[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 36, Number 15 (Monday, April 17, 2000)]
[Page 833]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on Signing Legislation Designating the Joseph Ileto Post 
Office

April 14, 2000

    Today I signed legislation designating the United States Post Office 
located at 14701 Peyton Drive in Chino Hills, California, as the 
``Joseph Ileto Post Office.'' Joseph Ileto was a Filipino-American 
postal worker who was tragically murdered last year in a crime of hate. 
He was a dedicated public servant, killed simply because he was an 
Asian-American who worked for his country's Government. It is a fitting 
tribute to the life and memory of Mr. Ileto that we name this Post 
Office in his honor.
    During the last year, we have all been shaken by violent acts like 
the murder of
Joseph Ileto, acts that strike at the very values that define us as a 
nation. Now is the time for us to take strong and decisive action to 
fight hate crimes, and I call on Congress, at long last, to pass strong 
hate crimes legislation. It is time for us all to raise our voices 
against intolerance and to build the one America that our hearts tell us 
we can be.

Note: H.R. 3189, approved April 14, was assigned Public Law No. 106-184.