House wants antilynching bill on Trump’s desk this week

Congress by the end of the week will send President Donald Trump a bill to make lynching a federal crime for the first time, a long overdue recognition of the country’s history of the hateful acts, the sponsors of the legislation said Wednesday.

The House on Wednesday passed, 410-4, a version of the antilynching legislation, introduced by Democratic Sen. Kamala Harris of California and passed on a voice vote in the Senate a year ago. The House bill is identical except the title: “Emmett Till Antilynching Act.”

Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland told reporters it is “extraordinarily important” to keep Till’s name in the title of the House bill as introduced by Rep. Bobby L. Rush, D-Ill.