[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1406 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1406

                         To combat hate crimes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 21, 1999

   Mr. Hatch introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
               referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
                         To combat hate crimes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. HATE CRIMES.

    (a) Declarations.--Congress declares that--
            (1) further efforts must be taken at all levels of 
        government to respond to the staggering brutality of hate 
        crimes that have riveted public attention and shocked the 
        Nation;
            (2) hate crimes are prompted by bias and are committed to 
        send a message of hate to targeted communities, usually defined 
        on the basis of immutable traits;
            (3) the prominent characteristic of a hate crime is that it 
        devastates not just the actual victim and the victim's family 
        and friends, but frequently savages the community sharing the 
        traits that caused the victim to be selected;
            (4) any efforts undertaken by the Federal Government to 
        combat hate crimes must respect the primacy that States and 
        local officials have traditionally been accorded in the 
        criminal prosecution of acts constituting hate crimes; and
            (5) an overly broad reaction by the Federal Government to 
        this serious problem might ultimately diminish the 
        accountability of State and local officials in responding to 
        hate crimes and transgress the constitutional limitations on 
        the powers vested in Congress under the Constitution.
    (b) Studies.--
            (1) Collection of data.--
                    (A) Definition of hate crime.--In this paragraph, 
                the term ``hate crime'' means--
                            (i) a crime described in subsection (b)(1) 
                        of the first section of the Hate Crime 
                        Statistics Act (28 U.S.C. 534 note); and
                            (ii) a crime that manifests evidence of 
                        prejudice based on gender or age.
                    (B) Collection from cross-section of states.--Not 
                later than 120 days after the date of enactment of this 
                Act, the Comptroller General of the United States, in 
                consultation with the National Governors' Association, 
                shall select 10 jurisdictions with laws classifying 
                certain types of crimes as hate crimes and 10 
                jurisdictions without such laws from which to collect 
                data described in subparagraph (C) over a 12-month 
                period.
                    (C) Data to be collected.--The data to be collected 
                are--
                            (i) the number of hate crimes that are 
                        reported and investigated;
                            (ii) the percentage of hate crimes that are 
                        prosecuted and the percentage that result in 
                        conviction;
                            (iii) the length of the sentences imposed 
                        for crimes classified as hate crimes within a 
                        jurisdiction, compared with the length of 
                        sentences imposed for similar crimes committed 
                        in jurisdictions with no hate crime laws; and
                            (iv) references to and descriptions of the 
                        laws under which the offenders were punished.
                    (D) Costs.--Participating jurisdictions shall be 
                reimbursed for the reasonable and necessary costs of 
                compiling data under this paragraph.
            (2) Study of trends.--
                    (A) In general.--Not later than 18 months after the 
                date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 
                of the United States and the General Accounting Office 
                shall complete a study that analyzes the data collected 
                under paragraph (1) and under the Hate Crime Statistics 
                Act of 1990 to determine the extent of hate crime 
                activity throughout the country and the success of 
                State and local officials in combating that activity.
                    (B) Identification of trends.--In the study 
                conducted under subparagraph (A), the Comptroller 
                General of the United States and the General Accounting 
                Office shall identify any trends in the commission of 
                hate crimes specifically by--
                            (i) geographic region;
                            (ii) type of crime committed; and
                            (iii) the number of hate crimes that are 
                        prosecuted and the number for which convictions 
                        are obtained.
    (c) Model Statute.--
            (1) In general.--To encourage the identification and 
        prosecution of hate crimes throughout the country, the Attorney 
        General shall, through the National Conference of Commissioners 
        on Uniform State Laws of the American Law Institute or another 
        appropriate forum, and in consultation with the States, develop 
        a model statute to carry out the goals described in subsection 
        (a) and criminalize acts classified as hate crimes.
            (2) Requirements.--In developing the model statute, the 
