[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 98 (Thursday, July 15, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Page S8221]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT ACT OF 2003

  Mr. SMITH. Mr. President, I 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.
  On August 18, 2000, a group of boys shot through the front window of 
a well-known lesbian bar on Capitol Hill, known as Phase I. Though 
witnesses identified a gang of young boys as the perpetrators, they 
escaped without being apprehended. Three years earlier, a canister of 
tear gas was tossed into a gay bar two blocks from Phase I, and police 
classified that crime as a hate crime.
  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. By passing this 
legislation and changing current law, we can change hearts and minds as 
well.

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