[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 80 (Tuesday, April 27, 1999)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 22777-22778]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-10673]



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Part VII





The President





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Proclamation 7187--National Crime Victims' Rights Week, 1999
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  Federal Register / Vol. 64, No. 80 / Tuesday, April 27, 1999 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 Title 3--
 The President

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                Proclamation 7187 of April 22, 1999

                
National Crime Victims' Rights Week, 1999

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                Over the past year, in communities across our Nation, 
                Americans have witnessed with shock and disbelief the 
                painful consequences of hatred and brutality. The 
                beating and murder of Matthew Shepard in Wyoming and 
                the killing of Billy Jack Gaither in Alabama taught us 
                how easily prejudice can erupt into violence. The 
                murder of James Byrd in Texas reminded us in stark 
                terms of the poisonous legacy of racism in America. 
                While the victims of these crimes are known to us 
                because of the particularly heinous nature of the acts 
                that took their lives, there are thousands more 
                Americans unknown to us who become victims of crime 
                each day. Behind each of these tragic statistics is an 
                individual whose rights have been violated, whose life 
                has been taken or irrevocably changed, and whose 
                family, friends, and community have been touched by the 
                shadows of violence and fear.

                Recognizing the widespread impact of crime on our 
                Nation, my Administration has worked hard during the 
                past 6 years to strengthen our criminal justice system, 
                to reduce the incidence of crime, and to champion the 
                rights of crime victims. Through such landmark 
                legislation as the Violent Crime Control and Law 
                Enforcement Act of 1994--which included the Violence 
                Against Women Act, the Brady Bill, and the Community 
                Notification Act--we have put thousands of new police 
                officers into America's communities, given crime 
                victims a greater voice in the criminal justice 
                process, prevented more than a quarter million felons, 
                fugitives, and stalkers from obtaining handguns, and 
                protected women and children from violence and abuse in 
                their homes and communities. With these and other 
                measures, we have provided communities with needed 
                assistance and have helped reduce the violent crime 
                rate in the United States to its lowest level in nearly 
                a quarter century.

                But we still have much to do if we are to prevent those 
                crimes motivated by hatred. That is why I have urged 
                the Congress to pass the Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 
                1999. This proposed legislation would strengthen 
                existing Federal hate crimes law by covering crimes 
                committed because of the victim's sexual orientation, 
                gender, or disability, and by expanding the situations 
                in which prosecutions can be brought for violent crimes 
                perpetrated because of the victim's race, color, 
                religion, or national origin.

                As recent events have made clear, we must address 
                intolerance early in life. We are reaching out to 
                students in middle school--young people who are at an 
                especially impressionable age--through a public-private 
                partnership entitled ``Dealing with Our Differences.'' 
                This partnership will develop a program to teach 
                tolerance in the classroom, highlight positive ways in 
                which adolescents are dealing with issues of diversity, 
                and show the harmful impact intolerance causes in the 
                daily lives of our youth. In an effort to understand 
                better the problem of hate crimes and prejudice among 
                young Americans, I have asked the Departments of 
                Justice and Education to include in their annual report 
                card on school safety a new section on hate crimes 
                among our youth, whether they occur in school or 
                elsewhere; and these departments will also collect and 
                publish data regarding hate crimes and intolerance on 
                college campuses.

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                During National Crime Victims' Rights Week, let us 
                remember not only those who have suffered at the hands 
                of criminals, but also those generous men and women who 
                work each day to bring justice and healing to victims 
                and their loved ones. Whether as victims' advocates, 
                counselors, law enforcement personnel, prosecutors, or 
                community volunteers, they reflect America's resolve to 
                protect the rights of every citizen and to build a 
                future where our differences no longer make us targets 
                of hatred and intolerance. Let us also remember in our 
                prayers the people of Littleton, Colorado. While it is 
                still too early to determine the specific circumstances 
                that led to this week's tragic events, it is never too 
                soon to teach our children that violence and hatred are 
                wrong and have no place in our schools or in our 
                society.

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the 
                United States of America, by virtue of the authority 
                vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United 
                States, do hereby proclaim April 25 through May 1, 
                1999, as National Crime Victims' Rights Week. I urge 
                all Americans to remember crime victims and their 
                families by working to reduce violence, to assist those 
                harmed by crime, and to make our homes and communities 
                safer places in which to live and raise our families.

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                twenty-second day of April, in the year of our Lord 
                nineteen hundred and ninety-nine, and of the 
                Independence of the United States of America the two 
                hundred and twenty-third.

                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 99-10673
Filed 4-26-99; 11:11 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P