[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2854 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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114th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 2854
To reauthorize the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act of 2007.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
April 26, 2016
Mr. Burr (for himself, Mrs. McCaskill, Mr. Leahy, and Mr. Blunt)
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To reauthorize the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act of 2007.
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 ``Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights
Crimes Reauthorization Act of 2016''.
SEC. 2. INVESTIGATION OF UNSOLVED CIVIL RIGHTS CRIMES.
The Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act of 2007 (28 U.S.C.
509 note) is amended--
(1) in section 2--
(A) in paragraph (1), by striking ``and'' at the
end;
(B) in paragraph (2), by striking the period at the
end and inserting a semicolon; and
(C) by inserting after paragraph (2) the following:
``(3) coordinate the sharing of information between the
Federal Bureau of Investigation, the civil rights community,
and other entities;
``(4) hold accountable individuals who were perpetrators
of, or accomplices in, unsolved civil rights murders;
``(5) express the condolences of the authority to the
communities affected by unsolved civil rights murders, and to
the families of the victims of such murders; and
``(6) comply with requests for information received
pursuant to section 552 of title 5, United States Code
(commonly known as the `Freedom of Information Act').'';
(2) in section 3--
(A) in subsection (b)--
(i) in paragraph (1), by striking
``occurred not later than December 31, 1969,
and'';
(ii) in paragraph (2), by inserting before
the period at the end the following: ``, and
eligible entities''; and
(iii) by adding after paragraph (2) the
following:
``(3) Review of closed cases.--The Deputy Chief shall
reopen and review any case involving a violation described in
paragraph (1) that was closed prior to the date of the
enactment of the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crimes
Reauthorization Act of 2016 without an in-person investigation
conducted by an officer or employee of the Criminal Section of
the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice or by an
agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
``(4) Task force.--
``(A) In general.--The Deputy Chief shall establish
a task force that includes representatives from the
Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Community
Relations Service of the Department of Justice, State
and local law enforcement agencies, and eligible
entities to conduct a thorough investigation of, and
make recommendations to the Deputy Chief regarding, the
cases involving violations described in paragraph (1).
``(B) Authorization of appropriations.--In addition
to amounts made available to carry out this Act under
section 6, there is authorized to be appropriated to
the Attorney General $1,500,000 for fiscal year 2016
and each subsequent fiscal year to carry out this
paragraph.''; and
(B) in subsection (c)--
(i) in paragraph (1)--
(I) in subparagraph (A), by
striking ``that occurred not later than
December 31, 1969'';
(II) in subparagraph (F), by
striking ``and'' at the end;
(III) in subparagraph (G), by
striking the period at the end and
inserting ``; and''; and
(IV) by inserting after
subparagraph (G) the following:
``(H) the number of cases referred by an eligible
entity or a State or local law enforcement agency or
prosecutor to the Department within the study period,
the number of such cases that resulted in Federal
charges being filed, the date the charges were filed,
and if the Department declines to prosecute or
participate in an investigation of a case so referred,
the fact that it did so.''; and
(ii) in paragraph (2), by inserting before
the period at the end the following: ``and a
description of the activities conducted under
subsection (b)(3)'';
(3) in section 4(b)--
(A) in paragraph (1), by striking ``occurred not
later than December 31, 1969, and''; and
(B) in paragraph (2), by inserting before the
period at the end the following: ``, and eligible
entities'';
(4) in section 5--
(A) in subsection (a)--
(i) by inserting after ``local law
enforcement agencies'' the following: ``, or
eligible entities,''; and
(ii) by striking ``occurred not later than
December 31, 1969, and''; and
(B) in subsection (b), by striking ``each of the
fiscal years 2008 through 2017'' and inserting ``fiscal
year 2016 and each subsequent fiscal year'';
(5) in section 6--
(A) in subsection (a)--
(i) by striking ``each of the fiscal years
2008 through 2017'' and inserting ``fiscal year
2016 and each subsequent fiscal year''; and
(ii) by striking ``occurred not later than
December 31, 1969, and''; and
(B) by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:
``(b) Community Relations Service of the Department of Justice.--
Subject to the availability of appropriations, the Community Relations
Service of the Department of Justice shall provide technical assistance
by bringing together law enforcement agencies and communities in the
investigation of violations described in section 4(b).'';
(6) in section 7--
(A) in the heading, by striking ``definition of
`criminal civil rights statutes''' and inserting
``definitions'';
(B) by striking ``In this Act, the term'' and
inserting: ``In this Act:
``(1) Criminal civil rights statutes.--The term''; and
(C) by inserting at the end the following:
``(2) Eligible entity.--The term `eligible entity' means an
organization whose primary purpose is to promote civil rights,
an institution of higher education, or another entity,
determined by the Attorney General to be appropriate.''; and
(7) by striking section 8.
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