[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 72 (Tuesday, May 21, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5458-S5459]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 HATE CRIMES STATISTICS ACT AMENDMENTS

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the immediate consideration of calendar No. 384, S. 1624.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (S. 1624) to reauthorize the Hate Crimes Statistics 
     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.
  Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I wish to express my appreciation to the 
Senate for its swift action in passing S. 1624, which permanently 
reauthorizes the Hate Crime Statistics Act.
  The people of my State of Utah, and of all of our States, have a 
stake in this legislation, because any of our citizens can fall prey to 
a hate crime. Every crime, of course, is a terrible event. But the hate 
crime is of a particularly insidious nature. It splits the individual 
victim apart from his or her neighbors and community. It isolates the 
victim because of who he or she is. The hate crime emphasizes the 
differences, not as the strengths they are in this diverse country, but 
as a means of dividing American from American. It submerges the common 
humanity of all peoples. All real Americans condemn these vile crimes 
without hesitation or reservation.
  Under the Hate Crime Statistics Act, the Attorney General is required 
to collect data ``about crimes that manifest evidence of prejudice 
based on race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or ethnicity. 
. . .'' The act has resulted in the creation of a Federal data base on 
bias-motivated criminal acts. In addition, it has served as a catalyst 
for an FBI effort to train State and local law enforcement officials 
about hate crimes. Collection of this data can help alert local 
communities and their law enforcement agencies to any pattern of hate 
crimes in their neighborhoods. It can also help spur educational 
efforts aimed at enhancing goodwill in our communities. The Hate Crime 
Statistics Act has proven its value, and has earned the permanent 
reauthorization that the Senate has now approved.
  I wish to commend my friend and distinguished colleague, Senator 
Simon, for his work on this issue. Without his tireless efforts, there 
would have been no Hate Crime Statistics Act of 1990, and no 
reauthorization of the act this year. I also wish to commend his chief 
counsel, Susan Kaplan, for her work on this law over several years.
  Mr. SIMON. Mr. President, I am pleased that today the Senate will 
pass S. 1624, a bill to reauthorize and provide a permanent mandate for 
the Hate Crimes Statistics Act. I would like to thank Chairman Hatch 
for his leadership on this important issue, as well as my 51 colleagues 
who cosponsored this measure. In addition to its strong bipartisan 
support in the Senate, this bill also has the strong support of 
Attorney General Reno, as well as the endorsement of major law 
enforcement and advocacy groups.
  The Hate Crimes Statistics Act, which passed the Senate in 1990 by a 
vote of 92 to 4 and was signed into law by then President Bush, 
requires the Justice Department to collect data on crimes that show 
evidence of prejudice based on race, religion, ethnicity, or sexual 
orientation. Until this Act was passed, no Federal records of such 
crimes were maintained. This lack of information made it difficult to 
determine whether a particular crime was an isolated incident, or part 
of a continuing series against a particular group.
  The act has proven successful in its initial purpose--the creation of 
data collection--and has also served as a catalyst for an FBI effort to 
train State and local law enforcement officials about hate crimes. 
Hearings held before the Senate Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on 
the Constitution in 1992 and 1994 showed that one of the prime benefits 
of the act is that it has helped dramatically increase the awareness 
and sensitivity of the police about hate crimes. Not only do victims of 
hate crimes benefit from a more informed police force, but greater 
police awareness encourages others to report hate crimes.
  Since all data submission under the act is voluntary, we did not 
anticipate 100 percent participation by State and local law enforcement 
agencies from the start. Nonetheless, over the course of 4 years, there 
has been great progress in participation levels. In 1991, 2,771 law 
enforcement agencies participated in the voluntary reporting program. 
In 1994, more than 7,200 agencies participated. Local police, advocacy 
groups, mayors, and others have joined the effort to encourage every 
law enforcement agency to comply, and as more and more local agencies 
participate, the statistics will be more and more useful to identify 
trends and formulate responses. In addition, the FBI is in the process 
of working with States to upgrade their computer systems. When this 
transition is complete, the data should be even more useful. 
Unfortunately, there are still law enforcement agencies in some States 
and many large cities which are not yet participating in the data 
collection. We need active oversight of this act to ensure that these 
agencies join in this important effort, making the statistics more 
accurate and useful.
  FBI Director Louis Freeh has stated that he is committed to the 
continued tracking of hate crimes statistics. However, we believe that 
this effort has proven its usefulness and deserves a permanent mandate. 
Collecting such data will not erase bigotry. It will, however, be a 
valuable tool in the fight against prejudice.
  Obviously, the FBI statistics do not yet accurately reflect the level 
of violence motivated by prejudice in our society. We need only read 
the headlines and reports by advocacy groups to see how widespread the 
problem of hate crimes remains in our Nation.
  The Justice Department recently launched a civil rights probe into a 
rash of arson which has destroyed at least 23 black churches in the 
South since 1993. The Justice Department is trying to determine whether 
the crimes are racially motivated, and whether they are connected. 
Several of the incidents have been solved, however, and clearly racism 
motivated the offenders. The teenagers found guilty of burning a church 
in Mississippi in 1993 shouted racial epithets during commission of 
their crime. Racist graffiti was spray-painted on the walls of a 
Knoxville, TN Baptist church set afire on January 8, 1996. Sumter 
County Circuit Court Judge Eddie Hardaway, a black judge who sent two 
white men to jail for vandalizing black churches, was recently the 
victim of a shotgun attack which shattered bedroom windows in his home. 
During the 1960's civil rights movement, many black churches were set 
ablaze, however in the late 1980's and early 1990's only one or two 
such crimes were reported each year. This recent string of arson 
reminds us that prejudice and hate crimes remain a problem in our 
Nation.
  Recent reports by private groups, such as the Anti-Defamation League, 
the National Coalition on Anti-Violence Projects, and the National 
Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium, confirm that unfortunately the 
problem of crimes based on prejudice continues. The ADL's 1995 annual 
audit of

