[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 173 (Thursday, December 13, 2001)]
[House]
[Page H10059]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  H.R. 1343, LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT HATE CRIMES PREVENTION ACT OF 2001

  (Ms. DeGETTE asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. DeGETTE. Mr. Speaker, earlier this year a young man in Colorado 
was brutally beaten and left for dead in southwestern Colorado because 
he was transgendered and openly gay. His attacker left him in the cold 
night to die alone, and his body was later found in the advanced stages 
of decomposition with a broken skull and a slash on his abdomen.
  Despite the fact that the attacker later bragged about ``killing a 
fag,'' the crime has yet to be declared a hate crime, and local 
prosecutors are without resources to fully investigate the crime.
  That is why I rise today to call upon the House to pass H.R. 1343, 
the Hate Crimes Prevention Act. This bill would provide Federal 
financial and technical assistance to State and local governments to 
prosecute these horrifying hate crimes and would allow the Federal 
Government to prosecute crimes where State or local authorities refuse 
to act.
  Congress must pass H.R. 1343 to bring justice for this young man's 
death and the many hate crimes throughout America.

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