[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 40 (Friday, February 28, 2020)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E234]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          PERSONAL EXPLANATION

                                  _____
                                 

                         HON. SUZANNE BONAMICI

                               of oregon

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, February 28, 2020

  Ms. BONAMICI. Madam Speaker, I was unable to be on the House floor on 
February 26, 2020, because my flight from Oregon was canceled. If I had 
been present, I would have voted in favor of H.R. 35, the Emmett Till 
Antilynching Act.
  I am a cosponsor of H.R. 35, legislation to make lynching a federal 
hate crime. This bill is named in memory of Emmett Till, a fourteen-
year-old African American child from Chicago who was brutally tortured 
and murdered in 1955 by two white men during a trip to visit family in 
Mississippi. An all-white jury deliberated for less than an hour before 
finding the men not guilty of Till's murder. Emmett is one of thousands 
of African American children, men, and women who have been lynched in 
this country in the past four centuries. Our country's historical 
acceptance of lynching is appalling, and by passing this bill Congress 
took an important step in recognizing lynching for what it is--a hate 
crime. For hundreds of years people have escaped convictions and 
justice has been denied. This legislation cannot and will not undo 
those unspeakable crimes, but it is an important step in reckoning with 
our nation's history. I am grateful for Rep. Rush's leadership in 
advancing this bill, and I urge the Senate to quickly pass the bill so 
it can become law.

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