I 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6655 

To amend the Victims of Crime Act of 1984 to provide compensation for 

direct victims of civil rights movement violence, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 9, 2022 

Mr. BACON (for himself and Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend the Victims of Crime Act of 1984 to provide 

compensation for direct victims of civil rights movement 

violence, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Sarah Collins Rudolph 

5 Civil Rights Compensation Act of 2022’’. 

6 SEC. 2. COMPENSATION FOR DIRECT VICTIMS OF CIVIL 

7 RIGHTS MOVEMENT VIOLENCE. 

8 Chapter XIV of the Victims of Crime Act of 1984 

9 (34 U.S.C. 20101 et seq.) is amended— 


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1 (1) in section 1402(d) by adding at the end the 

2 following new paragraph: 

3 ‘‘(7)(A) In addition to the amounts distributed 

4 under paragraphs (2), (3), (4), (5), and (6) the Di5 rector shall set aside up to $10,000,000 from the 

6 amounts transferred to the Fund to award grants to 

7 an individual who is a direct victim of civil rights 

8 movement violence in accordance with section 

9 1404G. The Director may replenish any amounts ob10 ligated from such reserve in subsequent fiscal years 

11 by setting aside up to 25 percent of the amounts re12 maining in the Fund in any fiscal year after distrib13 uting amounts under paragraphs (2), (3), (4), (5), 

14 and (6). Such reserve shall not exceed 10 million 

15 dollars. 

16 ‘‘(B) The grants to an individual who is a 

17 direct victim of civil rights movement violence 

18 referred to in subparagraph (A) may be used 

19 for grants under section 1404G of this title. 

20 ‘‘(C) Amounts for grants to an individual 

21 who is a direct victim of civil rights movement 

22 violence established pursuant to subparagraph 

23 (A) may be carried over from fiscal year to fis24 cal year.’’; and 


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1 (2) by inserting after section 1404F the fol2 lowing new section: 

3 ‘‘SEC. 1404G. GRANTS TO DIRECT VICTIMS OF CIVIL RIGHTS 

4 MOVEMENT VIOLENCE. 

5 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Department 

6 of Justice and Office for Victims of Crime shall make 

7 grants as provided in section 1404(d) to an individual who 

8 is a direct victim of civil rights movement violence. 

9 ‘‘(b) GRANT AMOUNT.— 

10 ‘‘(1) INITIAL GRANT AMOUNT.—A direct victim 

11 of civil rights movement violence shall be eligible for 

12 a grant under this section in the amount that is 

13 equal to the cost of the individual’s medical care as14 sociated with an injury sustained during the civil 

15 rights movement, as demonstrated by the medical 

16 records of such direct victim. 

17 ‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL AMOUNTS.—A direct victim 

18 of civil rights movement violence may apply for an 

19 additional grant amount if— 

20 ‘‘(A) the cost of the individual’s medical 

21 care associated with the injury sustained during 

22 the civil rights movement has resulted in addi23 tional expenses after a grant amount under this 

24 section was awarded; or 


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1 ‘‘(B) the direct victim of civil rights move2 ment violence submits medical records dem3 onstrating costs greater than a grant amount 

4 awarded under this section. 

5 ‘‘(c) SURVIVORS OF A DIRECT VICTIM.—A family 

6 member of a direct victim of civil rights movement violence 

7 shall be eligible for a grant under this section if such fam8 ily member is responsible for the costs related to the injury 

9 sustained during the civil rights movement and the direct 

10 victim is deceased. 

11 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

12 ‘‘(1) CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT.—The term 

13 ‘civil rights movement’ means the time period of 

14 1954 through 1965. 

15 ‘‘(2) DIRECT VICTIM OF CIVIL RIGHTS MOVE16 MENT VIOLENCE.—The term ‘direct victim of civil 

17 rights movement violence’ means an individual 

18 who— 

19 ‘‘(A) is an citizen of the United States; 

20 ‘‘(B) sustained an injury as a result of ra21 cial violence during the civil rights movement; 

22 ‘‘(C) can provide evidence of the injury 

23 sustained through medical records; and 

24 ‘‘(D) has or is incurring expenses related 

25 to the injury. 


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1 ‘‘(3) FAMILY MEMBER.—The term ‘family 

2 member’ means— 

3 ‘‘(A) a person to whom the direct victim of 

4 civil rights movement violence is legally mar5 ried, even if physically separated, under the 

6 laws of the jurisdiction where the marriage took 

7 place; 

8 ‘‘(B) a child that is natural, illegitimate, 

9 adopted, posthumous, or a stepchild of the di10 rect victim of civil rights movement violence; or 

11 ‘‘(C) any other family member that pro12 vided medical care or funding to medical ex13 penses to a direct victim of civil rights move14 ment violence. 

15 ‘‘(4) INJURY.—The term ‘injury’ means— 

16 ‘‘(A) a traumatic physical wound (or a 

17 traumatized physical condition of the body) di18 rectly and proximately caused by external force 

19 (such as bullets, explosives, sharp instruments, 

20 blunt objects, or physical blows), chemicals, 

21 electricity, climatic conditions, infectious dis22 ease, radiation, virii, or bacteria; 

23 ‘‘(B) any associated or resulting traumatic 

24 physical wound that occurred as a result of a 

25 traumatic physical wound described in subparaVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:07 Feb 23, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6655.IH H6655

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1 graph (A), even if such resulting traumatic 

2 physical wound did not occur during the civil 

3 rights movement; and 

4 ‘‘(C) any associated or resulting psycho5 logical condition that occurred as a result of a 

6 traumatic physical wound described in subpara7 graph (A), even if such resulting psychological 

8 condition did not occur during the civil rights 

9 movement. 

10 ‘‘(5) MEDICAL RECORDS.—The term ‘medical 

11 records’ includes medical records and bills that docu12 ment an injury during the civil rights movement. 

13 ‘‘(6) RACIAL VIOLENCE.—The term ‘racial vio14 lence’ means violence in which the individual inten15 tionally selects a victim, or in the case of a property 

16 crime, the property that is the object of the crime, 

17 because of the actual or perceived race, color, reli18 gion, national origin, ethnicity, gender, disability, or 

19 sexual orientation of any person.’’. 

Æ 


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