SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Emmett Till Unsolved 
Civil Rights Crime Act of 2007’’. 
SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 
It is the sense of Congress that all authorities with 
jurisdiction, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation 
and other entities within the Department of Justice, 
should— 
(1) expeditiously investigate unsolved civil 
rights murders, due to the amount of time that has 
passed since the murders and the age of potential 
witnesses; and 
(2) provide all the resources necessary to ensure 
timely and thorough investigations in the cases in-
volved. 
SEC. 3. DEPUTY CHIEF OF THE CRIMINAL SECTION OF THE 
CIVIL RIGHTS DIVISION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General shall des-
ignate a Deputy Chief in the Criminal Section of the Civil 
Rights Division of the Department of Justice. 
(b) RESPONSIBILITY.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Deputy Chief shall be 
responsible for coordinating the investigation and 
prosecution of violations of criminal civil rights stat-
utes that occurred not later than December 31, 
1969, and resulted in a death.
(2) COORDINATION.—In investigating a com-
plaint under paragraph (1), the Deputy Chief may 
coordinate investigative activities with State and 
local law enforcement officials. 
(c) STUDY AND REPORT.— 
(1) STUDY.—The Attorney General shall annu-
ally conduct a study of the cases under the jurisdic-
tion of the Deputy Chief or under the jurisdiction of 
the Supervisory Special Agent and, in conducting 
the study, shall determine— 
(A) the number of open investigations 
within the Department for violations of criminal 
civil rights statutes that occurred not later than 
December 31, 1969; 
(B) the number of new cases opened pur-
suant to this Act since the previous year’s 
study; 
(C) the number of unsealed Federal cases 
charged within the study period, including the 
case names, the jurisdiction in which the 
charges were brought, and the date the charges 
were filed; 
(D) the number of cases referred by the 
Department to a State or local law enforcement 
agency or prosecutor within the study period,
the number of such cases that resulted in State 
charges being filed, the jurisdiction in which 
such charges were filed, the date the charges 
were filed, and if a jurisdiction declines to pros-
ecute or participate in an investigation of a case 
so referred, the fact it did so; 
(E) the number of cases within the study 
period that were closed without Federal pros-
ecution, the case names of unsealed Federal 
cases, the dates the cases were closed, and the 
relevant federal statutes; 
(F) the number of attorneys who worked, 
in whole or in part, on any case described in 
subsection (b)(1); and 
(G) the applications submitted for grants 
under section 5, the award of such grants, and 
the purposes for which the grant amount were 
expended. 
(2) REPORT.—Not later than 6 months after 
the date of enactment of this Act, and each year 
thereafter, the Attorney General shall prepare and 
submit to Congress a report containing the results 
of the study conducted under paragraph (1).
SEC. 4. SUPERVISORY SPECIAL AGENT IN THE CIVIL 
RIGHTS UNIT OF THE FEDERAL BUREAU OF 
INVESTIGATION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General shall des-
ignate a Supervisory Special Agent in the Civil Rights 
Unit of the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the Depart-
ment of Justice. 
(b) RESPONSIBILITY.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Supervisory Special 
Agent shall be responsible for investigating viola-
tions of criminal civil rights statutes that occurred 
not later than December 31, 1969, and resulted in 
a death. 
(2) COORDINATION.—In investigating a com-
plaint under paragraph (1), the Supervisory Special 
Agent may coordinate the investigative activities 
with State and local law enforcement officials. 
SEC. 5. GRANTS TO STATE AND LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General may award 
grants to State or local law enforcement agencies for ex-
penses associated with the investigation and prosecution 
by them of criminal offenses, involving civil rights, that 
occurred not later than December 31, 1969, and resulted 
in a death. 
(b) AUTHORIZATION
OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 
are authorized to be appropriated $2,000,000 for each of
the fiscal years 2008 through 2017 to carry out this sec-
tion. 
SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be appro-
priated, in addition to any other amounts otherwise au-
thorized to be appropriated for this purpose, to the Attor-
ney General $10,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2008 
through 2017 for the purpose of investigating and pros-
ecuting violations of criminal civil rights statutes that oc-
curred not later than December 31, 1969, and resulted 
in a death. These funds shall be allocated by the Attorney 
General to the Deputy Chief of the Criminal Section of 
the Civil Rights Division and the Supervisory Special 
Agent of the Civil Rights Unit of the Federal Bureau of 
Investigation in order to advance the purposes set forth 
in this Act. 
(b) COMMUNITY RELATIONS SERVICE OF THE DE-
PARTMENT OF JUSTICE.—In addition to any amounts au-
thorized to be appropriated under title XI of the Civil 
Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000h et seq.), there are 
authorized to be appropriated to the Community Relations 
Service of the Department of Justice $1,500,000 for fiscal 
year 2008 and each subsequent fiscal year, to enable the 
Service (in carrying out the functions described in title 
X of such Act (42 U.S.C. 2000g et seq.)) to provide tech-
nical assistance by bringing together law enforcement 
agencies and communities in the investigation of violations 
of criminal civil rights statutes, in cases described in sec-
tion 4(b). 
SEC. 7. DEFINITION OF ‘‘CRIMINAL CIVIL RIGHTS STAT-
UTES’’. 
In this Act, the term ‘‘criminal civil rights statutes’’ 
means— 
(1) section 241 of title 18, United States Code 
(relating to conspiracy against rights); 
(2) section 242 of title 18, United States Code 
(relating to deprivation of rights under color of law); 
(3) section 245 of title 18, United States Code 
(relating to federally protected activities); 
(4) sections 1581 and 1584 of title 18, United 
States Code (relating to involuntary servitude and 
peonage); 
(5) section 901 of the Fair Housing Act (42 
U.S.C. 3631); and 
(6) any other Federal law that— 
(A) was in effect on or before December 
31, 1969; and 
(B) the Criminal Section of the Civil 
Rights Division of the Department of Justice