Bill To Energize Old Civil Rights Cases Stalled

By: Associated Press | Alabama's13.com
Published: December 10, 2007

WASHINGTON (AP) - A Chris Dodd-sponsored bill to beef up investigations into unsolved murders from the civil rights era has stalled in Congress.

The House passed it 422-2 this summer. But its Senate supporters acknowledge that prospects are slim this year with just days left on the legislative calendar.

The breakdown offers a case study in how even the most popular legislation can get caught up in Washington gridlock.

The legislation would authorize $10 million annually over 10 years for the Justice Department to rejuvenate its prosecutions of pre-1970 civil rights murders.

It calls for another $3.5 million annually for Justice to provide grants and other help to local law enforcement agencies. Rita Bender, the widow of Michael Schwerner, who was killed in Mississippi in 1964 along with fellow civil rights organizers Andrew Goodman and James Chaney, says the bill should have passed a long time ago.

The bill is named after Emmett Till, a black teenager who was murdered in Mississippi in 1955 after being accused of whistling a a white woman. His killers were never convicted.

The man most responsible for obstructing the measure is Senator Tom Coburn, an Oklahoma Republican. Coburn says he supports the cause but feels the FBI can pursue the cases with existing resources.

Coburn's office says no one, including Dodd, who is running for president, has personally approached Coburn about a compromise for floor debate.

Dodd's office insisted that he tried to bring it up three times, only to be thwarted by Coburn.

Bill To Energize Old Civil Rights Cases Stalled

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