[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 175 (Monday, November 14, 2022)]
[House]
[Pages H8481-H8482]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       CIVIL RIGHTS COLD CASE INVESTIGATIONS SUPPORT ACT OF 2022

  Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend 
the rules and pass the bill (S. 3655) to amend the Civil Rights Cold 
Case Records Collection Act of 2018 to extend the termination date of 
the Civil Rights Cold Case Records Review Board.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                                S. 3655

       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 ``Civil Rights Cold Case 
     Investigations Support Act of 2022''.

     SEC. 2. CIVIL RIGHTS COLD CASE RECORDS REVIEW BOARD EXTENSION 
                   OF TENURE.

       Section 5(n)(1) of Civil Rights Cold Case Records 
     Collection Act of 2018 (44 U.S.C. 2107 note; Public Law 115-
     426) is amended--
       (1) by striking ``4 years'' and inserting ``7 years''; and
       (2) by striking ``4-year period'' and inserting ``7-year 
     period''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from 
New York (Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney) and the gentleman from Pennsylvania 
(Mr. Keller) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from New York.


                             General Leave

  Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous 
consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise 
and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on this 
measure.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from New York?
  There was no objection.
  Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such 
time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of S. 3655, a bill to amend the 
Civil Rights Cold Case Records Collection Act of 2018 to extend the 
termination date of the Civil Rights Cold Case Records Review Board.
  I would like to begin by celebrating that this bill is bipartisan. It 
is co-led by Senators Jon Ossoff and Ted Cruz, and a companion bill was 
introduced in the House by my colleague,   Bobby Rush of Illinois.
  The Civil Rights Cold Case Records Collection Act of 2018 requires 
public disclosure of cold case files from the civil rights era that are 
still in the possession of Federal agencies. The 2018 law also created 
a review board tasked to review any agency decisions to delay public 
disclosure of civil rights cold case files within their possession.
  As part of their examination, the review board will submit 
recommendations to the President, who has final decisionmaking 
authority over the public records disclosure. Under current law, the 
review board will be terminated by January of 2024.
  This bill, S. 3655, revises the initial term of the board from 4 to 7 
years with an optional extension year, if needed. The extension is 
critical because the work of the review board has been delayed.
  The prior administration did not nominate members to the board when 
the bill was enacted in 2018. The current administration nominated 
board members in 2021, and all members were confirmed by February of 
2022.
  As a result of delays in nomination and confirmation of the review 
board members, S. 3655 provides the board additional time to complete 
its mission.
  This bill has bipartisan support. In addition, the National Archives 
supports this bill because the extensions will ensure that review board 
members have enough time to complete their assignments.
  Mr. Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to join me in support of the 
Civil Rights Cold Case Investigations Support Act, and I reserve the 
balance of my time.
  Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, in 2019, President Trump signed the Civil Rights Cold 
Case Investigations Support Act into law after it passed with broad 
bipartisan support in Congress.
  The act directed the National Archives and Records Administration to 
make a collection of previously sealed civil rights cold case records 
available for public scrutiny. It also required the National Archives 
to establish a process for Federal agencies to transmit cold case 
records--older records from about 1940 to 1979--to the National 
Archives.
  To do this, an independent agency review board was established to 
review the National Archives' civil rights cold case records and 
evaluate which public record disclosures should be postponed.
  The review board is also charged with investigating cold case records 
and requesting relevant documents held by government agencies and the 
courts be transferred to the National Archives. However, this board was 
not fully formed until this year, leaving the review board with less 
time than Congress intended before it terminates at the end of 2024.
  The bill before us today, the Civil Rights Cold Case Investigations 
Support Act, will extend the review board's term until 2027. This 
extension will allow the board to increase the volume of cold case 
documents made available to the public. This will enable journalists, 
students, and others to lend their expertise to help investigate and 
resolve unsolved civil rights cold cases.
  According to the Department of Justice, about 115 civil rights cases 
remain unsolved, and the older the cases become, the less likely they 
will ever be solved.
  The 2019 law was necessary to establish a specific process for 
addressing cold case records instead of having citizens rely on the 
Freedom of Information Act to directly request individual

[[Page H8482]]

records from law enforcement agencies. The Freedom of Information Act 
is a valuable Federal records transparency tool, but it is not designed 
for enabling efficient access to open criminal cases.

