The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights

"The House of Representatives today took a strong stand for law enforcement and the advancement of civil and human rights by sending a clear signal that America will not tolerate crimes motivated by bias and hate," Wade Henderson, president and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, said.  "The civil rights community, which has been fighting for passage of this legislation for 14 years, applauds the House for its vote today. We urge the Senate to approve the legislation without delay."

The House originally passed the legislation in April. The Senate added the legislation to the Department of Defense Authorization bill in July, but also added an onerous amendment making certain hate crimes eligible for the death penalty. The House removed the death penalty language before approving the bill today, 281-146.

The bill was renamed in honor of James Byrd, Jr., who was lynched in Texas in 1998, the same year that Matthew Shepard was killed in Wyoming in a vicious hate crime.