[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 33 (Wednesday, March 20, 2002)]
[House]
[Page H1075]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     WE MUST PASS HATES CRIMES BILL

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Woolsey) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, tomorrow is the United Nations 
International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. What 
better way to honor this day than to act upon legislation that will 
help law enforcement investigate and prevent crimes based on 
discrimination?
  That is why I ask my colleagues to join me to encourage the 
Republican leadership to bring the gentleman from Michigan's (Mr. 
Conyers) bill, H.R. 1343, the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes 
Prevention Act, to the House floor.
  I would like to take this opportunity to thank my colleague, the 
gentlewoman from North Carolina (Mrs. Clayton), and others that will be 
here this evening for their commitment to this issue and their time to 
speak about it.
  Hate crimes have been a persistent problem in the United States. The 
FBI recently released its hate crimes statistics of 2000. Sadly the 
report indicated that bias-motivated crimes continue to increase. 
During the year 2000, law enforcement reported 8,063 bias-motivated 
criminal incidents, indicating a 3.5 percent increase since 1999. In 
this report, crimes based on race ranked number one, while crimes based 
on religion and sexual orientation ranked second and third.
  The most disturbing part of this report is what it does not show. The 
official numbers barely scratch the surface of the hate crime problem 
across the country. The true number of hate crimes actually committed 
last year could top 50,000 according to the Southern Poverty Law 
Center. Yet hate crimes continue to go unreported because of victims' 
fear and lack of law enforcement resources.
  Mr. Speaker, hate crimes continue to occur every day in our cities 
and small town. What is extremely disturbing is that some of these 
crimes are committed by children who have learned a pattern to hate. 
Such an incident occurred in my home State of California on March 11 in 
Huntington Beach, California. Three teenagers confronted a Filipino-
American in the rear parking lot of his place of employment.
  The teens began shouting racial slurs and ``white power'' before 
beating him with metal pipes. After the attack, the victim was even 
more frightened when he received a call from a person identifying 
himself as a parent of one of the attackers. This parent proceeded to 
threaten the victim using racial slurs.
  This pattern of violence, Mr. Speaker, cannot continue. Our children 
are learning to hate from their parents and from their peers. We must 
set an example in Congress by passing legislation that will help to 
prevent hate. That is why I am a proud co-sponsor of the gentleman from 
Michigan's (Mr. Conyers) bipartisan bill, H.R. 1343, the Local Law 
Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act. And Mr. Speaker, I am joined as 
a co-sponsor by 203 of my colleagues and a growing chorus that wants 
the Republican leadership to bring H.R. 1343 to the House floor. This 
bill would offer a real solution by strengthening existing Federal hate 
crimes laws. H.R. 1343 allows the United States Department of Justice 
to assist in local prosecutions as well as investigate and prosecute 
cases in which violence occurs because of the victim's sexual 
orientation, disability, or gender. It would also eliminate obstacles 
to Federal involvement in many cases of assaults or murder based on 
race or religion.
  This legislation is too important to ignore, especially during a week 
the United Nations is reminding the world to end racial discrimination.
  The Republican leadership must bring this bill before the House to 
show our Nation and the world that hate will not be tolerated in the 
United States. This Congress has a responsibility to fight against 
hate. And the Conyers bill will prove that commitment.

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