[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 55 (Tuesday, April 8, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Page S2739]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    THE MATTHEW SHEPARD ACT OF 2007

  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 strengthen and 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.
  In the early morning of July 15, 2007, Miranda Greer, an openly 
lesbian woman, was brutally attacked in a Jackson, TN, bar. Greer had 
been dancing when a man approached her and, using a homophobic slur, 
asked her to leave. The man had apparently mistaken Greer for a gay 
male. When she clarified that she was a lesbian, the man punched her in 
the face. He then used the bottom of a beer bottle to jab her left eye, 
and broke it over the back of her head. Greer ended up with a blind 
spot in her left eye after the attack. Police have issued a warrant for 
the arrest of Tyler Mansfield, who was identified as a suspect 
according to the Jackson Police Department.
  I believe that the Government's first duty is to defend its citizens, 
to defend them against the harms that come out of hate. Federal laws 
intended to protect individuals from heinous and violent crimes 
motivated by hate are woefully inadequate. This legislation would 
better equip the Government to fulfill its most important obligation by 
protecting new groups of people as well as better protecting citizens 
already covered under deficient laws. I believe that by passing this 
legislation and changing current law, we can change hearts and minds as 
well.

                          ____________________