Model Independent Extraction of |V_(rm bc)| Without Heavy Quark Symmetry

A new method to extract $|V_{\rm bc}|$ is proposed based on a sum--rule for semileptonic decays of the $B$ meson. The method relies on much weaker assumptions than previous approaches which are based on heavy--quark symmetry. This sum--rule only relies on the assumption that the virtual $c \overline{c}$ pair content of the $B$ meson can be neglected. The extraction of the CKM matrix element also requires that the sum--rule saturates in the kinematically accessible region.