[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 114 (Tuesday, July 17, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Page S9465]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                      MATTHEW SHEPARD ACT OF 2007

  Mr. SMITH. Madam President, I rise today to speak about the need for 
hate crimes legislation. Each Congress, Senator Kennedy and I introduce 
hate crimes legislation that would add new categories to current hate 
crimes law, sending a signal that violence of any kind is unacceptable 
in our society. Likewise, each Congress I have come to the floor to 
highlight a separate hate crime that has occurred in our country.
  On June 4, 2007, in Pearland, TX, Terry Mark Mangum brutally murdered 
Kenneth Cummings, Jr., for being gay. Mangum says the two had drinks at 
a Montrose-area club before returning to Cummings' home in Pearland. 
Mangum confessed to having stabbed Cummings to death with a six-inch 
knife at Cummings' residence that night. He then burned the body and 
buried it at a 50-acre ranch owned by his grandfather. Mangum says he 
believed that Cummings was gay and allegedly had planned the killing 
for 6 months prior to the murder.
  I believe that the Government's first duty is to defend its citizens, 
to defend them against the harms that come out of hate. The Matthew 
Shepard 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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