[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 9]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 11338]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          PERSONAL EXPLANATION

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. MICHAEL C. BURGESS

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 30, 2009

  Mr. BURGESS. Madam Speaker, on Wednesday, April 29, 2009, on rollcall 
number 223 I am not recorded. This rollcall vote on H.R. 1913, the 
Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009, to provide 
Federal assistance to States, local jurisdictions, and Indian tribes to 
prosecute hate crimes, and for other purposes, occurred while I was 
absent from the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives. Had I been 
present, I would have voted ``nay.''
  Violence, whether it's based on a perceived or actual threat, is of 
enormous concern when it is combined with constitutionally protected 
rights. Race. Color. National Origin. Religion. Gender. Disability. All 
of these fundamental rights are protected by our Constitution and hate 
crimes themselves have additional protection in Section 280003(a) of 
the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994. Any hate 
crimes perpetrated in violation of either law should be fully 
prosecuted by the U.S. Department of Justice and we, as the DOJ's 
appropriators, should give them all the resources they need to prevent 
any hate crimes from occurring.
  I believe existing federal law is more than adequate to prosecute 
hate crimes and, as such, should I have been present I would have voted 
``nay.''

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