[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 138 (Tuesday, September 18, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11647-S11648]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        FIGHT TO END HATE CRIMES

  Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, only 2 weeks ago this Nation marked the 
50th Anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1957. That landmark 
legislation, signed into law on September 9, 1957, was Congress' first 
civil rights bill since the end of Reconstruction.
  It established the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department 
and empowered Federal prosecutors to obtain court injunctions against 
interference with the right to vote. It also established a Federal 
Commission on Civil Rights with authority to investigate discriminatory 
conditions and recommend corrective measures.
  In the Judiciary Committee, under the leadership of my distinguished 
colleague, the senior Senator from Vermont, we held a hearing to 
commemorate this milestone, to talk about our Nation's progress over 
the past half century and how we must move forward if we are to live up 
to the ideals enumerated in the Constitution. My former colleague from 
the House and an American hero, John Lewis, shared his recollections 
and his hopes for the future with us.
  Today, however, it is with great sadness that I come to the Senate 
floor to talk about a rash of incidents that have occurred over the 
past month in this region of the country. These incidents are a painful 
reminder of just how far we have to go.
  At the College Park Campus of the University of Maryland, fewer than 
10 miles from here, students found a noose hanging in a tree near the 
University's African-American Cultural Center. It is believed that the 
noose had been hanging there for almost 2 weeks before the assistant 
editor of the school's African-American newspaper noticed it and 
notified the police.
  University President C.D. Mote has denounced the incident, as have 
student leaders and faculty. It is under investigation as a possible 
hate crime and may be connected to the trial of six African-American 
teenagers in Jena, Louisiana. In that case, three nooses were placed in 
the so called ``white-only'' tree on campus after black students sat 
under it. The ensuing altercations led to charges of attempted murder 
against only the black teenagers, charges that have since been 
dismissed.
  In Montgomery County, Maryland, three separate acts of vandalism were 
reported at Jewish centers in Rockville, Gaithersburg, and Silver 
Spring.
  In two of those cases, vandals defaced banners declaring the 
synagogues' support for the State of Israel, scrawling anti-Semitic 
slurs on them. Police are investigating all three acts as possible hate 
crimes.
  Then, in the hills of Big Creek, West Virginia, a 20-year-old 
African-American woman was held captive in a shed for more than a week. 
During her ordeal, she was beaten, choked, stabbed, sexually assaulted, 
and forced to perform inhumane acts. Throughout, she was called racist 
slurs and was told she was being victimized because of her skin color. 
She was rescued by police responding to an anonymous tip. A local 
Sheriff described this as ``something that would have come out of a 
horror movie.'' Six people, all white, have been arrested in connection 
with the assault and kidnapping, and police are still searching for two 
more. The young woman is recovering in a hospital from her ordeal.
  In Gaithersburg, Maryland, a Muslim family was again the victim of 
vandalism. Over the years, the family had been victimized multiple 
times, beginning in 1994 when they moved to the area. Their house and 
automobiles were broken into, garbage and dead animals were strewn in 
their yard, and racist notes were taped to their door.
  This time, on September 11, tires on both of the family's vehicles 
were slashed. The mother has worked hard to counteract anti-Muslim and 
anti-Arab sentiment in America, speaking at schools and libraries about 
Islam and Arab-American culture and teaching a cultural sensitivity 
class. Police are continuing to investigate this incident as a possible 
hate crime.
  In Manassas, Virginia, the Ku Klux Klan recently began distributing 
leaflets urging ``white Christian America'' to stand up for its rights. 
The neighborhood has recently begun a demographic shift as older 
residents moved out and younger Latino families moved in.
  Finally, Mr. President, last Friday, it was reported that the 
Metropolitan Police Department here in Washington is investigating a 
series of hate crimes targeting gay and transgender people. The latest 
attack happened seven blocks from here near the Verizon Center, where 
reportedly a group of young men threw a 16-year-old male-to-female 
transgender person through a plate glass window. Police reports 
indicate that the suspect had been arrested twice before for similar 
attacks against gay men.
  The Federal Bureau of Investigation has reported that in 2005 there 
were approximately 7,100 incidents classified as hate crimes. The FBI 
uses voluntary reports from local law enforcement agencies across the 
country to determine the totals, but the actual number could be far 
higher.
  The Southern Poverty Law Center has analyzed data compiled and 
reported by the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics. That November 
2005 report, based on data from the biannual National Crime 
Victimization Survey (NCVS), found that fewer than half of hate crimes 
are reported to the police and others are not counted by the FBI. This 
is because they are not recorded as hate crimes, or because some police 
departments do not report statistics to their State offices. The NCVS 
estimates that the United States averages about 191,000 hate crimes 
each year.
  The report also found that hate crimes involve violence far more than 
other crimes. The data showed that four out of five hate crimes were 
violent--involving a sexual attack, robbery, assault or murder, as 
compared to 23 percent of non-hate crimes.
  Mr. President, the situation is even more dire than most Americans 
imagine. The Southern Poverty Law Center's Intelligence Project counted 
844 active hate groups in the United States in 2006.
  Hate crimes' tentacles reach far beyond the intended targets. They 
bring a chill to entire neighborhoods and create a sense of fear, 
vulnerability, and insecurity in our communities. They poison the well 
of our democracy and strike at the very heart of the American spirit.
  Our local law enforcement agencies need help in investigating and 
prosecuting these crimes, and this help must come from the United 
States Attorney General and the Department of Justice.
  I am a cosponsor of the Mathew Shepard Local Law Enforcement Hate 
Crimes Prevention Act, S. 1105, to strengthen existing Federal hate 
crime laws. I want to thank Senator Kennedy for his leadership on this 
issue.
  While the responsibility for prosecuting hate crimes primarily rests 
with the individual States, this new measure will give local law 
enforcement additional tools to combat violent hate crimes. It also 
will provide Federal support through training and assistance to ensure 
that hate crimes

[[Page S11648]]

are effectively investigated and prosecuted. In addition, it will 
ensure that Federal investigations and prosecutions are carried out 
when local authorities request assistance or are unwilling or unable to 
effectively prosecute cases.
  It is important that the Federal Government have the ability to take 
aggressive action against hate crimes in States where current laws are 
inadequate. For example, only 31 States and the District of Columbia 
include sexual orientation-based or disability-based crimes in their 
hate crimes statutes. This law will help ensure that all hate crimes 
are fully investigated and prosecuted.
  This measure, which has strong bipartisan support, would strengthen 
existing law in two ways. First, it would eliminate a serious 
limitation on Federal involvement under existing law--namely, the 
requirement that a victim of a hate crime was attacked because he or 
she was engaged in federally-protected activity such as voting or 
attending school. It also would authorize the Department of Justice to 
investigate and prosecute hate crimes based on sexual orientation, 
gender, gender identity, or disability. Current law does not provide 
authority for involvement in these four categories.
  Hate crimes are un-American. They cannot be tolerated. When 
individuals are targeted and attacked because of who they are, entire 
communities suffer and we are all diminished by it.
  S. 1105 would give us the tools we need to be more effective in 
combating crimes of hate. The House passed its version of hate crimes 
legislation on May 3 and now the Senate must do our part. I call on my 
colleagues to support S. 1105 and I urge its passage without further 
delay.

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