[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 160 (Thursday, November 13, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S12576-S12577]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. KENNEDY (for himself, Mr. Specter, Mr. Wyden, Mrs. 
        Feinstein, and Mr. Torricelli):
  S. 1529. A bill to enhance Federal enforcement of hate crimes, and 
for other purposes; to the Committee on the Judiciary.


                 the hate crimes prevention act of 1998

  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, it is a privilege to join Senator Specter 
and Senator Wyden in introducing the Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 
1998. Last Monday, President Clinton convened a historic White House 
Conference on Hate Crimes. This conference brought together community 
leaders, law enforcement officials, religious and academic leaders, 
parents, and victims for a national dialogue on how to reduce hate 
violence in our society.
  I commend President Clinton for his leadership on this important 
issue. Few crimes tear at the fabric of society more than hate crimes. 
They injure the immediate victims, but they also injure the entire 
community--and sometimes the entire nation. So it is entirely 
appropriate to use the full power of the federal government to punish 
them.
  This bill is the product of careful consultation with the Department 
of Justice, constitutional scholars, law enforcement officials, and 
many organizations with a long and distinguished history of involvement 
in combating hate crimes, including the Anti-Defamation League, the 
National Organization of Women Legal Defense Fund, the Human Rights 
Campaign, the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, and the 
American Psychological Association. President Clinton strongly supports 
the bill, and we look forward to working closely with the 
administration to ensure its passage.
  Hate crimes are on the rise throughout America. The Federal Bureau of 
Investigation documented 8,000 hate crimes in 1995, a 33-percent 
increase over 1994. The 8,000 documented hate crimes actually 
understate the true number of hate crimes, because reporting is 
voluntary and not all law enforcement agencies report such crimes.
  The National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium recently 
released its 1997 Audit of anti-Asian violence. Their report documented 
a 17-percent increase in hate crimes against Asian-Americans. The 
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force documented a 6-percent increase in 
hate violence against gay, lesbian, and bisexual citizens in 1996. 
Eighty-two percent of hate crimes based on religion in 1995 were anti-
Semitic.
  Gender motivated violence occurs at alarming rates. The Leadership 
Conference on Civil Rights recently issued a report on hate crimes 
which correctly noted that ``society is beginning to realize that many 
assaults against women are not `random' acts of violence but are 
actually bias-related crimes.''
  The rising incidence of hate crimes is simply intolerable. Yet, our 
current Federal laws are inadequate to deal with this violent bigotry. 
The Justice Department is forced to fight the battle against hate 
crimes with one hand tied behind its back.
  There are two principal gaps in existing law that prevent federal 
prosecutors from adequately responding to hate crimes. First, the 
principal federal hate crimes law, 18 United States Code 245, contains 
anachronistic and onerous jurisdictional requirements that frequently 
make it impossible for

[[Page S12577]]

federal officials to prosecute flagrant acts of racial or religious 
violence. Second, federal hate crimes law do not cover gay bashing, 
gender-motivated violence, or hate crimes against the disabled.
  Our bill closes these gaps in existing law, and gives prosecutors the 
tools they need to fight bigots who seek to divide the nation through 
violence. Our bill expands the federal government's ability to punish 
racial violence by removing the unnecessary jurisdictional requirements 
from existing law. In addition, the bill gives federal prosecutors new 
authority to prosecute violence against women, against the disabled, 
and against gays and lesbians.
  The bill also provides additional resources to hire the necessary law 
enforcement personnel to assist in the investigation and prosecution of 
hate crimes. The bill also provides additional resources for programs 
specifically targeted at preventing hate crimes.
  Finally, the bill addresses the growing problem of adults who recruit 
juveniles to committee hate crimes. In Montgomery County, Tennessee, a 
white supremacist founded a hate group known as the ``Aryan Faction,'' 
and recruited new members by going into local high schools. The group 
then embarded on a violent spree of firebombings and arsons before 
being apprehended. Hate crimes disproportionately involve juveniles, 
and the bill directs the Sentencing Commission to study this problem 
and determine appropriate additional sentencing enhancements for adults 
who recruit juveniles to commit hate crimes.
  The structure of this bill is modeled after the Church Arson 
Prevention Act, the bipartisan bill enacted by the Senate unanimously 
last year in response to the epidemic of church arson crimes. Combating 
hate crimes has always been a bipartisan issue in the Senate. The Hate 
Crimes Statistics Act has overwhelming bipartisan support, and it was 
extended last year by a unanimous vote. The Hate Crimes Sentencing 
Enhancement Act was enacted in 1994 by a 92-4 vote in the Senate.
  The bill we are introducing today is the next step in our bipartisan 
effort to combat hate violence. This bill is an essential part of the 
battle against bigotry, and I urge the Senate to give high priority 
when Congress returns to session in January.
  Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I am pleased to join my colleagues, 
Senators Kennedy and Specter, in introducing a bill that will make it 
clear that this country will no more tolerate violence directed at 
gays, women, or people with disabilities. This legislation will end the 
bizarre double standard which says that hate crimes motivated by one 
sort of prejudice are a Federal crime, while those motivated by other 
biases are not. It will assure that every American who becomes a victim 
of a hate crime has equal standing under Federal law, because hatred 
and violence are always wrong.
  This bipartisan bill is based on a common conviction that this 
country still has work to do in rooting out hatred, prejudice and the 
violence they generate. Hate crimes--the threat or use of force to 
injure, intimidate or interfere with another person solely because of 
the person's race, color, religion or national origin--cannot be 
tolerated in our society. That point has already been enshrined in law 
and passage of the Hate Crimes Statistics Reporting Act in 1990, 
followed by the Hate Crimes Penalty Enhancement Act in 1993 and the 
1996 resolution condemning church burnings.
  Our bill simply seeks to offer the same protection to victims of gay 
bashing, woman beating and crimes against people with disabilities that 
has already been offered to victims of bias crimes based on racial and 
ethnic discrimination.
  Today, the perpetrator who hurls a brick at someone because he is 
Asian-American can be prosecuted under Federal law. The one who attacks 
gay men to ``teach them a lesson'' cannot. The perpetrator who burns a 
black church or defaces a synagogue can be prosecuted under Federal 
law. The one who targets people in wheelchairs or blind people cannot. 
This legislation would erase that double standard from the books. Hate 
crimes are all the same, and they are never acceptable.
  I urge my colleagues to join us in moving forward with this important 
legislation when we return here next year.
                                 ______