[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 66 (Tuesday, May 6, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Page S5768]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT ACT OF 2001

  Mr. SMITH. Mr. President, I rise today to speak about the need for 
hate crimes legislation. In the last Congress Senator Kennedy and I 
introduced the Local Law Enforcement Act, a bill that would add new 
categories to current hate crimes law, sending a signal that violence 
of any kind is unacceptable in our society.
  I would like to describe a terrible crime that occurred October 27, 
1992, in Sasebo, Japan. Terry M. Helvey, an airman apprentice in the 
U.S. Navy, and Amn Charles E. Vins beat PO Allen Schindler to death in 
a public restroom. After spotting Schindler, who was known to be gay, 
outside a bar, Helvey and Vins followed him into a public restroom so 
that they could ``beat him up,'' according to Vins. The two brutally 
kicked and punched Schindler to death on the restroom floor. Helvey and 
Vins beat Schindler so badly that a Navy pathologist described his 
injuries as ``more consistent with a high-speed automobile accident or 
low-speed airplane crash.''
  I believe that Government's first duty is to defend its citizens, to 
defend them against the harms that come out of hate. The Local Law 
Enforcement Enhancement Act is a symbol that can become substance. I 
believe that by passing this legislation and changing current law, we 
can change hearts and minds as well.

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