[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 161 (Friday, November 7, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Page S14264]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT ACT OF 2003

  Mr. SMITH. Mr. President, I rise today to speak about the need for 
hate crimes legislation. On May 1, 2003, Senator Kennedy and I 
introduced the Local Law Enforcement Enhancement 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.
  In pronouncing sentence on 21-year-old Yitzak Abba Marta, Circuit 
Judge William Storey told the court, ``this was nothing more than a 
hate crime . . . this person was killed because he was gay.'' Marta was 
convicted for the 1996 beating and strangling death of Alan Fitzgerald 
Walker, a transvestite. Marta and an accomplice picked up Walker 
outside of a gay nightclub while he was dressed as a woman. Police were 
called to Walker's home 3 days later when neighbors became suspicious 
of his disappearance. Not only had he been absent, but the tires on his 
car had been slashed, and there were notes on his door. Police found 
Walker's body in his bedroom with ``KKK'' scrawled in blood on an 
adjacent wall.
  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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