[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 72 (Thursday, May 26, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1118]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   REINTRODUCTION OF LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT HATE CRIMES PREVENTION ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JOHN CONYERS, JR.

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 26, 2005

  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to introduce the bipartisan 
Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2005, along with 
Representatives Frank, Ros-Lehtinen and Shays. In past Congresses, this 
legislation has been cosponsored by almost 200 members and we expect 
similar support this session.
  Bias crimes are disturbingly prevalent and pose a significant threat 
to the full participation of all Americans in our democratic society. 
For the year 2003, the most recently available data, the FBI compiled 
reports from law enforcement agencies across the country identifying 
7,489 criminal incidents that were motivated by an offender's 
irrational antagonism toward some personal attribute associated with 
the victim. Law enforcement agencies have identified 9,100 victims 
arising from 8,715 separate criminal offenses. Racially motivated bias 
again accounted for more than half (51.4 percent) of all incidents. 
Religious bias accounted for 1,343 incidents (17.9 percent) and sexual 
orientation bias each accounted for 1,239 (16.6 percent) of all 
reported hate crimes, followed by ethnicity/national origin bias with 
13.7 percent and disability bias with 0.4 percent of all incidents. 
While every state reported at least a small number of incidents, it is 
important to note that reporting by law enforcement is voluntary and it 
is widely believed that hate crimes are seriously under-reported.
  Despite the pervasiveness of the problem, current law limits federal 
jurisdiction over hate crimes to incidents against protected classes 
that occur only during the exercise of federally protected activities, 
such as voting. Further, the statutes do not permit federal involvement 
in a range of cases where crimes are motivated by bias against the 
victim's perceived sexual orientation, gender, disability or gender 
identity. This loophole is particularly significant given the fact that 
four States have no hate crime laws on the books, and another 21 States 
have extremely weak hate crimes laws.
  This legislation will make it easier for federal authorities to 
prosecute bias crimes, in the same way that the Church Arson Prevention 
Act of 1996 helped federal prosecutors combat church arson: by 
loosening the unduly rigid jurisdictional requirements under federal 
law. While ostensibly identical to past versions, this Congress the 
bill is more explicitly inclusive of the transgender community. In 
addition, we have included a provision mirroring the Washington State 
hate crimes statute that is designed to protect the 1st Amendment 
rights of the accused, without burdening the prosecution of those 
alleged offenses.
  State and local authorities currently prosecute the overwhelming 
majority of hate crimes and will continue to do so under this 
legislation, with the enhanced support of the federal government. 
Through an Intergovernmental Assistance Program created by this 
legislation, the Justice Department will provide technical, forensic or 
prosecutorial assistance to State and local law enforcement officials 
in cases of bias crime. The legislation also authorizes the Attorney 
General to make grants to State and local law enforcement agencies that 
have incurred extraordinary expenses associated with the investigation 
and prosecution of hate crimes. Finally, under our bill, the Attorney 
General or other high ranking Justice Department officials must approve 
all prosecutions undertaken pursuant to this law, ensuring federal 
restraint, and further ensuring that the States will continue to take 
the lead.

  Behind each of the crimes statistics cited above lies an individual 
or community targeted for violence for no other reason than race, 
religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, disability or gender 
identity. People like Waqar Hasan of Dallas, who lost his life in a 
post-911 backlash hate crime. His murderer admitted that he wanted to 
send a message to the local Arab population and beyond. These discrete 
communities have learned the hard way that a failure to address the 
problem of bias crime can cause a seemingly isolated incident to fester 
into wide spread tension that can damage the social fabric of the wider 
community.
  The Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2005 is a constructive and measured 
response to a problem that continues to plague our Nation. These are 
crimes that shock and shame our national conscience and they should be 
subject to comprehensive federal law enforcement assistance and 
prosecution.

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