Homicide Victims' Families' Rights Act of 2021

Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3359, the Homicide Victims' Families' Rights Act of 2021. This bill creates a process for relatives of homicide victims to request that Federal agencies rereview the case of their lost family member once the case has gone cold.

To be clear, this bill would only apply to Federal cases of murder, and it wouldn't apply to murder cases investigated by State and local law enforcement, which are most cases.

The majority of cold cases at issue under this bill are likely to be cases arising from Tribal jurisdictions. Fortunately, President Trump already took steps to try to solve cold cases in Tribal jurisdictions. In November of 2019, President Trump signed an executive order to create the Operation Lady Justice Task Force.

In its first year, this task force opened seven offices across the country to address the number of missing and murdered indigenous women. The task force held listening sessions, Tribal consultations, webinars, meetings with law enforcement, and victims' services programs, and formed domestic violence and sexual assault coalitions.

The task force put out guidance and protocols, developed relationships with entities like missing persons clearinghouses, began training for investigators and volunteers, and started a public awareness campaign. This was all in 2020.

This legislation is cut from similar cloth as President Trump's executive order creating that task force. Hopefully, it will motivate the Biden administration to continue President Trump's good work.

Ms. JACKSON LEE. I thank him so much for his very astute leadership.

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Rhode Island (Mr. Cicilline), a member of the Judiciary Committee.

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Mr. BENTZ. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. JACKSON LEE.

Let me thank the gentleman from Oregon for his support of this legislation; and as well, again thank Mr. Swalwell for that commitment to helping families who are typically desperate for help in these cold cases.

Let me cite as a comparison that does not deal with the end of a case, but it does deal with the intervention of the Federal Government, the FBI, in particular, on a child predator case in a local neighborhood, where local law enforcement were doing their very best.

But when we were able to reach out to the FBI, although the case was not cold in its conclusion, it was cold in its investigation, its current investigation, and the FBI did bring new and fresh eyes to help us with that terrible case.

So when we have cases that are a cold case, the backlog of cold case murders continues to grow, and I think this legislation means a lot to these families. When they grow cold, this means that thousands of murderers evade prosecution and continue to walk the streets, able to commit more crimes and possibly more murders, while thousands of mothers, fathers, husbands, wives, sons, and daughters, have yet to find closure in the loss of their loved ones.

And let me just say, Mr. Speaker, I think you realize, that pain is so deep, and it never goes away. That is why this bill is so important. This legislation would result in more closed cases, justice for victims, closure for their families, and greater faith in law enforcement.

Mr. Speaker, again I want to indicate that this bill is important. I thank my colleagues for supporting this bill in a bipartisan manner, and I ask them to join me in supporting this bill today.

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I support H.R. 3359, the ``Homicide Victims' Families' Rights Act of 2021,'' and urge my colleagues to support this bipartisan legislation, which establishes a procedure for families of murder victims, in cases investigated at the federal level, to continue to pursue justice for their murdered family member when the trail has gone cold.

This legislation gives a designated family member the right to request a review of their murdered loved one's case file after three years.

Unfortunately, four out of ten murder victims' families in this country never receive any closure in the loss of their family member.

FBI data shows the percentage of homicides cleared by an arrest or other means has declined significantly from 1965 to today while the number of unsolved homicides grows by the thousands nationwide every year.

In 2019, four Texas cities, including Houston, cleared 40 percent or less of reported homicides, according to FBI statistics.

Low clearance rates lead to low confidence in law enforcement and reduced citizen cooperation, which lead to even lower clearance rates.

The backlog of cases and low clearance rates disproportionately affect murder victims who are poor, undereducated, unemployed, and black.

Poor, black, and brown victims and their families tend to receive less attention to their cases from law enforcement than those of other socioeconomic backgrounds and racial groups and their cases go unsolved.

This disparate treatment is unacceptable. We can and we must provide justice for all victims and their families.

I hope this legislation will set a new tone--eliminating disparate treatment--impacting vulnerable communities of poor black and brown families who oftentimes never receive closure, while serving as a model for state, local, and tribal governments where the vast majority of unsolved murders lie.

H.R. 3359 will require federal law enforcement agencies, using ``fresh eyes,'' to complete a case file review and determine if a full reinvestigation could lead to new probative investigative leads.

This legislation will encourage equitable treatment of victims and their families by requiring that federal law enforcement: (1) include the victim's family in the case file review and reinvestigation process; (2) provide written certification to a designated family member if final review is not necessary; (3) update that family member throughout the case file review and full reinvestigation; and (4) meet with and discuss the evidence with that family member if a full reinvestigation is not pursued.

It has been shown that cold case investigations can be very effective. By using agents and investigators who have never worked the cases before and by deploying up-to-date investigative techniques, cold case investigations help take violent criminals off the street and bring closure to families.

In 2010, the FBI and a cold case detective began a joint reexamination of the death of Ellen Beason in 1985, whose remains were found south of Houston in an area called the ``Killing Fields.''

Almost thirty years later, the cold case detective requested x-rays of the body, which showed that the woman's skull had been cracked on both sides from a forceful blow. Her body had never been X-rayed.

The main suspect in the murder was finally convicted of involuntary manslaughter in 2014, sentenced to 20 years in prison, and named as the leading suspect in the murder of other women found in the Killing Fields, though he was never charged.

H.R. 3359 mandates that a law enforcement agency must conduct a full reinvestigation like the one that brought justice to Ellen Beason's family, if probative investigative leads would result from a full reinvestigation.

This bipartisan legislation represents an important step in fostering renewed hope for families and is supported by a broad array of advocates, including the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, the National Organization of Parents of Murdered Children, the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, and the Association of Prosecuting Attorneys.

I thank Chairman Eric Swalwell for his astute effort on this bipartisan bill that will help families of victims seek justice for their loved ones.

The backlog of cold case murders continues to grow nationally. This means that thousands of murderers evade prosecution and continue to walk the streets, able to commit more crimes, and possibly more murders, while thousands of mothers, fathers, husbands, wives, sons, and daughters have yet to find closure in the loss of their loved ones.

That is why this bill is so important. This legislation would result in more closed cases, justice for victims, closure for their families, and greater faith in law enforcement.

I ask that my colleagues join me in supporting this bill today.

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