[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 164 (Wednesday, October 3, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6491-S6492]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       PROTECTING RELIGIOUSLY AFFILIATED INSTITUTIONS ACT OF 2018

  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, today I wish to speak on S. 994, the 
Protecting Religiously Affiliated Institutions Act of 2018.
  First, I want to thank Senator Hatch and the other supporters of the 
bill. In particular, I would also like to thank the House sponsors of 
the bill, Representatives Kustoff and Kilmer, for their work in 
shepherding it through that chamber.
  I am glad to see this bill finally enacted into law.
  Early last year, a string of bomb threats to synagogues, mosques, and 
other religious affiliated institutions, such as Jewish community 
centers, threatened this Nation and one of its core constitutional 
tenants: the free exercise of religion. In the wake of these threats, 
the Judiciary Committee held a hearing on religious hate crimes.
  Just 1 month after that hearing, two Islamic centers in northern 
California were attacked during Ramadan. At the largest Sacramento 
mosque, a burned Quran was also filled with bacon and handcuffed to a 
fence. That mosque alone has been targeted multiple times.
  Despicable acts like these have become far too common. The statistics 
are startling. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, from 
2014 to 2016, anti-Muslim hate crimes increased 99.4 percent, from 154 
reported incidents to 307 reported incidents. There has also been a 
rise in anti-Semitic incidents. The Anti-Defamation League reported 
1,986 anti-Semitic incidents nationally in 2017, compared to 942 in 
2015, an increase of 110 percent. We heard testimony in the Judiciary 
Committee that this increase came after the dangerous rhetoric that was 
used during the 2016 election cycle.
  Unfortunately, this sort of persistent hateful rhetoric continues to 
plague our Nation and our political discourse. This was made manifest 
during a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville last summer that 
culminated in a young woman losing her life.
  The clear lesson is that all of us must strongly condemn hateful acts 
and state in no uncertain terms that they have no place in our country. 
This legislation is one way for us to do that. This bill updates the 
Church Arson Prevention Act of 1996 to specifically prohibit threats of 
force made against religious real property, including the property of 
religiously affiliated institutions.

[[Page S6492]]

  This update is critical because, while the current law prohibits the 
destruction of religious real property, it did not previously specify 
that threats against religious real property, such as threats of 
violence against Jewish community centers, are also hate crimes.
  Finally, while this bill addresses religious hate crimes, we must 
remember that the motivations behind hate crimes extend far beyond 
religion. It does not matter if it is a crime based on one's religion, 
race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, or any other element of 
our shared humanity.
  I am hopeful that the Judiciary Committee can continue to work 
together to protect all victims of hate, regardless of whom they are, 
whom they love, where they worship, or where they are from. Thank you.

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