IB 
Union Calendar No. 120 
110TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 923 
[Report No. 110–200] 
To establish an Unsolved Crimes Section in the Civil Rights Division of 
the Department of Justice, and an Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Inves-
tigative Office in the Civil Rights Unit of the Federal Bureau of Inves-
tigation, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 8, 2007 
Mr. LEWIS of Georgia (for himself, Mr. HULSHOF, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. SCOTT 
of Virginia, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. CLYBURN, Mr. 
BUTTERFIELD, Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, 
Mr. FATTAH, Mr. CLEAVER, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, 
Mrs. CHRISTENSEN, Mr. WATT, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. CUMMINGS, 
Mr. MEEKS of New York, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. WATERS, Mr. JOHNSON of 
Georgia, Mr. CLAY, Ms. LEE, Mrs. JONES of Ohio, Ms. KILPATRICK, Mr. 
TOWNS, Mr. SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. ELLISON, Mr. DAVIS of Alabama, 
Mr. MOORE of Kansas, Ms. WATSON, Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida, 
Mr. WYNN, Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Mr. 
GRIJALVA, Mr. AL GREEN of Texas, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. 
MCDERMOTT, Mr. KUCINICH, Mr. JEFFERSON, Mr. MARSHALL, Mr. 
RUSH, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Ms. CARSON, Mr. HONDA, Ms. 
NORTON, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. BECERRA, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. WOOLSEY, 
Mr. NADLER, Mr. BOSWELL, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Ms. WASSERMAN 
SCHULTZ, Mr. COHEN, Mr. MEEK of Florida, Mr. GUTIERREZ, and Ms. 
CASTOR) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on the Judiciary 
JUNE 19, 2007 
Additional sponsors: Mr. KENNEDY, Mrs. MALONEY of New York, Ms. 
SLAUGHTER, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. OLVER, Mr. CAPUANO, 
Ms. CLARKE, Mr. WEINER, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mr. SKELTON, Mr. 
MORAN of Virginia, Mr. HINOJOSA, Mr. MCCOTTER, Mr. FARR, Mr. 
DELAHUNT, Mr. FILNER, Mr. LAMPSON, Mr. MEEHAN, Mr. WEXLER, 
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Ms. LINDA T. SA´NCHEZ of California, Mr. MILLER of North Carolina, 
Mr. SMITH of Texas, Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California, and Mr. SHERMAN 
JUNE 19, 2007 
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on February 8, 2007] 
A BILL 
To establish an Unsolved Crimes Section in the Civil Rights 
Division of the Department of Justice, and an Unsolved 
Civil Rights Crime Investigative Office in the Civil Rights 
Unit of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and for 
other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives 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 Crime Act of 2007’’. 
SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 
It is the sense of Congress that all authorities with ju-
risdiction, 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 
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(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 re-
sponsible for coordinating the investigation and pros-
ecution of violations 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 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— 
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(F) the number of attorneys who worked, in 
whole or in part, on any case described in sub-
section (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 there-
after, 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 violations 
of criminal civil rights statutes that occurred not 
later than December 31, 1969, and resulted in a 
death. 
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(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 oc-
curred 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 section. 
SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be appro-
priated, in addition to any other amounts otherwise author-
ized to be appropriated for this purpose, to the Attorney 
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 Gen-
eral to the Deputy Chief of the Criminal Section of the Civil 
Rights Division and the Supervisory Special Agent of the 
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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 DEPART-
MENT OF JUSTICE.—In addition to any amounts author-
ized 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 technical assistance 
by bringing together law enforcement agencies and commu-
nities in the investigation of violations of criminal civil 
rights statutes, in cases described in section 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); 
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(4) sections 1581 and 1584 of title 18, United 
States Code (relating to involuntary servitude and pe-
onage); 
(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 enforced, 
before the date of enactment of this Act. 
SEC. 8. SUNSET. 
Sections 2 through 6 of this Act shall cease to have 
effect at the end of fiscal year 2017. 
SEC. 9. AUTHORITY OF INSPECTORS GENERAL. 
Title XXXVII of the Crime Control Act of 1990 (42 
U.S.C. 5779 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the 
following: 
‘‘SEC. 3703. AUTHORITY OF INSPECTORS GENERAL. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—An Inspector General appointed 
under section 3 or 8G of the Inspector General Act of 1978 
(5 U.S.C. App.) may authorize staff to assist the National 
Center for Missing and Exploited Children— 
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‘‘(1) by conducting reviews of inactive case files 
to develop recommendations for further investigations; 
and 
‘‘(2) by engaging in similar activities. 
‘‘(b) LIMITATIONS.— 
‘‘(1) PRIORITY.—An Inspector General may not 
permit staff to engage in activities described in sub-
section (a) if such activities will interfere with the 
duties of the Inspector General under the Inspector 
General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.). 
‘‘(2) FUNDING.—No additional funds are author-
ized to be appropriated to carry out this section.’’. 
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