I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2662

To provide Federal assistance to States and local jurisdictions to prosecute 

hate crimes, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 26, 2005

Mr. CONYERS (for himself, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mr. ACKERMAN, Mr. ALLEN, 

Ms. BALDWIN, Ms. BERKLEY, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. 

BLUMENAUER, Mr. BOSWELL, Mr. BROWN of Ohio, Mrs. CAPPS, Mr. 

CAPUANO, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. CASE, Mr. CLAY, Mr. COOPER, Mr. CROWLEY, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. DAVIS of Alabama, Mr. DAVIS of Florida, Mr. 

DELAHUNT, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. ENGEL, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. FARR, Mr. 

FATTAH, Mr. FILNER, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. GENE GREEN

of Texas, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. 

HOLT, Mr. HONDA, Mr. HOYER, Mr. INSLEE, Mr. ISRAEL, Ms. JACKSONLEE of Texas, Mr. JEFFERSON, Mrs. JONES of Ohio, Mr. KENNEDY of 

Rhode Island, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. KIND, Mr. KIRK, Mr. KOLBE, Mr. 

LANGEVIN, Mr. LANTOS, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Mr. LEACH, Ms. 

LEE, Mrs. LOWEY, Mr. LYNCH, Mrs. MALONEY, Mr. MATHESON, Mrs. 

MCCARTHY, Ms. MCCOLLUM of Minnesota, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. 

MCGOVERN, Mr. MCNULTY, Mr. MEEHAN, Mr. MEEK of Florida, Mr. 

MENENDEZ, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, Mr. MOORE of Kansas, 

Mr. NADLER, Mr. OLVER, Mr. OWENS, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. PASTOR, Mr. 

PAYNE, Mr. PRICE of North Carolina, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Ms. ROYBALALLARD, Mr. SABO, Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California, Mr. SANDERS, 

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. SERRANO, 

Mr. SHAYS, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. SIMMONS, Mr. SMITH of Washington, 

Ms. SOLIS, Mr. STARK, Mrs. TAUSCHER, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, 

Mr. TIERNEY, Mr. UDALL of Colorado, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Ms. WATERS, 

Ms. WATSON, Mr. WEXLER, Ms. WOOLSEY, and Mr. WU) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 
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A BILL

To provide Federal assistance to States and local jurisdictions to prosecute hate crimes, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Local Law Enforce5 ment Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2005’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 

8 (1) The incidence of violence motivated by the 

9 actual or perceived race, color, religion, national ori10 gin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or 

11 disability of the victim poses a serious national prob12 lem. 

13 (2) Such violence disrupts the tranquility and 

14 safety of communities and is deeply divisive. 

15 (3) State and local authorities are now and will 

16 continue to be responsible for prosecuting the over17 whelming majority of violent crimes in the United 

18 States, including violent crimes motivated by bias. 

19 These authorities can carry out their responsibilities 

20 more effectively with greater Federal assistance. 

21 (4) Existing Federal law is inadequate to ad22 dress this problem. 
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1 (5) The prominent characteristic of a violent 

2 crime motivated by bias is that it devastates not just 

3 the actual victim and the family and friends of the 

4 victim, but frequently savages the community shar5 ing the traits that caused the victim to be selected. 

6 (6) Such violence substantially affects interstate 

7 commerce in many ways, including—

8 (A) by impeding the movement of members 

9 of targeted groups and forcing such members to 

10 move across State lines to escape the incidence 

11 or risk of such violence; and 

12 (B) by preventing members of targeted 

13 groups from purchasing goods and services, ob14 taining or sustaining employment, or partici15 pating in other commercial activity. 

16 (7) Perpetrators cross State lines to commit 

17 such violence. 

18 (8) Channels, facilities, and instrumentalities of 

19 interstate commerce are used to facilitate the com20 mission of such violence. 

21 (9) Such violence is committed using articles 

22 that have traveled in interstate commerce. 

23 (10) For generations, the institutions of slavery 

24 and involuntary servitude were defined by the race, 

25 color, and ancestry of those held in bondage. Slavery 
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1 and involuntary servitude were enforced, both prior 

2 to and after the adoption of the 13th amendment to 

3 the Constitution of the United States, through wide4 spread public and private violence directed at per5 sons because of their race, color, or ancestry, or per6 ceived race, color, or ancestry. Accordingly, elimi7 nating racially motivated violence is an important 

8 means of eliminating, to the extent possible, the 

9 badges, incidents, and relics of slavery and involun10 tary servitude. 

