U.S. Senators Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) crossed the aisle to fight for answers for families of victims of lynching and other unsolved violent crimes of the Civil Rights era. Their bipartisan legislation was passed by the Senate in September, the House of Representatives in November, and was signed into law yesterday.
This legislation will allow relatives of the victims of unsolved lynchings and murders of the Civil Rights era to get answers by extending the Civil Rights Cold Case Records Review Board’s term.
Sen. Cruz said:
“During the Civil Rights movement, there were far too many unsolved violent race-based crimes committed against African Americans. It’s my hope that by giving the Review Board more time to examine the case files related to these unsolved crimes, we can shed sunlight on these Civil Rights cold cases and finally bring justice to the victims and their families, and I’m proud to have worked with Sen. Ossoff and Rep. Bobby Rush to get this bill through Congress and enacted into law.”
Sen. Cruz previously worked with former Democrat Sen. Doug Jones of Alabama to pass The Civil Rights Cold Case Records Collection Act of 2018, which required federal agencies to turn over any remaining cold case records to the Civil Rights Cold Case Records Review Board established by the National Archives and Records Administration to help shed light on these unsolved cases.
