[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 25]
[Senate]
[Pages 33543-33544]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      MATTHEW SHEPARD ACT OF 2007

 Mr. SMITH. Mr. President, today I 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.
  Early in the morning of May 8, 2007, 51-year-old Stevenpaul Richey 
was severely beaten by two men inside his Missoula, MT, apartment. The 
previous night, Richey had been at a bar in downtown Missoula where he 
met Michael Daniel Lemay and Christopher Lance Newrider, both 20 years 
old. The three men reportedly headed back to Richey's apartment at 
about 1 a.m., stopping on the way to buy beer. At that point, Richey 
assumed that the trio would have drinks and listen to music. He was 
wrong. According to Richey, once inside the apartment, one of the men 
stated that he did not like gay people while the other hit him suddenly 
from behind. Richey fell to the ground. Newrider and Lemay tied his 
ankles and wrists, continuing to batter him and yelling anti-gay 
epithets. The attackers left Richey bound with a punctured lung, two 
broken ribs, and shattered bones in his face. Although investigators 
examined the possibility that the beating was bias-motivated, Montana 
bias-crime laws currently do not cover crimes motivated by sexual 
orientation. The two assailants were charged with kidnapping and 
aggravated assault.
  I believe that the Government's first duty is to defend its citizens, 
to defend them against the harms that come out of hate. The Matthew 
Shepard Act is a symbol that can become substance. I believe that by 
passing this legislation

[[Page 33544]]

and changing current law, we can change hearts and minds as 
well.

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