11 (11) Both at the time when the 13th, 14th, and 

12 15th amendments to the Constitution of the United 

13 States were adopted, and continuing to date, mem14 bers of certain religious and national origin groups 

15 were and are perceived to be distinct ‘‘races’’. Thus, 

16 in order to eliminate, to the extent possible, the 

17 badges, incidents, and relics of slavery, it is nec18 essary to prohibit assaults on the basis of real or 

19 perceived religions or national origins, at least to the 

20 extent such religions or national origins were re21 garded as races at the time of the adoption of the 

22 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments to the Constitu23 tion of the United States. 

24 (12) Federal jurisdiction over certain violent 

25 crimes motivated by bias enables Federal, State, and 
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1 local authorities to work together as partners in the 

2 investigation and prosecution of such crimes. 

3 (13) The problem of crimes motivated by bias 

4 is sufficiently serious, widespread, and interstate in 

5 nature as to warrant Federal assistance to States 

6 and local jurisdictions. 

7 SEC. 3. DEFINITION OF HATE CRIME. 

8 In this Act, the term ‘‘hate crime’’ has the same 

9 meaning as in section 280003(a) of the Violent Crime 

10 Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (28 U.S.C. 

11 994 note). 

12 SEC. 4. SUPPORT FOR CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS AND 

13 PROSECUTIONS BY STATE AND LOCAL LAW 

14 ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS. 

15 (a) ASSISTANCE OTHER THAN FINANCIAL ASSIST16 ANCE.—

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—At the request of a law en18 forcement official of a State or Indian tribe, the At19 torney General may provide technical, forensic, pros20 ecutorial, or any other form of assistance in the 

21 criminal investigation or prosecution of any crime 

22 that—

23 (A) constitutes a crime of violence (as de24 fined in section 16 of title 18, United States 

25 Code); 
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1 (B) constitutes a felony under the laws of 

2 the State or Indian tribe; and 

3 (C) is motivated by prejudice based on the 

4 actual or perceived race, color, religion, national 

5 origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender iden6 tity, or disability of the victim, or is a violation 

7 of the hate crime laws of the State or Indian 

8 tribe. 

9 (2) PRIORITY.—In providing assistance under 

10 paragraph (1), the Attorney General shall give pri11 ority to crimes committed by offenders who have 

12 committed crimes in more than 1 State and to rural 

13 jurisdictions that have difficulty covering the ex14 traordinary expenses relating to the investigation or 

15 prosecution of the crime. 

16 (b) GRANTS.—

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General may 

18 award grants to assist State, local, and Indian law 

19 enforcement officials with the extraordinary expenses 

20 associated with the investigation and prosecution of 

21 hate crimes. 

22 (2) OFFICE OF JUSTICE PROGRAMS.—In imple23 menting the grant program, the Office of Justice 

24 Programs shall work closely with the funded juris25 dictions to ensure that the concerns and needs of all 
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1 affected parties, including community groups and 

2 schools, colleges, and universities, are addressed 

3 through the local infrastructure developed under the 

4 grants. 

5 (3) APPLICATION.—

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—Each State that desires 

7 a grant under this subsection shall submit an 

8 application to the Attorney General at such 

9 time, in such manner, and accompanied by or 

10 containing such information as the Attorney 

11 General shall reasonably require. 

12 (B) DATE FOR SUBMISSION.—Applications 

13 submitted pursuant to subparagraph (A) shall 

14 be submitted during the 60-day period begin15 ning on a date that the Attorney General shall 

16 prescribe. 

17 (C) REQUIREMENTS.—A State or political 

18 subdivision of a State or tribal official applying 

19 for assistance under this subsection shall—

20 (i) describe the extraordinary pur21 poses for which the grant is needed; 

22 (ii) certify that the State, political 

23 subdivision, or Indian tribe lacks the re24 sources necessary to investigate or pros25 ecute the hate crime; 
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1 (iii) demonstrate that, in developing a 

2 plan to implement the grant, the State, po3 litical subdivision, or tribal official has con4 sulted and coordinated with nonprofit, non5 governmental victim services programs 

6 that have experience in providing services 

7 to victims of hate crimes; and 

8 (iv) certify that any Federal funds re9 ceived under this subsection will be used to 

10 supplement, not supplant, non-Federal 

11 funds that would otherwise be available for 

12 activities funded under this subsection. 

