[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 137 (Monday, September 17, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Page S11574]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          MATTHEW SHEPARD ACT

  Mr. SMITH. Mr. 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 the night of September 1, 2007, Josie Smith-Malave, her sister 
Julie Smith, and her friend Emily Durwood, were attacked outside a Long 
Island bar for being gay. The three women had been at the bar that 
night, and, as they left, they were followed outside by three women and 
about nine men. The group of about a dozen young adults began to crowd 
around the three women, shouting antigay slurs, throwing sticks and 
cups at them and spitting on them. The group then began to punch and 
kick the three women. One of the victims suffered a head injury, 
another suffered a knee injury, and all three were badly bruised as a 
result of the attack. The attackers fled the scene before police 
arrived, but one man was arrested 4 days later for his alleged 
involvement in the assault, which included stealing a camera from and 
injuring one of the women. He is charged with a hate-biased crime.
  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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