[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 25 (Friday, March 8, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1702-S1703]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     HATE CRIMES: WHY WE CAN'T WAIT

  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, if you were to walk past the driveway 
at 222 West Micheltorena Street in Santa Barbara, California today you 
would see a makeshift memorial of flowers and candles. On a tree 
nearby, you

[[Page S1703]]

would also see a note that reads, ``United We Stand. Never be 
forgotten. Always to be loved. A symbol of silence that needs to be 
broken.''
  That memorial has been erected outside the home of Clinton Scott 
Risetter, 37, the victim of a hate crime.
  On February 24, 2002, Clint Risetter awoke in his apartment engulfed 
in flames and then tried to escape as he was burning. When firefighters 
arrived, they found him dead on his patio. Two days later, Martin 
Thomas Hartmann walked into the Santa Barbara Police Department and 
admitted to entering Clint's apartment, pouring gasoline on him as he 
slept, and then setting him on fire.
  Martin Hartmann had known Clint for several months but had learned 
just recently that Clint was gay. He told police about his hatred 
toward gays and how he ``. . . decided to put [Clint] out of his 
misery,'' because he was gay. He believed that he was doing the right 
thing and that Clint deserved to die.
  The note on the tree outside Clint Risetter's apartment expresses not 
only the views of its author, but also the views of the more than 500 
people that joined together Monday night in Santa Barbara to light 
candles in a vigil for Clint. One of the vigil's attendees, Russ 
Chaffin, said, ``I can't be silent. This is my community. I cannot 
stand it that something like this could happen in my community.''
  I simply cannot stand silent when such a violent act is committed 
against an innocent person. I was deeply saddened and disturbed to hear 
the horrific details of Clint's death. It's hard for me to imagine a 
more heinous act of hatred than to set another human being on fire. 
Unfortunately, Clint's death is characteristic of many hate crimes in 
America; where an attacker repeatedly beats, stabs or severely burns 
his victim as if he is removing whatever it is he hates out of the 
person. And the attacker feels justified in doing so, as if he is doing 
a great service to humanity by killing the person.
  In California, I have seen, first-hand, the devastating impact hate 
crimes have on victims, their families and their communities. A hate 
crime divides neighborhoods and breeds a sense of mistrust and fear 
within a community, just like it has in Santa Barbara. This is why I 
have long supported legislation aimed at protecting citizens from 
crimes based on race, ethnicity, religion, gender, disability, or 
sexual orientation.
  According to the FBI's latest statistics, hate crimes based on sexual 
orientation rose every year between 1994 and 2000. Yet, current Federal 
hate crimes law does not include crimes against others because of 
sexual orientation. It only covers crimes motivated by bias on the 
basis of race, color, religion or national origin. The current law also 
limits Federal hate crime prosecutions to instances in which the victim 
was targeted because he or she was exercising one of six narrowly 
defined federally-protected activities, such as serving on a jury, 
voting, attending a public school, eating at a restaurant or lodging at 
a hotel.
  The limitations of current law prevent it from reaching many cases 
where individuals are killed or injured by just walking down the 
street, or, as we have now seen, even sleeping in their own homes. It 
does not extend basic civil rights protections to every American, only 
to a few and under certain circumstances. Updating the current law 
would not provide special rights, it would ensure equal protection.
  ``The Local Law Enforcement Act of 2001,'' legislation of which I am 
an original cosponsor, would expand current Federal protections against 
hate crimes based on race, color, religion, and national origin; amend 
the criminal code to cover hate crimes based on gender, disability, and 
sexual orientation; authorize grants for State and local programs 
designed to combat and prevent hate crimes; and enable the federal 
government to assist State and local law enforcement in investigating 
and prosecuting hate crimes.
  Final passage of ``The Local Law Enforcement Act of 2001,'' is long 
overdue. It is necessary for the safety and well being of millions of 
Americans. No American should have to live in fear because of his or 
her disability. No American should be afraid to walk down the street 
for fear of a gender-motivated attack. And certainly, no American 
should be afraid to sleep in their own home because of his or her 
sexual orientation.
  We have had strong bipartisan support for this legislation in the 
past, and it continues to receive bipartisan support. We just have not 
been able to get it to the President's desk for his consideration. 
Today, I ask all of my colleagues to work to ensure that this 
legislation is not simply supported, but actually gets passed and 
signed into law. Let's send a signal to Clint Risetter's family, and to 
all Americans, that our nation will no longer turn a blind eye to hate 
crimes in this country.

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