                              {time}  1715

  Every cold case that is solved as a result of this legislation will 
provide long-awaited answers to the surviving family members of the 
victims and bring about resolution to the local communities where these 
crimes occurred.
  S. 3655 will ensure that the review board has the necessary time to 
complete its critical work.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank Senators Ted Cruz and Jon Ossoff for moving this 
bipartisan legislation through the Senate.
  Mr. Speaker, I also thank the House Committee on Oversight and Reform 
Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney and Ranking Member   James Comer for their 
support.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge that my colleagues support this important bill, 
and I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes 
to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Rush), from the First District, 
chairman of the Subcommittee on Energy with the Committee on Energy and 
Commerce, and the House sponsor of the Civil Rights Cold Case 
Investigation Support Act of 2022.
  Mr. RUSH. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chair of the committee, my good 
friend Congresswoman Maloney.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of S. 3655, the Civil Rights 
Cold Case Investigation Support Act of 2022. This bill is the Senate 
companion to my bill, H.R. 6818, and I am pleased beyond measure to 
support its passage on the floor today.
  Four years ago, Mr. Speaker, Congress passed my bill, the Civil 
Rights Cold Case Records Collection Act of 2018, into law. That law 
created a collection of civil rights cold case records to be disclosed 
to the public, helping to resolve by bringing closure to the more than 
100 unsolved cold cases from the civil rights era. It was designed to 
bring some small measure of comfort to families and communities that 
have waited far, far too long for answers about the loss of their loved 
ones so many decades ago. I hope today's passage will bring some sense 
of closure to these families.
  A crucial part of that bill was the creation of the Civil Rights Cold 
Case Records Review Board, which serves as an independent oversight 
agency that reviews requests to delay making civil rights cold case 
records public.
  President Biden has appointed, and the Senate has confirmed, some 
wonderfully qualified nominees to the board, but since the previous 
administration failed to appoint any members to the board, the board is 
about to run out of its legislative time before it can truly bring its 
mission to fruition.
  Mr. Speaker, the bill passed in the Senate, and I see no reason why 
the House cannot pass the bill today. I urge passage of the bill today.
  Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes 
to the gentlewoman from New Jersey (Mrs. Watson Coleman), from the 12th 
District, who is the chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Transportation 
and Maritime Security with the Committee on Homeland Security.
  Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today on behalf of the Black 
Americans who were assaulted, terrorized, and killed during the Jim 
Crow era.
  Our Nation has a long and troubling history of failing to deliver 
justice for victims of racially motivated violence. One could draw a 
direct line from the lynching of Emmett Till in 1955 to the killing of 
Trayvon Martin just 10 years ago. In neither case were the killers 
convicted.
  Willie James Howard, Lamar Smith, and Reverend George W. Lee are but 
a few of the countless Black Americans who were killed for the crime of 
existing while Black in the Jim Crow South. In not one of these cases 
was a single perpetrator brought to justice.
  I am proud of the students from Hightstown, New Jersey, in my 
district, who took time to write the Civil Rights Cold Case Records 
Collection Act with my friend, Congressman   Bobby Rush. I am now 
calling on this Chamber to pass the Civil Rights Cold Case 
Investigation Support Act, which will extend authorization of that 
legislation.
  By passing this bipartisan bill, we can begin to heal the wounds of 
our past and demonstrate that racist violence has no place in America.
  Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, this bipartisan bill continues to make 
information regarding cold cases available to the public. The American 
people deserve transparency from their Federal Government. I encourage 
my colleagues to support this bill, and I yield back the balance of my 
time.
  Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I urge passage of 
S. 3655, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney) that the House 
suspend the rules and pass the bill, S. 3655.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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