A bipartisan bill sponsored by Sen. Doug Jones (D-AL) and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) to release the records on Civil Rights-era cold cases passed the United States Senate Monday, according to a press release from Jones’ office.

The Civil Rights Cold Case Records Collection Act, which will allow for the “review, declassification, and release of government records related to unsolved criminal civil rights cases,” passed the Senate unanimously.

The cold case bill will require the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) to create a collection of records regarding “unsolved criminal civil rights cases” that various government offices must make public in the collection.

Further, the legislation will establish a Civil Rights Cold Case Records Review Board to facilitate the review of these documents and ensure they are shared with the NARA. It will also aid in the disclosure of documents relevant to the cases.

Many of the records are not accessible to the public and some have remained classified despite being almost 50 years old.

The legislation, introduced in July, is near to Jones’ heart – in 2001 and 2002, the former U.S. Attorney successfully prosecuted two former Klansmen for 1963 bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham that resulted in the deaths of four young girls.

“This legislation means a great deal to the families and communities that have been impacted by these civil rights-era crimes,” Jones said in the press release. “I understand well how important it is to confront the darkest moments in our history so that we can begin to heal and move forward together. This bill will unlock records that can help us better understand that history and give victims’ families a chance at a sense of closure.”

Since being introduced, the bipartisan legislation has ignited renewed interest in cold cases stemming from the battles of the Civil Rights era, one of the best known being the 1955 murder of 14-year-old Emmett Till in Mississippi.

The Till case was reopened by the U.S. Department of Justice this year after new information was received.

According to the press release, more than 100 similar cases remain unsolved across the country.

At least five of these cases stem directly from Dallas County, one of which is the case of James Joseph Reeb, a Boston minister who was murdered in 1965.

According to a 2011 article in The Boston Globe,  Reeb’s death helped usher in the Voting Rights Act.

Another case, that of Jimmie Lee Jackson, a protester murdered in 1965, is said to have directly led to the historic Selma to Montgomery march.

The bill will go before the U.S. House of Representatives before making its way to the president’s desk.