[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 15]
[Senate]
[Page 20935]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




             LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT ENHANCEMENT ACT OF 2005

  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 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.
  On August 1, 2004, a man was shot with a pellet gun in the back near 
his him in Bronx, NY. The apparent motivation for the attack was the 
man's sexual orientation.
  I would note that recently in the House hate crimes legislation was 
passed in a bipartisan vote. I strongly believe that we must also move 
similar legislation in the Senate. In the months ahead, I look forward 
to working with Senator Kennedy as we continue our work in passing a 
hate crimes bill.

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