[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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