[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 7]
[House]
[Page 9235]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




    DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE INVESTIGATION OF THE MURDER OF EMMETT TILL

  (Mr. RUSH asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. RUSH. Mr. Speaker, 2 days ago, the Department of Justice 
announced that it would be forming a partnership with the State of 
Mississippi to investigate the 1955 murder of 14-year-old Emmett Till. 
As I heard the news, two thoughts ran through my mind. On the one hand, 
as the Member of Congress who introduced a resolution, a bipartisan 
resolution calling upon the Justice Department to investigate Emmett's 
murder, I feel a sense of relief. On the other hand, four words come to 
my mind: it is about time.
  Mr. Speaker, many of us regard the murder of Emmett Till and the 
subsequent sham Jim Crow trial that acquitted Emmett's murderers as a 
mockery, as a miscarriage of justice, and as the single motivational 
spark for the civil rights movement. Young Emmett's savage murder and 
his open funeral casket made international news, and it galvanized 
African Americans and others interested in the cause of civil rights to 
take matters into their own hands and to demand basic human rights to 
which all citizens are entitled.
  Mr. Speaker, I believe that now maybe Ms. Till-Mobley and Emmett Till 
can begin to rest in peace.

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