. >> my name is alvin sykes. among my many titles, the most i -- the one i am

name is alvin sykes and i am to represent the kansas city library system.applause] you are in for an exciting treat. i'm going toowing, read the introduction so we stay on point.

>> you have got to know alvin sykes.alvin would be the best to answer both of those. >> the second question first, where we are at with the reauthorization of the emmett till act. it is presently before congress. we expect as early as any day now for it to pass out of the united states congress. the bill will, as it is wrote now -- the original bill only dealt with racially motivated murders from 1969 back. the current reauthorization bill calls for the extension forward forever. so that with any unsolved civil rights era murder, but any civil rights murder would, under its jurisdiction. we had the hurdle earlier this year where we first got it passed in the senate, and then it came to the house, and they wanted to make some changes. the irony of the election result made it a lot stronger for the belief that the bill would get passed. we are in active negotiations right now. yesterday was the beginning of the lame-duck session. we fully expect it to pass during the lame-duck session. as far as what it takes to get a case

. >> my name is alvin sykes. among my many titles, the most i ofthe one i am most proud tonight is as the scholar in residence of the kansas city missouri public library system. excitingn for a very treat. to keep it going in a flowing way, i am destined to read the introduction so we stay on point , but the person, my friend who is here tonight, who came from salt lake, utah, is the author till: thek, "emmett murder that shocked the world and propelled the civil rights movement." of the most definitive books on the subject. it took him 21 years from conception to completion to write the book you're i had the privilege to work on emmett till's case -- the book. i had the privilege to work on witht till's case, to work his mother to have the case reinvestigated and to have the the unsolved pass civil rights congress is working on it right now. we expect it to pass. he is an editor at signature working onah and is a masters degree in publishing. he is the editor of several books on mormon history. he published his

name is alvin sykes and i am to represent the kansas city library system. [applause] you are in for an exciting treat. i'm going toowing, read the introduction so we stay on point. who is here tonight who came from salt lake, utah, his name is devery anderson. he is the author of the book, "emmett till: the murder that shock the world and propelled the civil rights movement." it is one of the most definitive books on the subject. it took him 21 years from conception to completion to write this book. and i had the privilege to work on this case, emmett till's case, starting in 2002 with emmett till's mother, to work toward the reopening of the case to be reinvestigated and to have the united states congress to pass the emmett till unsolved civil rights crime act. that is now in the works being we authorized again. congress is working on it right now. we expect in the next several weeks for that to pass. [applause] anderson is an editor at signature books in salt lake, utah, and is currently working on a masters degree in publishing at the george washington u