Emmett Till Antilynching Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. BACON. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. I thank Chairman Rush for his leadership, his heart for this bill, and I thank the chairman and the ranking member for giving me a chance to speak and for their comments.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 35, the Emmett Till Antilynching Act. I am pleased to see the House take steps in finally addressing this issue. Like many, despite our Nation's ugly history of lynchings, I was shocked to learn that there was no law making lynching a Federal crime.

My hometown area of Omaha is not unlike many other towns across the country with a gruesome past of lynching. George Smith was murdered in October 1891, and this past fall marked the 100th anniversary of the murder of Will Brown on the steps of the Douglas County Courthouse during the Red Summer. The hands of lawless and angry mobs in Omaha beat and lynched these men in what only can be characterized as racial terrorism.

We cannot simply wash away the past, but in order for our Nation to heal from past racial injustice, Congress must specify criminal penalties for the crime of lynching or any attempt or conspiracy to commit lynching.

With at least 5,000 lynchings in our Nation's history, this bill is important to the acknowledgment that evil did occur, that millions felt fear in their houses, their homes, and their communities, that many feared for the lives of their dads, their husbands, and sons, and that this formal acknowledgment will help facilitate reconciliation.

Last year, I was approached by local African American community leaders from Omaha to look into the antilynching legislation, and I felt that the language from Senator Harris' bill that passed with overwhelming bipartisan support in the Senate was the right way to proceed. It is because of these reasons I was honored to introduce the Senate-passed language in the House 8 months ago.

The bill we are voting on today contains the language of my bill that I introduced 8 months ago verbatim, but I do not complain because in the end I want results. We want results. We are closer than we have ever been to making lynching a Federal crime. This is an historical event.

This action is long overdue, going back 200 attempts since 1918, and today we are going to get it done. We are going to make history.

It has been my privilege to be an advocate on this issue. I applaud Senator Harris and Congressman Bobby Rush, who have been championing this for years. We will finally get this to the President's desk to be signed into law in order to close one of the ugliest chapters in our history once and for all.

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