[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 17]
[House]
[Page 25162]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                 THE HATE CRIMES PREVENTION ACT OF 1999

  (Mr. CROWLEY asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to rise today and speak in favor 
of the Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 1999, which is cosponsored by 
myself and 184 of my colleagues.
  Recently our country was shocked once again when a gunman entered a 
Jewish community center in Los Angeles, California, shooting at 
innocent children and workers with the intent of sending a message by 
killing Jews.
  Last year in Laramie, Wyoming, a young man was killed only because he 
was gay. In Texas, an innocent man was murdered and dragged through the 
streets of Jasper just because he was an African-American. All of these 
incidents are hate crimes, and these do not just affect the group that 
was killed, but they affect all Americans.
  I believe the Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 1999 is a constructive 
and measured response to a problem that continues to plague our Nation, 
violence motivated by prejudice.
  I know some people believe that hate is not an issue when prosecuting 
a crime. They say our laws already punish the criminal act and that our 
laws are strong enough. I answer with the
most recent figure from 1997, when 8,049 hate crimes were reported in 
the United States.

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