[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 188 (Monday, December 10, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S15058-S15059]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              HATE CRIMES

  Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, earlier this year this Nation marked the 
50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1957. That landmark 
legislation was Congress's 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

[[Page S15059]]

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, 
Representative 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 involving the hanging of nooses 
in this country. These incidents are a painful reminder of just how far 
we have to go. I am introducing a Senate resolution that expresses the 
sense of the Senate that: the hanging of nooses is a horrible act when 
used for the purpose of intimidation, and which under certain 
circumstances can be a criminal act; that it should be thoroughly 
investigated by Federal, State, and local law enforcement authorities; 
and that any criminal violations should be vigorously prosecuted. The 
House of Representatives unanimously passed a similar resolution, H. 
Res. 826, on December 5, and I ask the Senate to take the same action.
  American students are being targeted by this epidemic of hate crimes, 
many of which have occurred after the Jena Six incident arose. Just 
this year, nooses were discovered hung on the campuses of the 
University of Maryland, Indiana State University, the United States 
Coast Guard Academy, East Carolina University, North Carolina State, 
Columbia University, Louisiana State University, and Purdue.
  Nooses are being found in elementary and high schools, in Illinois, 
Louisiana, North Carolina, South Carolina, and New York. And so we have 
a new generation of children who are growing up with the same symbols 
of hate that proliferated more than 100 years ago.
  Our Nation's first responders are targeted with these symbols of 
hate: firefighters in Jacksonville, FL, and police departments in 
Hempstead and Brooklyn, NY. Nooses have been displayed in hospitals in 
Pittsburgh, PA, and Orangeburg, NY. Finally, the Equal Employment 
Opportunity Commission has filed more than 30 lawsuits for hanging 
nooses in the workplace since 2001, and stated that it observed ``a 
disturbing national trend of increased racial harassment cases 
involving hangman's nooses in the workplace.''
  Let us remember the chilling history of the United States on this 
subject. The hanging of nooses and lynching was first used to punish 
African slaves as early as the 17th century and was still commonplace 
in the United States until the 1960s civil rights movement. An 
estimated 5,000 people were lynched in the United States--roughly 70 
percent of whom were African-Americans--between the 1880s and 1960s.
  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.
  Hate crimes are un-American. They cannot be tolerated. When 
individuals are targeted and attacked because of who they are, entire 
communities suffer, we are all diminished by it. I call on the Senate 
today to condemn the recent spate of noose hangings and urge vigorous 
Federal, State, and local investigation and prosecution of criminal 
violations.

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