[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 53 (Thursday, May 5, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: May 5, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
               FAIR HOUSING RIGHTS AMENDMENTS ACT OF 1993

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now 
proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 210, S. 668, the 
Fair Housing Rights Amendments Act of 1993.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The bill will be stated by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (S. 668) to amend title IX of the Civil Rights Act 
     of 1968 to increase the penalties for violating the fair 
     housing provisions of the Act, and for other purposes.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection to the immediate 
consideration of the bill?
  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.


                           Amendment No. 1684

  (Purpose: To clarify protections for lawful residents)
  Mr. COHEN. Mr. President, on behalf of Senator Specter, I send to the 
desk an amendment, and I ask for its immediate consideration.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       The Senator from Maine [Mr. Cohen] for Mr. Specter proposes 
     an amendment numbered 1684.

  The amendment is as follows:

       On page 3, strike lines 10 through 12 and insert the 
     following:
       ``(3) any citizen or lawful resident because the citizen or 
     lawful resident is, or has been, or in order to discourage 
     the citizen or lawful resident or any other citizen or lawful 
     resident from lawfully aiding or encouraging.

  Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, I am pleased that the Senate is passing 
S. 668, as I believe this is an important bill that will strengthen the 
enforcement of our fair housing laws. The legislation, drafted at the 
behest of the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice, 
enjoys the support of a bipartisan group of cosponsors. The bill will 
close a gap in the coverage of the criminal provisions of the Fair 
Housing Act, title IX of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, prohibiting 
criminal intimidation or interference with the exercise of fair housing 
rights.
  A similar bill was passed by the Senate by unanimous consent near the 
close of the second session of the 102d Congress, but the House failed 
to act on the bill. I certainly hope that with the time remaining in 
this Congress, we can see this bill enacted this year.
  Current law proscribes the use of intimidation, force, or threat of 
force to willfully injure, intimidate, or interfere with a person's 
exercise of rights secured by Federal fair housing laws. Unless acting 
as part of a conspiracy, a person who violates this provision may not 
be prosecuted for a felony under Federal law unless death or injury 
results. While such acts currently violate Federal law, they are only 
misdemeanors. Crimes of violent intimidation like fire-bombings should 
be punished as felonies--whether or not someone is killed or injured--
for the deterrent value of the increased sentence.
  Closing this gap in felony coverage under the current Fair Housing 
Act is all that this narrow legislation is designed to accomplish. The 
bill makes it a felony for an individual acting alone to use force, or 
the threat of force to intimidate or interfere with the exercise of 
rights guaranteed by the Fair Housing Act if the defendant's action 
results in property damage exceeding $100 or if the defendant uses or 
carries a firearm in the commission of the offense. If these conditions 
are not satisfied, then the violation remains a misdemeanor. The bill 
creates no new Federal crime; it merely makes an act that is currently 
a misdemeanor subject to the more stringent penalties for commission of 
a felony.

  In addition, the legislation conforms the penalties available for 
criminal intimidation under the fair housing laws to those mandated by 
section 3571(b) of title 18 of the United States Code. Thus, the bill 
works no change in currently applicable fines and jail sentences, 
except to the extent that the bill establishes a sentence of up to 5 
years for the new substantive violation established in the legislation.
  The bill we are adopting contains one amendment worked out with 
Senator Metzenbaum. When the Fair Housing Act was adopted in 1968, it 
prohibited intimidation not just of persons seeking to exercise their 
fair housing rights but also people who were aiding or encouraging 
persons to exercise these rights. The law, however, only protected 
persons who were aiding or encouraging others if they were citizens of 
the United States. The rationale for protecting only citizens was that 
it was a responsibility peculiarly associated with citizenship to 
undertake to aid or encourage others in the exercise of their rights. 
The amendment to this bill that has been accepted would extend the 
protection offered by the fair housing laws to those who aid or 
encourage others in the exercise of their fair housing rights if they 
are U.S. citizens or lawful residents of this country. I want to point 
out that all persons enjoy the protection of this law against violent 
intimidation in the exercise of their fair housing rights. Persons in 
this country illegally, however, will not be protected from acts of 
intimidation when they aid or encourage others to exercise their fair 
housing rights. Aliens lawfully in this country will gain protection 
when they aid or encourage others in the exercise of their fair housing 
rights under this bill as adopted.
  I thank the Chair and yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to the amendment.
  The amendment (No. 1684) was agreed to.
  Mr. COHEN. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote.
  Mr. LEVIN. I move to lay that motion on the table.
  The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there further amendments to be proposed?
  If not, without objection, the bill is deemed read the third time and 
passed.
  So the bill (S. 668), as amended, was deemed read the third time and 
passed, as follows:

