[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 7]
[House]
[Page 9769]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                       HATE CRIMES PREVENTION ACT

  (Mr. CONYERS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I am the author of the Hate Crimes 
Prevention Act. We have 191 cosponsors. Today is the day that marks the 
senseless death, lynching of James Byrd, Jr. in Jasper, Texas, when he 
was dragged for miles over a country road, chained by the ankles to a 
pickup truck. His body was shredded and ripped in the 2-hour ordeal.
  Since the 2 years of his murder, the House has done nothing to 
address the nationwide outburst of hate violence. So my bill really 
should be taken up by the Committee on the Judiciary. We should stop 
the stalling.
  We know that the year of 1999 was called the summer of hate. Events 
of violence have occurred throughout the country. So we cannot, as a 
body, dismiss these atrocities as anonymous agents of lunatics. We need 
a hate crimes prevention law.

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