Hate Crime Bill Passes House in a Historic Vote
Feature Story by Tyler Lewis - 9/26/2005
Hate crime prevention advocates applauded the September 14 bipartisan House vote (223-199) on a new bill that would expand federal hate crimes laws.The Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2005, which passed as an amendment to H.R. 3132, the Children's Safety Act of 2005, expands the definition of hate crimes to include offenses involving actual or perceived religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability
"Never before has the House of Representatives voted to protect transgender people in any way," said Matt Foreman, Executive Director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force in a release. "And today marks the first time, outside of procedural motions, that the House has affirmatively voted to extend full hate crimes protections to lesbian, gay and bisexual people. This proves that even in times of adversity for our community, when grassroots voices keep up the pressure on our elected officials, decency can prevail."
The bill will also provide grants to law enforcement officers to help cover the cost of prosecuting hate crimes and allow for federal assistance in cases as needed. It is supported by more than 175 law enforcement, civil rights, civic and religious organizations, including: the National Sheriffs' Association, International Association of Chiefs of Police, U.S. Conference of Mayors, and the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association.
The Organization of Chinese Americans (OCA) commended the bipartisan vote. "By empowering the men and women who work in law enforcement to take action when investigating hate crimes, we ensure that those found guilty of these horrible acts are met with the justice they deserve," said Ginny Gong, OCA National President , in a statement. "The strong bipartisan support this legislation garnered illustrates how important this issue is to the American people."
"This important action by the House of Representatives continues the history of bipartisan, majority support for enactment of this necessary legislation," said Barbara B. Balser, Anti-Defamation League (ADL) National Chair, and Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director.
Bipartisan majorities in both the Senate and the House voted to approve the hate crimes measure in the last session of Congress. On June 15, 2004, the Senate approved the measure (65-33) as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2005 (S. 2400). The House voted 213-186 to urge its members working to reconcile differing versions of that legislation to retain the hate crime provisions. However, hate crime provisions were stripped from the final version of the legislation.
Human Rights Campaign (HRC) president Joe Solmonese said in a statement, "Members of the House, Democrats and Republicans alike, historically signaled today that local law enforcement officials deserve the tools this bill would provide toward fighting the scourge of hate crimes."
Judy Shepard, HRC board member and mother of Matthew Shepard, the University of Wyoming student whose hate-related death in 1998 inflamed the nation, echoed Solmonese's sentiments, saying "This makes families stronger. It makes America stronger."
Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin, D. Wis., one of the lead sponsors on the original bill, said in a statement that the vote "is significant both substantively and symbolically, reminding us, as Dr. Martin Luther King did, that, 'the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.'"