[[Page S5459]]

anti-Semitic incidents actually had some good news: the 1,843 anti-
Semitic incidents reported to the Anti-Defamation League in 1995 
represented a decrease of 223 incidents, or 11 percent, from the 1994 
total of 2,066. This is the largest decline in 10 years. However, this 
good news is tempered by the seriousness of many of the incidents 
reported. For the fifth straight year in a row, acts of anti-Semitic 
harassment against individuals outnumber incidents of vandalism against 
institutions and other property.
  The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Projects and New York City 
Gay and Lesbian Anti-Violence Project report similar findings for 1995. 
There were fewer incidents of violence against homosexuals in 1995, but 
the incidents were more violent. There was an 8 percent drop in the 
number of incidents, but a 10 percent increase in the number of 
assaults and rapes.
  We need to realize that the name-calling, the graffiti, the 
discrimination, and the threats and violence are all signs of a 
pervasive problem. The more informed we are about the scope and nature 
of our communities' problems with hate crimes, the better able we will 
be to develop effective prevention and prosecution strategies, as well 
as support structures for victims of these crimes.
  I am pleased to join with Senator Hatch today to express our 
gratitude to our colleagues, the Attorney General, law enforcement and 
advocacy groups across the Nation who helped us to pass this important 
legislation and urge our friends in the House to move quickly to pass 
this as well.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be 
deemed read a third time and passed; that the motion to reconsider be 
laid upon the table; and that any statements relating to the bill be 
placed at the appropriate place in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The bill (S. 1624) was deemed read the third time and passed, as 
follows:

                                S. 1624

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

     SECTION 1. REAUTHORIZATION.

       The first section of the Hate Crime Statistics Act (28 
     U.S.C. 534 note) is amended--
       (1) in subsection (b), by striking ``for the calendar year 
     1990 and each of the succeeding 4 calendar years'' and 
     inserting ``for each calendar year''; and
       (2) in subsection (c), by striking ``through fiscal year 
     1994''.

                          ____________________