[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 74 (Monday, May 7, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E970]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT HATE CRIMES PREVENTION ACT OF 2007

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                               speech of

                            HON. TODD TIAHRT

                               of kansas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 3, 2007

  Mr. TIAHRT. Mr. Speaker, today I was proud to stand up for the equal 
protection of all Americans by opposing H.R. 1592, the so called ``Hate 
Crimes Bill.'' I abhor bigotry and discrimination, and I look forward 
to an America where no one is physically harmed for any reason. 
However, creating a special protected class within this country is poor 
public policy and contrary to the founding principle that all Americans 
are equal in front of the law.
  First, this bill is unnecessary. State and local laws already provide 
criminal penalties for the violence addressed by the new Federal crimes 
defined in H.R. 1592. Many of the current state and local laws carry 
stricter penalties than the proposed language in H.R. 1592. State and 
local law enforcement agencies and courts already have the capability 
to enforce those penalties and are doing so effectively. The proof is 
that the most recent FBI Uniform Crime Report shows that bias-motivated 
crimes are decreasing. In fact, less than 17% of all law enforcement 
agencies reported a single hate crime in 2005. No evidence exists that 
states and localities are failing to prosecute hate crimes under 
existing statutes. There is simply no need for the Federal government 
to impinge on the manner in which state and local agencies are 
attacking these concerns.
  Second, there are Constitution questions concerning this bill. The 
14th Amendment affords equal protection under the law to all citizens. 
H.R. 1592 defies this principle by ranking victims according to 
nebulous categories like ``sexual orientation'' and ``gender identity'' 
that are based on behavior and are not easily definable. All violent 
crimes are unacceptable, regardless of the victim, and should be 
punished firmly.
  It is ironic that this bill came to the floor on the National Day of 
Prayer. I am worried that this bill will unfairly target people of 
faith. Under this bill, Christians and clergy may be targets for 
prosecution if their traditional teachings on sexuality are considered 
an inducement to violence of people based on ``sexual orientation'' or 
``gender identity'' whether real or perceived. Typically, members would 
have the opportunity to offer amendments to fix omissions such as this. 
Unfortunately, the Democrat leadership railroaded this bill through the 
floor with absolutely no opportunity to offer amendments, denying us 
the opportunity to protect traditional American values.
  Instead of passing laws which violate long-standing principles of 
good government, we must instead continue in our efforts to make sure 
that criminals understand their behavior will not be tolerated. 
Individuals caught committing a crime must understand that conviction 
will be certain, sentencing will be swift and punishment will be 
severe. Creating classes of victims, as this bill surely does, based on 
broad indefinable categories makes certain citizens more equal than 
others, substitutes a federal mandate for local expertise, and fails to 
protect traditional American values.

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