[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 167 (Wednesday, December 5, 2001)]
[House]
[Pages H8890-H8891]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  SUPPORT H.R. 1343, LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT HATE CRIMES PREVENTION ACT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Pence). Under a previous order of the 
House, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Rodriguez) is recognized for 5 
minutes.

[[Page H8891]]

  Mr. RODRIGUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I am here today to call attention to the 
dramatic rise of hate crimes and voice my support of H.R. 1343, the 
Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act.
  Last Congress, we came closer to enacting legislation that would have 
reaffirmed our commitment to prosecuting those who commit hate crimes. 
The Senate passed the hate crimes amendment on the defense 
appropriations act. The House subsequently passed a motion, which the 
majority of us supported, to instruct the conferees to retain the 
language contained in the Senate version of the defense authorization 
bill. Unfortunately, the conference committee ignored the will of the 
House and the Senate and chose not to retain the hate crime provisions 
in the final conference report.
  Opponents of the hate crime measure have charged that it grants 
preferential treatment to certain groups. This is totally a false 
presumption. Heinous crimes that target victims solely on the basis of 
their race, their color, religion, national origin or sexual 
orientation deserve enhanced punishment. Because hate crimes are as 
diverse as the persons who commit them, we are all vulnerable to 
becoming victims. Hate crime legislation is a reaffirmation, not a 
denouncement of our Nation's commitment to civil rights and equal 
protection under the law for all Americans.
  Furthermore, I reject the notion that a hate crimes bill would 
undermine one of the most important constitutional tenets, the freedom 
of speech. This could not be further from the truth. Racist groups and 
other extremists would have the constitutional right to preach and 
spread their propaganda. However, if those views translate into 
premeditated violence against a person or persons because of their 
ethnicity, their religion, or their sexual orientation, then those 
perpetrators should be held justly accountable for their acts.
  The Texas legislature passed a hate crimes bill earlier this year 
after failing to do so during the previous legislative session. The 
bill was named to commemorate James Byrd, Junior, an African American 
man who was dragged to his death in Jasper, Texas, in 1998 by three 
white men solely because of the fact that he was black.
  During the 1999 legislative session, the Texas House also passed a 
hate crimes bill. Unfortunately, opponents blocked consideration of the 
measure in the Texas Senate. Even more disappointing was that then-
Governor George Bush was silent on the issue and refused to pledge his 
support for the bill. I am pleased that this year the legislature in 
Texas was able to remove the previous roadblocks and secure passage of 
the bill.
  However, now that Texas has committed itself to hate crimes 
prevention, it needs the tools to facilitate the enforcement. For this 
reason, I am proud to be a cosponsor of H.R. 1343, the Local Law 
Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which has been introduced by 
the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Conyers). H.R. 1343 provides the 
technical, forensic, as well as prosecutorial tools local law 
enforcement needs to combat this type of violence.
  H.R. 1343 has garnered the support of over 202 co-sponsors. Now more 
than ever we need the Federal hate crimes bill. Since September 11, 
hate crimes, especially those targeting Arab Americans and Muslim 
Americans have dramatically increased. This is unfortunate, and we need 
to make sure that this does not occur. While I am sure that we are all 
angry and frustrated, and have a great deal of anxiety as a result of 
what has transpired and what a lot of Americans are feeling, such 
feelings cannot ever, and I repeat, such feelings cannot ever justify 
senseless acts of violence against innocent people.
  I ask my colleagues and the Republican leadership to speak out 
against these hate crimes and secure passage of H.R. 1343 as 
immediately as possible.

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