in violence.
This legislation also allows the Secret Service to focus a
significant portion of its efforts directly on school safety by
equipping communities and schools with training and best practices on
recognizing and preventing school violence.
In the wake of the Parkland shooting, there has been a flurry of
activism, opinions, and action on the issue of gun safety, gun
violence, and rights guaranteed to law abiding citizens under the
Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
It's our obligation as members of Congress to discuss issues,
shortcomings, and room for advancement.
The EAGLES Act is part of the solution to prevent future violence in
our communities.
This past year in the Senate, we took important steps to address gun
violence and solutions to prevent future attacks.
Through investigations, hearings, oversight of federal agencies, and
legislation, I worked with my colleagues to shed light on the issue and
seek solutions.
For example, last Congress, two instrumental pieces of legislation to
help protect Americans from future acts of violence were signed into
law.
The first was the Students, Teachers, and Officers Preventing School
Violence Act, which provides funding to schools to strengthen their
infrastructure to make it more difficult for shooters to enter schools.
The other bill signed into law was the Fix NICS Act.
This law penalizes Federal agencies who fail to comply with the
requirements in current law to report dangerous individuals and violent
criminals to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System.
These laws enjoyed bipartisan support and will help keep our
communities safe.
As former Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, I also held a number
of hearings on gun violence, one which specifically addressed the
government's role and failures in preventing the Parkland shooting.
It was because of the lack of government coordination, successful
identification of threats, and mitigation of dangers that I introduced
the EAGLES Act last Congress.
As we learned in the hearing following the Parkland shooting and
through subsequent investigations, there was much more that should have
been done to prevent the Parkland shooting from happening.
There's still more to do to address the issue of targeted violence.
I expect my colleagues on both sides of the aisle will continue to
propose solutions.
It's a conversation worth having. We should find more ways to keep
weapons out of the hands of dangerous individuals while still
protecting important constitutional rights.
It's in that spirit that I am reintroducing the EAGLES Act.
By passing this Act, we can do more to assess threats, train
communities and schools, and prevent violence.
We cannot undo the tragedies of the past, but together we can do a
better job to prevent future tragedies.
I look forward to working with my colleagues on this important
priority.
I yield the floor.
______
By Mr. CARDIN (for himself, Mr. Cornyn, and Mr. Jones):
S. 532. A bill to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide
that an individual may remain eligible to participate in the teacher
loan forgiveness program under title IV of such Act if the individual's
period of consecutive years of employment as a full-time teacher is
interrupted because the individual is the spouse of a member of the
Armed Forces who is relocated during the school year pursuant to
military orders for a permanent change of duty station, or the
individual works in a school of the defense dependents' education
system under the Defense Dependents' Education Act of 1978 due to such
a relocation, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Health,
Education, Labor, and Pensions.
Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I would like to bring the Senate's
attention to the bipartisan Preserving Teacher Loan Forgiveness for
Military Spouses Act of 2018, which I am introducing today with
Senators Cornyn and Jones. This legislation eliminates a barrier for
teachers in military families to earn federal student loan forgiveness
for their years of public service.
The Department of Education's Teacher Loan Forgiveness program
rightfully incentivizes teachers to commit to students in our lowest
income school districts in exchange for up to $17,500 in Federal
student loan forgiveness. Teachers qualify for the Federal student loan
forgiveness once they have taught full-time for at least five
consecutive years at a low income school or educational service agency.
Teachers who are forced to move in the middle of the school year to
follow their spouse's relocation or reassignment to another
installation in the United States or abroad lose their accrued
eligibility for the program and must restart their five years of
service under current law.
Last Congress, a Maryland constituent brought to my attention the
barriers her daughter faced when seeking Federal student loan
forgiveness despite her commitment to public service. Her daughter, a
teacher married to a member of the military, was in the middle of her
fifth consecutive year teaching at one of Maryland's lower income
schools. As any military spouse knows, relocation or reassignment
orders can come at any time, upending the lives of the service member
and their family. Rather than being able to complete a fifth year of
teaching in a Maryland school, this family had to relocate with three
months left in the school year. Despite this family's double commitment
to service for our military and our schoolchildren, this military
spouse missed the opportunity to have a portion of her Federal student
loans forgiven. No military spouse
[[Page S1387]]
should be punished for following his or her spouse's relocation or
reassignment.
The legislation that Senators Cornyn, Jones and I have introduced is
a common sense proposal to allow military spouses to earn the benefits
that they have dutifully worked towards and continue to incentivize
individuals to teach our hardest to educate children. Our legislation
provides a waiver from the Department of Education's Teacher Loan
Forgiveness program's five consecutive years of service requirement for
qualified military spouses if their spouse is relocated during the
school year pursuant to military orders from the Armed Forces. This
waiver will allow individuals to remain eligible for the Teacher Loan
Forgiveness program should they resume teaching full-time at a
qualifying low-income school district within one year of their
relocation. In addition, this legislation requires the Department of
Education to provide a report to Congress every two years on the number
of military spouses who remained eligible for Teacher Loan Forgiveness
due to this legislation. In addition, it would allow military spouses
that follow their service member overseas to accrue periods of service
towards the Teacher Loan Forgiveness program if they teach in one of
the Department of Defense Education Activities operated schools.
I urge my colleagues to join in this effort to help families who are
wholly committed to public service by supporting the Preserving Teacher
Loan Forgiveness for Military Spouses Act. No family committed to
service of our country should lose out on earned benefits due to a
technicality.
____________________