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Smith Civil Rights Bill Approved

Washington, Jun 20 -

The House of Representatives today approved a civil rights bill cosponsored by Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Lamar Smith (R-TX) known as the “Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act of 2007,” (H.R. 923).



“Today, Members of Congress from all backgrounds and experiences joined together to ensure the swift prosecution of civil rights-era crimes, which were sometimes ignored,” stated Smith.



Congressman Smith addressed the Congress today and urged his colleagues to support the bill. During his speech Smith noted that last week, marked the 44th anniversary of the murder of civil rights leader Medgar Evers. Before his death, Medgar Evers was a primary, although unofficial, investigator of the Emmett Till murder.



Last week, the Committee which Smith helps lead was privileged to hear from his widow, Ms. Myrlie Evers Williams, who testified that the conviction of Medgar’s killer in 1994 – 31 years after his murder – gave a sense of hope to those who experienced this bleak time in our nation’s history.



The bill provides much-needed resources and federal funding to help the Justice Department and the FBI to prosecute unsolved civil rights-era homicides. It also designates new high-level positions with the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division to investigate and prosecute unsolved civil rights-era murders.



“Time is running out for other unsolved civil rights-era murders,” Smith asserted. “We must act swiftly to help bring long overdue justice to the victims, their families, and the communities that these brutal murders so deeply affected.”



Smith noted that to date, the FBI has identified nearly 100 outstanding cases that still need to be assessed, many of which are forty years old. The Federal Bureau of Investigations has now joined with the NAACP, the Southern Poverty Law Center, and the National Urban League to uncover other cases, identify witnesses and gather evidence.



“This bill reaffirms the obligation we have to victims of past crimes,” concluded Smith.