[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 36, Number 41 (Monday, October 16, 2000)]
[Pages 2448-2449]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on Hate Crimes Legislation

October 12, 2000

    Today marks 2 years since young Matthew Shepard was beaten 
unconscious, tied to a fence, and left to die. At the time of 
Matthew's death, I expressed my sympathy for the family and my outrage 
about the heinous nature of the crime. Since then, Matthew's death has 
been a call to action to many across the country committed to doing more 
to prevent and prosecute hate crimes. Many have worked tirelessly, along 
with my administration, to pass meaningful hate crimes legislation this 
year. Their efforts led to two strong bipartisan votes--one in the House 
and one in the Senate--in favor of hate crimes legislation. 
Unfortunately, just last week, the Republican leadership--denying the 
will of a bipartisan majority in both the House and the Senate--stripped 
hate crimes legislation from the Department of Defense Authorization 
bill. This action is wrong, and the will of the majority should be 
respected. We must not let the fear of people different from ourselves 
prevent this legislation from passing. Working with the bipartisan 
coalition that supports hate crimes legislation, I will continue to 
fight to make sure this important work gets done.

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