        Attorney General shall--
                    (A) include in the model statute crimes that 
                manifest evidence of prejudice; and
                    (B) prepare an analysis of all reasons why any 
                crime motivated by prejudice based on any traits of a 
                victim should or should not be included.
    (d) Support for Criminal Investigations and Prosecutions by State 
and Local Law Enforcement Officials.--
            (1) Assistance other than financial assistance.--
                    (A) In general.--At the request of a law 
                enforcement official of a State or a political 
                subdivision of a State, the Attorney General, acting 
                through the Director of the Federal Bureau of 
                Investigation, shall provide technical, forensic, 
                prosecutorial, or any other form of assistance in the 
                criminal investigation or prosecution of any crime 
                that--
                            (i) constitutes a crime of violence (as 
                        defined in section 16 of title 18, United 
                        States Code);
                            (ii) constitutes a felony under the laws of 
                        the State; and
                            (iii) is motivated by prejudice based on 
                        the victim's race, ethnicity, or religion or is 
                        a violation of the State's hate crime law.
                    (B) Priority.--In providing assistance under 
                subparagraph (A), the Attorney General shall give 
                priority to crimes committed by offenders who have 
                committed crimes in more than 1 State.
            (2) Grants.--
                    (A) In general.--There is established a grant 
                program within the Department of Justice to assist 
                State and local officials in the investigation and 
                prosecution of hate crimes.
                    (B) Eligibility.--A State or political subdivision 
                of a State applying for assistance under this paragraph 
                shall--
                            (i) describe the purposes for which the 
                        grant is needed; and
                            (ii) certify that the State or political 
                        subdivision lacks the resources necessary to 
                        investigate or prosecute the hate crime.
                    (C) Deadline.--An application for a grant under 
                this paragraph shall be approved or disapproved by the 
                Attorney General not later than 24 hours after the 
                application is submitted.
                    (D) Grant amount.--A grant under this paragraph 
                shall not exceed $100,000 for any single case.
                    (E) Report.--Not later than December 31, 2001, the 
                Attorney General, in consultation with the National 
                Governors' Association, shall submit to Congress a 
                report describing the applications made for grants 
                under this paragraph, the award of such grants, and the 
                effectiveness of the grant funds awarded.
                    (F) Authorization of appropriations.--There is 
                authorized to be appropriated to carry out this 
                paragraph $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2000 and 
                2001.
    (e) Interstate Travel To Commit Hate Crime.--
            (1) In general.--Chapter 13 of title 18, United States 
        Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 249. Interstate travel to commit hate crime
    ``(a) In General.--A person, whether or not acting under color of 
law, who--
            ``(1) travels across a State line or enters or leaves 
        Indian country in order, by force or threat of force, to 
        willfully injure, intimidate, or interfere with, or by force or 
        threat of force to attempt to injure, intimidate, or interfere 
        with, any person because of the person's race, color, religion, 
        or national origin; and
            ``(2) by force or threat of force, willfully injures, 
        intimidates, or interferes with, or by force or threat of force 
        attempts to willfully injure, intimidate, or interfere with any 
        person because of the person's race, color, religion, or 
        national origin,
shall be subject to a penalty under subsection (b).
    ``(b) Penalties.--A person described in subsection (a) who is 
subject to a penalty under this subsection--
            ``(1) shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more 
        than 1 year, or both;
            ``(2) if bodily injury results or if the violation includes 
        the use, attempted use, or threatened use of a dangerous 
        weapon, explosives, or fire, shall be fined under this title, 
        imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both; or
            ``(3) if death results or if the violation includes 
        kidnapping or an attempt to kidnap, aggravated sexual abuse or 
        an attempt to commit aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to 
        kill--
                    ``(A) shall be fined under this title, imprisoned 
                for any term of years or for life, or both; or
                    ``(B) may be sentenced to death.''.
            (2) Technical amendment.--The analysis for chapter 13 of 
        title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end 
        the following:

``249. Interstate travel to commit hate crime.''.
                                 <all>