[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 56 (Thursday, April 2, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E878-E879]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




INTRODUCTION OF THE LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT HATE CRIMES PREVENTION ACT OF 
                                  2009

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JOHN CONYERS, JR.

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 2, 2009

  Mr. CONYERS. Madam Speaker, I am pleased to introduce the bipartisan 
Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009, along with 
Representatives Kirk, Frank, Biggert, Baldwin, Ros-Lehtinen, Nadler, 
Bono Mack and Polis. This legislation will provide assistance to state 
and local law enforcement agencies and amend federal law to facilitate 
the investigation and prosecution of violent, bias-motivated crimes. 
Last Congress, this legislation passed with bipartisan support by a 
vote of 237-180. Bipartisan majorities have also voted in favor of hate 
crimes legislation for the last three consecutive Congresses. With a 
strong statement of Presidential support, the time has finally come for 
the enactment of this important legislation.
  The Hate Crimes Prevention Act has attracted the support of nearly 
300 civil rights, education, religious, and civic organizations. 
Importantly, virtually every major law enforcement organization in the 
country has endorsed the bill--including the International Association 
of Chiefs of Police, the National District Attorneys Association, the 
National Sheriffs Association, the Police Executive Research Forum, and 
31 state Attorneys General.
  At a time when our nation is celebrating its diversity, bias crimes 
are disturbingly prevalent

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and pose a significant threat to the full participation of all 
Americans in our democratic society. In the wake of the November 
Presidential election, the Southern Poverty Law Center has detailed 
hundreds of hate crime incidents, vandalism and threats, including the 
election-night assault of Alie Kamara on Staten Island by two teenagers 
who shouted racial epithets and ``Obama!'' as they beat him. Moreover, 
statistics have shown hate crimes against Latinos and Asian Americans 
rising steadily over the past four years as the immigration has grown 
more intense. In the last eight months, there have three brutal hate-
related murders of Latinos in New York and Pennsylvania. While 
intolerance may be in retreat, its presence is still felt in many 
minority communities.
  The FBI has the best national data on reported hate crime, though the 
program is voluntary. Since 1991, the FBI has documented over 118,000 
hate crimes. For the year 2007, the most current data available, the 
FBI compiled reports from law enforcement agencies across the country 
identifying 7,624 bias-motivated criminal incidents that were directed 
against an individual because of their personal characteristics. Law 
enforcement agencies identified 9,535 victims arising from 9,006 
separate criminal offenses. As in the past, racially motivated bias 
accounted for approximately half (50.8 %) of all incidents. Religious 
bias accounted for 1,400 incidents (18.4 %) and sexual orientation bias 
accounted for 1,265 incidents--(16.6 %), followed by ethnicity/national 
origin bias with 1,007 incidents--(13.2%). While these numbers are 
disturbing, it is important to note that, for a variety of reasons, 
hate crimes are seriously under-reported.
  Despite the deep impact of hate violence on communities, current law 
limits federal jurisdiction over hate crimes to incidents directed 
against individuals on the basis of race, religion, color or national 
origin--but only when the victim is targeted because he/she is engaged 
in a federally protected activity, such as voting. Further, the 
statutes do not permit federal involvement in a range of cases where 
crimes are motivated by bias against the victim's perceived sexual 
orientation, gender, gender identity, or disability. The federal 
government must have authority to be involved in investigating and 
prosecuting these crimes when state authorities cannot or will not do 
so.
  This legislation, which is identical to the version approved in the 
110th Congress, will strengthen existing federal law in the same way 
that the Church Arson Prevention Act of 1996 helped federal prosecutors 
combat church arson: by addressing the unduly rigid jurisdictional 
requirements under federal law. The bill only applies to bias-motivated 
violent crimes and does not impinge public speech or writing in any 
way. In fact, the measure includes an explicit First Amendment free 
speech protection for the accused modeled on the existing Washington 
state hate crimes statute. This bill will only apply to criminal 
conduct that is already being prosecuted.
  State and local authorities currently prosecute the overwhelming 
majority of hate crimes and will continue to do so under this 
legislation. The federal government will continue to defer to state and 
local authorities in the vast majority of cases; the Attorney General 
or other high ranking Justice Department official must approve any 
prosecutions undertaken pursuant to this law, ensuring federal 
restraint. However, in appropriate circumstances, the federal 
government will be able to provide support for local prosecutions--an 
intergovernmental grant program created by this legislation will make 
Justice Department technical, forensic or prosecutorial assistance 
available. The legislation also authorizes the Attorney General to make 
grants to state and local law enforcement agencies that have incurred 
extraordinary expenses associated with the investigation and 
prosecution of hate crimes.
  Hate crime statistics do not speak for themselves. Behind each of the 
statistics is an individual or community targeted for violence for no 
other reason than race, religion, color, national origin, sexual 
orientation, gender, gender identity, or disability. Law enforcement 
authorities and civic leaders have learned that a failure to address 
the problem of bias crime can cause a seemingly isolated incident to 
fester into widespread tension that can damage the social fabric of the 
wider community. The Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act 
of 2009 is a constructive and measured response to a problem that 
continues to plague our nation. These are crimes that shock and shame 
our national conscience. They should be subject to comprehensive 
federal law enforcement assistance and prosecution.

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