Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act Of 2007
Floor Speech
LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT HATE CRIMES PREVENTION ACT OF 2007 -- (House of Representatives - May 03, 2007)
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Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, this will be one of the serious votes that we cast during this session. This will be a vote on whether or not we are going to allow bigotry to manifest itself in hate and result in violence.
My friend, Artur Davis, rose and he said he didn't know anybody of faith who recommended violence. I would suggest that tragically the citizens of the United States know all too well some who claim to be men of faith and who have issued fatwas to kill those not of their faith, and that if they do so, Allah will reward them. We call them terrorists. They kill not because of individual wrongdoing or individual action. They kill because of the membership in a faith or a race or a nationality, because perhaps we are Christian or we are Jews or we are Americans. And we call them terrorists.
This is an important vote. Neither the exercise of bigotry nor the rationalization of bigotry ought to be sanctioned in this great House, but we know through the centuries it has been. We know there were those who in times past rose on this floor and rationalized slavery and rationalized why we should not have antilynching laws in America. We know that. We lament it, and we say to ourselves had we lived in those times, had we lived in the 18th century, hopefully we would have been beyond our time, or in the 19th century hopefully beyond our time, or in the 20th century hopefully beyond our time, as Martin Luther King, Jr., urged us to be.
We serve now in the 21st century, and we know that there are those in America and throughout the world who preach hate against a class of people not because of their actions, not because of their character, but because of who they are. That is what this vote is about today.
Through this legislation, the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act, the Members of this body will make a strong statement in favor of values that unite us as Americans: tolerance, respect for our differences, and justice and accountability for those who perpetrate violent acts against others.
It has been too recent that lynching was rationalized in our country. It is too present in today's society that some across the sea and, yes, some here rationalize violence because of membership in another class different than they. It is long past time to bring the existing Federal hate crimes law, which was enacted nearly 40 years ago, into the 21st century. Under existing law, Federal jurisdiction over hate crimes is limited to those acts directed at individuals on the basis of race, religion, color, or national origin.
Let me say something about that to my friends. We have come to accept in America in the 21st century that it is not respectable nor acceptable to be bigoted against those who are black, be bigoted against those who are women, be bigoted against those who are Catholic or Baptist or Jews or Muslims. It is not respectable. It is not acceptable. You don't talk about that in the restaurant anymore.
But there is a class in America that is still respectable, rationalized many times by faith. But then segregation was rationalized for faith-based reasons.
My friends, this is an important vote of conscience, of a statement of what America is, a society that understands that we accept differences. We may not agree with those differences, but we know if society is to be free that we must accept differences.
That is the bedrock of what America means, not just to us, but to all the world.
And so today, my friends, I say we have an important statement to make, not a bill to pass, but a statement to make about the values of our country.
I had a prepared statement here, I won't read the balance of it. But I hope that every Member has the courage and the perspective, that when they rise from their bed 20 years from now, they will be able to say, unlike some of our predecessors in centuries past who failed the test of tolerance, to say that we had the courage to live out the principles that makes America such a wonderful, great, decent and just Nation.
Vote for this bill. Vote for our principles. Vote for your faith that teaches that we reach out to lift up and to love. Vote for this bill.
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Mr. Speaker, today, through this legislation--``The Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act''--the Members of this body will make a strong statement in favor of values that unite us as Americans: tolerance, respect for our differences, and justice and accountability for those who perpetrate violent acts against others.
It is long past time to bring the existing Federal hate crimes law, which was enacted nearly 40 years ago, into the 21st century.
Under existing law, Federal jurisdiction over hate crimes is limited to those acts directed at individuals on the basis of race, religion, color or national origin and only when the victim is targeted because he or she is engaged in a Federally protected activity, such as voting.
This legislation broadens this provision to cover all violent crimes motivated by race, religion, or national origin, when the defendant causes bodily injury or attempts to cause bodily injury.
Furthermore, the bill expands current law to prohibit the same conduct, if such conduct is motivated on the basis of the victim's gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability.
Mr. Speaker, the fact is, the Federal Government has long had a history of combating crimes based on prejudice.
This bill simply expands the current law to groups that historically have been affected by violence and thus it responds to the reality in America today.
According to the FBI, race ranks first among motivations for hate crimes and sexual orientation ranks second among the reasons that people are targeted.
Some people ask: Why is this legislation even necessary?
To them, I answer: because brutal hate crimes motivated by race, religion, national orgin, gender, sexual orientation and identity or disability not only injure individual victims, but also terrorize entire segments of our population and tear at our Nation's social fabric.
Let us be clear: This legislation does not affect free speech, or punish beliefs or thoughts. It only seeks to punish violent acts.
Furthermore, Mr. Speaker, this bill would allow the Federal Government to provide assistance to State and local law enforcement officials to investigate and prosecute hate crimes, and would clarify the conditions under which such crimes could be federally investigated and prosecuted.
Enacting these important additions to current law will send a very powerful message that crimes committed against any American--just because of who he or she is--are absolutely unacceptable.
Not surprisingly, this legislation is supported by 31 State attorneys general, and more than 280 national law enforcement, professional, education, civil rights, religious and civic organizations, including the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the National District Attorneys Association and the National Sheriffs Association.
I urge my colleagues: Vote for this legislation, not only because it is important and necessary but also because it is the right thing to do.
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Mr. HOYER. I thank the distinguished chairman.
This motion, my colleagues, reeks with the stench of cynicism. Let me tell you why. The distinguished chairman rose and asked for unanimous consent to add the protections to members of our Armed Forces who are either serving or have served, and he then asked to protect our senior citizens. He
asked for unanimous consent to do that, and the gentleman from Texas objected, so it was not added.
Then the chairman rose and asked that we substitute ``forthwith'' for ``promptly'' so their amendment could be immediately adopted, and the gentleman from Texas objected.
How cynical can you be to offer an amendment, I tell my friend, which in its own framework will kill the very proposition you are making? For if this amendment prevails, what will happen is, the bill will be killed and the protection of the Armed Forces that he seeks, the protection of the seniors that he seeks, will be killed.
My friends on this side of the aisle, this is a political game. The American public knows it is a political game. Let's reject this cynical political game and pass this legislation.
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