[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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