Press Releases

Washington, D.C. - Today, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) issued the following statement after the Committee voted to advance five bipartisan bills to the full House of Representatives: 

"I am very proud of the bipartisan legislation passed by the Judiciary Committee during today's markup. The bills advanced will help families of murder victims seek justice for their loved ones and improve our ability to prevent and combat cybercrime. Additionally, the legislation passed by the Committee will substantially expand compensation eligibility for those harmed by the U.S. government’s activities related to nuclear weapons development, and bring recognition to inventors and inventions that make a meaningful contribution to humanitarian causes. I was also particularly proud that the Committee passed the Emmett Till Antilynching Act, long-overdue legislation that explicitly designates lynching as a hate crime under federal law. I thank all the Members for their work, and I urge passage of these bills by the full House of Representatives."

The Committee favorably reported the following bills: 

H.R. 3359, the Homicide Victims’ Families’ Rights Act of 2021

The Homicide Victims' Families Rights Act, introduced by Representatives Eric Swalwell (D-CA) and Michael McCaul (R-TX), gives family members of murder victims the right, for cases that have been investigated at the federal level, to request a federal law enforcement agency review of their loved ones’ case files when the case has gone cold after three years. The bill passed by a voice vote. 

H.R. 4977, the Better Cybercrime Metrics Act

The Better Cybercrime Metrics Act, introduced by Representatives Abigail Spanberger (D-VA), Blake Moore (R-UT), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), and Andrew Garbarino (R-NY), prevents and combats cybercrime by directing the Department of Justice to work with the National Academy of Sciences, law enforcement, business leaders, cybercrime experts, and other stakeholders to create a taxonomy of the different types of cybercrime and cyber-enabled crimes. It also directs the Attorney General to include cybercrime in the National Incident-Based Reporting System and directs the Bureau of Justice Statistics to include cybercrime in the National Crime Victimization Survey. The bill passed by a voice vote. 

H.R. 55, the Emmett Till Antilynching Act

The Emmett Till Antilynching Act, introduced by Representative Bobby L. Rush (D-IL), explicitly designates lynching as a hate crime under federal law. The bill passed by a voice vote.

H.R. 5338, the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act Amendments of 2021

The Radiation Exposure Compensation Act Amendments of 2021, introduced by Representatives Teresa Leger Fernández (D-NM) and Burgess Owens (R-UT), updates the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act to substantially expand compensation eligibility for those harmed by atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons by the United States government and by uranium mining that was done to produce these weapons. The bill passed by a vote of 25-8.

H.R. 5796, the Patents for Humanity Act of 2021

The Patents for Humanity Act, introduced by Representatives Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and Victoria Spartz (R-IN), codifies an awards program started by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office designed to bring additional recognition to inventors and inventions that make a meaningful contribution to humanitarian causes. The bill passed by a voice vote.