119-hr4228

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4228 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

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119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 4228

 To provide justice for living survivors of the 1921 Tulsa/Greenwood 
 Race Massacre.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 June 27, 2025

Mr. Green of Texas (for himself, Mr. Bell, Mrs. McIver, Ms. Sewell, Ms. 
 Simon, Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, Ms. Tlaib, Mr. David Scott of 
 Georgia, Mr. Soto, Ms. Lee of Pennsylvania, Mr. Carter of Louisiana, 
Ms. Pressley, Ms. Velazquez, Mrs. Sykes, Mr. Fields, Mr. Meeks, and Mr. 
 Frost) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
 Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To provide justice for living survivors of the 1921 Tulsa/Greenwood 
 Race Massacre.

 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

 This Act may be cited as the ``Original Justice for living 
survivors of the 1921 Tulsa/Greenwood Race Massacre Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

 Congress finds the following:

    (1) In the Greenwood district of Tulsa, Oklahoma, on May 31 
 and June 1, 1921, following specious allegations that a Black 
 teenager sexually assaulted a White woman, a vicious violent 
 mob of armed White Tulsans encircled Greenwood and terrorized 
 the district's Black residents for nearly 48 hours. During this 
 time, the Federal Government did nothing to aid or defend the 
 residents of Greenwood.

    (2) The violent mob murdered and assaulted Black citizens.

    (3) The vicious mob looted and destroyed the approximately 
 35-square block Greenwood community, including a Federal post 
 office.

    (4) The Tulsa Race Massacre left hundreds dead, over 1,500 
 homes and businesses destroyed, leaving approximately 10,000 
 Black Tulsans homeless.

    (5) The Greenwood business district, colloquially known as 
 Black Wall Street, and once considered the wealthiest Black 
 community in the nation, was violently decimated.

    (6) For over 100 years, the city, county, State, and 
 Federal Governments have failed to ensure any meaningful 
 measure of justice for the victims of the Tulsa Race Massacre.

    (7) In 2001, the Oklahoma State Commission to Study the 
 Tulsa Race Riot recommended that monetary compensation be paid 
 to survivors of the Tulsa Race Massacre. The State of Oklahoma 
 and City of Tulsa ignored the recommendation, and no monetary 
 compensation has been given to any survivors.

    (8) Only two of the thousands of victims of the Tulsa Race 
 Massacre, 111 year-old Viola Ford Fletcher and 110 year-old 
 Lessie Benningfield Randle, remain with us. They have 
 continued, for over 100 years, to appeal to our better angels 
 for justice.

    (9) On September 1, 2020, 110-year-old victim Viola Ford 
 Fletcher and 111-year-old victim Lessie Benningfield Randle 
 filed suit in Oklahoma State court. The suit was sadly 
 dismissed, and the regrettable dismissal was affirmed by the 
 Oklahoma Supreme Court on procedural grounds on June 12, 2024.

    (10) On June 12, 2024, the Oklahoma Supreme Court, in its 
 decision dismissing the two survivors' lawsuit, Randle et. al. 
 v. City of Tulsa, et. al. the court acknowledged the legitimacy 
 of the plaintiffs' grievances but concluded that their claims 
 did not fall within the scope of Oklahoma's public nuisance 
 statute. Specifically, the court stated ``Plaintiffs' grievance 
 with the social and economic inequities created by the Tulsa 
 Race Massacre is legitimate and worthy of merit. However, the 
 [Oklahoma State] law does not permit us to extend the scope of 
 our public nuisance doctrine beyond what the Legislature has 
 authorized to afford Plaintiffs the justice they are 
 seeking.''.

    (11) On September 30, 2024, the Department of Justice 
 announced that it would review and evaluate the Tulsa Race 
 Massacre under the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act.

    (12) On January 17, 2025, the United States Department of 
 Justice's report, issued pursuant to the Emmett Till Unsolved 
 Civil Rights Crimes Reauthorization Act, stated that the Tulsa 
 Race Massacre of 1921 was not merely an episode of mob 
 violence, but a systematic and coordinated act of racial 
 terrorism. The report concluded that the massacre was 
 distinguished by its magnitude, barbarity, and white 
 supremacist hostility, resulting in the near-total annihilation 
 of Greenwood--a thriving Black community known as Black Wall 
 Street. The Department characterized the massacre as, ``a civil 
 rights crime unique in its scale and devastation'', 
 underscoring the profound and unredressed harm inflicted upon 
 Black Americans in Tulsa and the failure of local, State, and 
 Federal authorities to hold perpetrators accountable.

    (13) Historical precedents show that the Federal Government 
 as a determinant of last resort has taken action to provide 
 recompense relief for victims of blatantly unconscionable mass 
 injustices.

    (14) In 1988, Congress, as a determinant of last resort, 
 awarded Japanese citizens who were victims of unjust 
 internment, $20,000 each.

    (15) In 1990, Congress, as a determinant of last resort, 
 awarded eligible workers injured during work related to uranium 
 mining, $100,000 each.

    (16) In 2001, Congress, as a determinant of last resort, 
 established the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund which has, to 
 date, awarded approximately $19,649,000,000 to victims of the 
 September 11th terrorist attack.

    (17) In 2015, Congress, pursuant to the Consolidated and 
 Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015, awarded a five-
 year $17,000,000 grant initiative to assist aging victims of 
 the Holocaust.

    (18) Tulsa Race Massacre victims, 111-year-old Viola Ford 
 Fletcher and 110-year-old Lessie Benningfield Randle, are in 
 the twilight of their lives. Relief action must be taken post 
 haste.

    (19) The failure to accord Race Massacre victims, 111-year-
 old Viola Ford Fletcher and 110-year-old Lessie Benningfield 
 Randle, monetary relief similar to prior historical precedents 
 will become justice denied.

SEC. 3. JUST COMPENSATION FOR OVER 100 YEARS OF SUFFERING AND INJUSTICE 
 INFLICTED.

    (a) Payment.--Not later than 30 days after receipt of the 
certification required under subsection
            (c) , the Secretary of the 
Treasury shall pay $10,398,368 in compensatory damages and $10,398,368 
in punitive damages to each surviving victim of the 1921 Tulsa Race 
Massacre still alive, as of May 1, 2025 (or, in the event of death 
prior to such payment, to their estate).

    (b) Basis.--The payment required by subsection

    (a) shall be to 
compensate the living survivor for the harm they sustained as a result 
of the failure of the Federal Government to prevent, investigate, 
prosecute, or litigate the Tulsa Race Massacre.
            (c) Certification.--Upon receiving proof of identity in the form of 
a birth certificate from an individual described in subsection

    (a) , the 
Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights shall certify the payment 
authorized under subsection

    (a) to that individual. The Assistant 
Attorney General for Civil Rights may not require any additional 
information from such an individual to certify such payments.
            (d) Judgment Fund.--The payments under subsection

    (a) shall be made 
out of the fund established under 

section 1304 of title 31, United 
States Code (commonly referred to as the ``Judgment Fund'').

SEC. 4. SATISFACTION OF CLAIMS.

 The payments made pursuant to 

section 3 shall be in full 
satisfaction of all claims a living survivor may have against the 
United States for any harm described in such section.

SEC. 5. INELIGIBILITY FOR ADDITIONAL BENEFITS.

 Upon payment of the sums referred to in 

section 3, a living 
survivor shall not be eligible for any additional compensation or 
benefits from the Federal Government for any harm described in such 
section.
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