I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4508 
To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to 
provide compensation for direct victims of civil rights era violence, and 
for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 19, 2021 
Mr. BACON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets 
Act of 1968 to provide compensation for direct victims 
of civil rights era violence, 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 ‘‘Sarah Collins Rudolph 
Civil Rights Compensation Act of 2021’’. 
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SEC. 2. COMPENSATION FOR DIRECT VICTIMS OF CIVIL 
RIGHTS ERA VIOLENCE. 
Title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 
Streets Act of 1968 is amended by adding at the end the 
following new part: 
‘‘PART PP—DIRECT VICTIMS OF CIVIL RIGHTS 
ERA VIOLENCE 
‘‘SEC. 3056. COMPENSATION FOR DIRECT VICTIMS OF CIVIL 
RIGHTS ERA VIOLENCE. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In any case in which Director 
of the Bureau of Justice Assistance determines under reg-
ulations issued pursuant to this section, that an individual 
is a direct victim of civil rights era violence, the Director 
shall pay a benefit pursuant to subsection (c) to such indi-
vidual. 
‘‘(b) DIRECT VICTIM OF CIVIL RIGHTS ERA VIO-
LENCE DESCRIBED.—An individual is a direct victim of 
civil rights era violence and may receive a payment under 
subsection (a) if— 
‘‘(1) the individual is an citizen of the United 
States; 
‘‘(2) the individual sustained an injury as a re-
sult of racial violence during the civil rights era; 
‘‘(3) the individual can provide evidence of the 
injury sustained through medical records; and 
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‘‘(4) the individual is incurring expenses (as of 
the date of the enactment of the ‘Sarah Collins Ru-
dolph Civil Rights Compensation Act of 2021’) re-
lated to the injury. 
‘‘(c) BENEFIT AMOUNT.—A direct victim described 
under subsection (b) shall be eligible for a benefit under 
subsection (a) in the amount that is equal to the cost of 
the individual’s medical care associated with the injury 
sustained during the civil rights era, as demonstrated by 
the medical records of such direct victim. 
‘‘(d) SURVIVORS OF A DIRECT VICTIM.— A family 
member of a direct victim described in subsection (b) shall 
be eligible for a benefit under subsection (a) if such family 
member is responsible for the costs related to the injury 
sustained during the civil rights era and the direct victim 
is deceased. 
‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) CIVIL RIGHTS ERA.—The term ‘civil rights 
era’ means the time period of 1954 through 1965. 
‘‘(2) FAMILY
MEMBER.—The term ‘family 
member’ means— 
‘‘(A) a person to whom the direct victim of 
civil rights era violence is legally married, even 
if physically separated, under the laws of the 
jurisdiction where the marriage took place; and 
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‘‘(B) a child that is natural, illegitimate, 
adopted, posthumous, or a stepchild of the di-
rect victim of civil rights era violence. 
‘‘(3) INJURY.—The term ‘injury’ means— 
‘‘(A) a traumatic physical wound (or a 
traumatized physical condition of the body) di-
rectly and proximately caused by external force 
(such as bullets, explosives, sharp instruments, 
blunt objects, or physical blows), chemicals, 
electricity, climatic conditions, infectious dis-
ease, radiation, virii, or bacteria; and 
‘‘(B) any associated or resulting traumatic 
physical wound that occurred as a result of a 
traumatic physical wound described in subpara-
graph (A), even if such resulting traumatic 
physical wound did not occur during the civil 
rights era. 
‘‘(4) MEDICAL RECORDS.—The term ‘medical 
records’ includes medical records and bills that docu-
ment an injury during the civil rights era.’’. 
Æ 
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