[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 47 (Tuesday, April 3, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E523]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   REINTRODUCTION OF HATE CRIMES BILL

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JOHN CONYERS, JR.

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, April 3, 2001

  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to introduce the Local Law 
Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2001, along with 
Representatives Gephardt, Skelton, Frank, Baldwin, Morella, Kolbe, 
Foley, Shays and Kelly. As of today there are 180 orginal cosponsors.
  In the year 2001, there are still too many messages to African-
Americans and other minorities that we are not full participants in 
American democracy. Decrepit voting machinery in African-American 
communities disenfranchises our voters. Racial profiling continues 
unabated. Discrimination continues.
  There have been over 50,000 hate crimes reported in the last five 
years, and nearly 8,000 reported last year alone. The gruesome, hateful 
murders of James Byrd and Matthew Shepard stand as symbols of the 
incidence of hate violence that has worsened since their deaths. Hate 
crimes don't only visit unspeakable violence on the immediate victims, 
but also send a message of a desired apartheid that its sponsors want 
to violently enforce. Today, organized hate and supremacist groups 
operate with greater sophistication, and across state lines.
  While many of these crimes do and should get prosecuted at the state 
and local levels, many do not. Some local governments lack the 
resources to track interstate hate groups that perpetrate them. In 
other places, there may even be a lack of will. Ten states, for 
example, have no hate crime laws on the books, and another 21 have 
anemic hate crime laws.
  If enacted, this legislation would give the federal government the 
jurisdictional tools necessary to assist local law enforcement in 
fighting the scourge of hate violence.
  In instances where state and local governments do not have the 
capacity to prosecute such crimes, the legislation creates a federal 
backstop--the ability for the local U.S. attorney to ensure that 
justice will be done, deterring hate violence regardless of whether the 
victim happens to be engaged in a ``federally protected'' activity. And 
even in those cases, federal prosecution can only proceed if approved 
by the Attorney General.
  Our primary desire is to see these crimes prosecuted by state and 
local governments more effectively. That's why the bill authorizes 
funds to support state investigative and prosecutorial efforts.
  The bill is not and should not be partisan. There should be unanimous 
agreement that there will be ``zero-tolerance'' for the hate. This bill 
takes the first step in that direction.

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