introduced in the Congress during the first half of the 20th century. (10) Between 1890 and 1952, seven Presidents petitioned Congress to end lynching. (11) Between 1920 and 1940, the House of Representatives passed three strong antilynching measures, of which Congress came closest to enacting antilynching legislation sponsored by Congressman Leonidas C. Dyer in 1922. (12) On all three occasions, opponents of antilynching legislation, argued States’ rights and used the filibuster, or the threat of it, to block the Senate from voting on the measures. (13) The enactment of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 was the closest Congress ever came in the post-Reconstruction era to enacting antilynching legislation. (14) In 2005, the Senate passed a resolution, sponsored by Senators Mary Landrieu and George Allen, apologizing for the Senate’s failure to enact antilynching legislation as a Federal crime, with Senator Landrieu saying, There may be no other injustice in American history for which the Senate so uniquely bears responsibility. (15) To heal past and present racial injustice, Congress must make lynching a Federal crime so our Nation can begin reconciliation. 3. Specifying lynching as a hate crime act Section 249(a) of title 18, United States Code, is amended— (1) by redesignating paragraph (4) as paragraph (5)