    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1999, Book I)]
    [April 6, 1999]
    [Pages 505-506]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Memorandum on Hate Crimes in Schools and College Campuses
    April 6, 1999

    Memorandum for the Attorney General, the Secretary of Education

    Subject: Annual Reports on Hate Crimes in Schools and College Campuses

        One of the greatest challenges facing our Nation is to ensure that
    all Americans share the same opportunities, regardless of their race,
    color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, or
    disability.
        To meet this challenge, we must ensure that our Nation's laws fully
    protect all its citizens. That is why I have called on the Congress to
    pass legislation to strengthen existing Federal hate crimes laws by
    removing needless barriers to prosecuting violent crimes based on race,
    color, religion, or national origin and expanding the law to cover acts
    of violence committed because of a person's sexual orientation, gender,
    or disability. This legislation will assist us in

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    responding to the kind of heinous and cowardly hate crimes we have
    witnessed in the last year.
        At the same time, we must learn more about the prevalence of hate
    crimes and other acts of intolerance--especially among our young people,
    whose attitudes and experiences will shape the America of the 21st
    century. In order to better understand the problem of hate crimes and
    intolerance among young people, I direct the Attorney General and the
    Secretary of Education to include in their annual report card on school
    safety a section on hate crimes among young people, covering crimes
    committed both during and after school. In addition, I direct the
    Secretary of Education, with appropriate assistance from the Attorney
    General, to collect data on hate crimes and bias on college campuses for
    periodic publication.
        These steps will help us better understand the problems of bigotry
    we face among young people, and to improve the ways we respond to these
    problems, through improved curricula, after-school youth programs, and
    similar measures. At the same time, our proposed legislation will help
    to ensure that when hate crimes do occur, they are prosecuted as
    effectively as possible. I appreciate your commitment to improving the
    enforcement of this Nation's laws and to fighting bigotry among young
    people and others, and I look forward to your continuing leadership in
    these areas.

                                                          William J. Clinton