[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 9 (Thursday, February 7, 2002)]
[House]
[Page H219]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       HATE CRIMES PREVENTION ACT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Clay) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, this bill also honors the memory of James 
Byrd, who was horribly dragged to his death behind a pickup truck 
simply because his killers did not like the color of his skin. It 
honors Matthew Shepherd, who was beaten and tied to a fence post and 
left to die in near freezing weather because he was gay. It honors not 
only the victims of high-profile crimes, it honors the thousands of 
people whose lives have been scarred by similar acts of hate and 
violence.
  Hate crimes legislation is not a partisan issue. It is not about 
political posturing. It is not about us versus them. This is an issue 
that transcends politics.
  I urge the House leadership to allow a vote on this important 
measure, and I urge all of my colleagues to support H.R. 1343.
  Mr. Speaker, at this time I would like to yield the balance of my 
time to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Watson).
  Ms. WATSON of California. Mr. Speaker, I stand in support of H.R. 
1343, the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act. I am so 
pleased to see that this issue is coming up to the forefront here 
nationally.
  In California we worked long and hard and had a task force that 
looked at hate crimes up and down the State. We compiled valuable 
information that assists law enforcement in identifying hate crimes and 
enforcing the law.
  The events of September 11 have continued to demonstrate the 
destructive power of hate to tear apart the unity of an entire Nation. 
In the wake of the terrorist attacks, the Arab American Anti-
Discrimination Committee has investigated, documented and referred to 
Federal authorities over 500 instances. Moreover, the Council on 
American-Islamic Relations has compiled over 1,400 complaints of hate 
attacks directed against American Muslims. This is a 51 percent 
increase in reported crimes.
  These instances include the murders of a Muslim Pakistani store owner 
in Dallas, Texas, and an Indian American gas station owner in Mesa, 
Arizona, where a suspect was arrested shouting, ``I stand for America 
all the way.''
  The Department of Justice, however, has opened only approximately 250 
investigations of hate crimes directed against institutions or people 
who appeared to be Arab or Middle Easterners. September 11 and the Arab 
American situation only represents the tip of a proverbial iceberg.
  Hate crimes against any group regardless of race, color or creed 
should not be tolerated in our great American democratic society. As 
the James Byrd and the Matthew Shepherd tragedies demonstrate, not only 
can the investigation and prosecution of hate crimes strain the 
resources of State and local law enforcement agencies, but social 
unrest is even more of a drain on the fabric of our society.
  Current law limits Federal jurisdiction over hate crimes to federally 
protected activities such as voting and does not permit Federal 
involvement in a range of cases involving crimes motivated by bias 
against the victim's sexual orientation, gender or disabilities. This 
loophole is particularly significant given the fact that five States 
have no hate crime laws on the books, and another 21 States have 
extremely weak hate crimes laws.
  H.R. 1343 will remove these hurdles so the Federal Government will no 
longer be handicapped in its efforts to assist in the investigation and 
prosecution of hate crimes.

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