[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 16]
[House]
[Page 22154]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  THE TRUTH ABOUT THE HATE CRIMES BILL

  (Mr. COHEN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. COHEN. Madam Speaker, some time ago this House passed the Hate 
Crime Bill, and I was one of the sponsors and one of the supporters. 
Since that time, there has been a group of right-winged evangelical 
Republicans, national in scale, who have tried to influence preachers 
in my district, particularly African American preachers, and make them 
think that that bill will somehow quell their first amendment rights to 
speak what they think about the Bible and about people's conduct. 
That's not true whatsoever. That bill contained in it an amendment by 
Artur Davis that said this in no way affects anybody's first amendment 
right, and it doesn't. That Hate Crime Bill affects acts of violence, 
not acts of thought or speech; never has in this country's history and 
never will.
  There are the Ten Commandments that we have and we've honored for 
many years, and one of the Commandments is, ``Thou shalt not bear false 
witness.'' Well, in Memphis, Tennessee, that group has borne false 
witness in trying to question the Hate Crimes Bill and the votes of the 
Members of this House and, hopefully, the Senate when they pass that 
bill. It only affects violence, and violence aimed at any group is 
wrong. And if it's aimed at a group to intimidate, it's even more 
wrong.

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