13 (4) DEADLINE.—An application for a grant 

14 under this subsection shall be approved or dis15 approved by the Attorney General not later than 30 

16 business days after the date on which the Attorney 

17 General receives the application. 

18 (5) GRANT AMOUNT.—A grant under this sub19 section shall not exceed $100,000 for any single ju20 risdiction within a 1 year period. 

21 (6) REPORT.—Not later than December 31, 

22 2006, the Attorney General shall submit to Congress 

23 a report describing the applications submitted for 

24 grants under this subsection, the award of such 
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1 grants, and the purposes for which the grant 

2 amounts were expended. 

3 (7) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—

4 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

5 this subsection $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 

6 2006 and 2007. 

7 SEC. 5. GRANT PROGRAM. 

8 (a) AUTHORITY TO MAKE GRANTS.—The Office of 

9 Justice Programs of the Department of Justice shall 

10 award grants, in accordance with such regulations as the 

11 Attorney General may prescribe, to State and local pro12 grams designed to combat hate crimes committed by juve13 niles, including programs to train local law enforcement 

14 officers in identifying, investigating, prosecuting, and pre15 venting hate crimes. 

16 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

17 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 

18 necessary to carry out this section. 

19 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION FOR ADDITIONAL PERSONNEL TO 

20 ASSIST STATE AND LOCAL LAW ENFORCE21 MENT. 

22 There are authorized to be appropriated to the De23 partment of the Treasury and the Department of Justice, 

24 including the Community Relations Service, for fiscal 

25 years 2006, 2007, and 2008 such sums as are necessary 
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1 to increase the number of personnel to prevent and re2 spond to alleged violations of section 249 of title 18, 

3 United States Code, as added by section 7. 

4 SEC. 7. PROHIBITION OF CERTAIN HATE CRIME ACTS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 13 of title 18, United 

6 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol7 lowing: 

8 ‘‘§ 249. Hate crime acts 

9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—

10 ‘‘(1) OFFENSES INVOLVING ACTUAL OR PER11 CEIVED RACE, COLOR, RELIGION, OR NATIONAL ORI12 GIN.—Whoever, whether or not acting under color of 

13 law, willfully causes bodily injury to any person or, 

14 through the use of fire, a firearm, or an explosive or 

15 incendiary device, attempts to cause bodily injury to 

16 any person, because of the actual or perceived race, 

17 color, religion, or national origin of any person—

18 ‘‘(A) shall be imprisoned not more than 10 

19 years, fined in accordance with this title, or 

20 both; and 

21 ‘‘(B) shall be imprisoned for any term of 

22 years or for life, fined in accordance with this 

23 title, or both, if—

24 ‘‘(i) death results from the offense; or 
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1 ‘‘(ii) the offense includes kidnaping or 

2 an attempt to kidnap, aggravated sexual 

3 abuse or an attempt to commit aggravated 

4 sexual abuse, or an attempt to kill. 

5 ‘‘(2) OFFENSES INVOLVING ACTUAL OR PER6 CEIVED RELIGION, NATIONAL ORIGIN, GENDER, SEX7 UAL ORIENTATION, GENDER IDENTITY, OR DIS8 ABILITY.—

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Whoever, whether or 

10 not acting under color of law, in any cir11 cumstance described in subparagraph (B), will12 fully causes bodily injury to any person or, 

13 through the use of fire, a firearm, or an explo14 sive or incendiary device, attempts to cause 

15 bodily injury to any person, because of the ac16 tual or perceived religion, national origin, gen17 der, sexual orientation, gender identity or dis18 ability of any person—

19 ‘‘(i) shall be imprisoned not more 

20 than 10 years, fined in accordance with 

21 this title, or both; and 

22 ‘‘(ii) shall be imprisoned for any term 

23 of years or for life, fined in accordance 

24 with this title, or both, if—
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1 ‘‘(I) death results from the of2 fense; or 

3 ‘‘(II) the offense includes kid4 naping or an attempt to kidnap, ag5 gravated sexual abuse or an attempt 

6 to commit aggravated sexual abuse, or 

7 an attempt to kill. 