                                 S. 668

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

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Fair Housing Rights 
     Amendments Act of 1994''.

     SEC. 2. PENALTIES FOR ACTS OF VIOLENCE OR INTIMIDATION.

       Section 901 of the Act entitled ``An Act to prescribe 
     penalties for certain acts of violence or intimidation, and 
     for other purposes'', approved April 11, 1968 (known as the 
     `Civil Rights Act of 1968'; Public Law 90-284; 42 U.S.C. 
     3631), is amended to read as follows:

     ``SEC. 901. PREVENTION OF INTIMIDATION IN FAIR HOUSING CASES.

       ``(a) Unlawful Acts.--It shall be unlawful to use force or 
     threat of force, whether or not acting under color of law, to 
     willfully injure, intimidate, or interfere with, or attempt 
     to injure, intimidate, or interfere with--
       ``(1) any person because of the race, color, religion, sex, 
     handicap familial status, or national origin of the person 
     and because the person is or has been selling, purchasing, 
     renting, financing, occupying, or contracting or negotiating 
     for the sale, purchase, rental, financing, or occupation of 
     any dwelling, or applying for or participating in any 
     service, organization, or facility relating to the business 
     of selling or renting dwellings; or
       ``(2) any person because the person is, or has been, or in 
     order to intimidate the person or any other person or any 
     class of persons from--
       ``(A) participating, without discrimination on account of 
     race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, or 
     national origin, in any of the activities, services, 
     organizations, or facilities described in paragraph (1) of 
     this section; or
       ``(B) affording another person or class of persons 
     opportunity or protection so to participate; or
       ``(3) any citizen or lawful resident because the citizen or 
     lawful resident is, or has been, or in order to discourage 
     the citizen or lawful resident or any other citizen or lawful 
     resident from lawfully aiding or encouraging other persons to 
     participate, without discrimination on account of race, 
     color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, or national 
     origin, in any of the activities, services, organizations, or 
     facilities described in paragraph (1), or participating 
     lawfully in speech or peaceful assembly opposing any denial 
     of the opportunity so to participate.
       ``(b) Penalties.--Whoever commits an act described in 
     subsection (a)--
       ``(1) shall be fined not more than $100,000, or imprisoned 
     not more than 1 year, or both;
       ``(2) that results in bodily injury shall be fined not more 
     than $250,000, or imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both;
       ``(3) that results in death shall be subject to 
     imprisonment for any term of years or for life; and
       ``(4) that results in property damage exceeding the sum of 
     $100 or uses or attempts to use fire in committing the act, 
     or uses or carries a firearm while committing the act, shall 
     be fined not more than $250,000, or imprisoned not more than 
     5 years, or both.
       ``(c) Definitions.--As used in this section:
       ``(1) Familial status.--The term `familial status' has the 
     meaning given the term in section 802.
       ``(2) Firearm.--The term `firearm' has the meaning given 
     the term in section 921(a)(3) of title 18, United States 
     Code.
       ``(3) Handicap.--The term `handicap' has the meaning given 
     the term in section 802.
       ``(4) Bodily injury.--The term `bodily injury' has the 
     meaning given the term in section 1515(a)(5) of title 18, 
     United States Code.''.
  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote.
  Mr. COHEN. I move to lay that motion on the table.
  The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

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