8 ‘‘(B) CIRCUMSTANCES DESCRIBED.—For 

9 purposes of subparagraph (A), the cir10 cumstances described in this subparagraph are 

11 that—

12 ‘‘(i) the conduct described in subpara13 graph (A) occurs during the course of, or 

14 as the result of, the travel of the defendant 

15 or the victim—

16 ‘‘(I) across a State line or na17 tional border; or 

18 ‘‘(II) using a channel, facility, or 

19 instrumentality of interstate or for20 eign commerce; 

21 ‘‘(ii) the defendant uses a channel, fa22 cility, or instrumentality of interstate or 

23 foreign commerce in connection with the 

24 conduct described in subparagraph (A); 
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1 ‘‘(iii) in connection with the conduct 

2 described in subparagraph (A), the defend3 ant employs a firearm, explosive or incen4 diary device, or other weapon that has 

5 traveled in interstate or foreign commerce; 

6 or 

7 ‘‘(iv) the conduct described in sub8 paragraph (A)—

9 ‘‘(I) interferes with commercial 

10 or other economic activity in which 

11 the victim is engaged at the time of 

12 the conduct; or 

13 ‘‘(II) otherwise affects interstate 

14 or foreign commerce. 

15 ‘‘(b) CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENT.—No prosecu16 tion of any offense described in this subsection may be 

17 undertaken by the United States, except under the certifi18 cation in writing of the Attorney General, the Deputy At19 torney General, the Associate Attorney General, or any 

20 Assistant Attorney General specially designated by the At21 torney General that—

22 ‘‘(1) he or she has reasonable cause to believe 

23 that the actual or perceived race, color, religion, na24 tional origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender iden25 tity, or disability of any person was a motivating 
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1 factor underlying the alleged conduct of the defend2 ant; and 

3 ‘‘(2) he or his designee or she or her designee 

4 has consulted with State or local law enforcement of5 ficials regarding the prosecution and determined 

6 that—

7 ‘‘(A) the State does not have jurisdiction 

8 or does not intend to exercise jurisdiction; 

9 ‘‘(B) the State has requested that the Fed10 eral Government assume jurisdiction; 

11 ‘‘(C) the State does not object to the Fed12 eral Government assuming jurisdiction; or 

13 ‘‘(D) the verdict or sentence obtained pur14 suant to State charges left demonstratively 

15 unvindicated the Federal interest in eradicating 

16 bias-motivated violence. 

17 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section—

18 ‘‘(1) the term ‘explosive or incendiary device’ 

19 has the meaning given the term in section 232 of 

20 this title; 

21 ‘‘(2) the term ‘firearm’ has the meaning given 

22 the term in section 921(a) of this title; and 

23 ‘‘(3) the term ‘gender identity’ for the purposes 

24 of this chapter means actual or perceived gender-re25 lated characteristics. 
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1 ‘‘(d) RULE OF EVIDENCE.—In a prosecution for an 

2 offense under this section, evidence of expression or asso3 ciations of the defendant may not be introduced as sub4 stantive evidence at trial, unless the evidence specifically 

5 relates to that offense. However, nothing in this section 

6 affects the rules of evidence governing impeachment of a 

7 witness.’’. 

8 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—

9 The analysis for chapter 13 of title 18, United States 

10 Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:

‘‘249. Hate crime acts.’’.

11 SEC. 8. STATISTICS. 

12 Subsection (b)(1) of the first section of the Hate 

13 Crimes Statistics Act (28 U.S.C. 534 note) is amended 

14 by inserting ‘‘gender and gender identity,’’ after ‘‘race,’’. 

15 SEC. 9. SEVERABILITY. 

16 If any provision of this Act, an amendment made by 

17 this Act, or the application of such provision or amend18 ment to any person or circumstance is held to be unconsti19 tutional, the remainder of this Act, the amendments made 

20 by this Act, and the application of the provisions of such 

21 to any person or circumstance shall not be affected there22 by.

Æ