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Union Calendar No. 40 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1913 

[Report No. 111–86] 

To provide Federal assistance to States, local jurisdictions, and Indian tribes 

to prosecute hate crimes, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 2, 2009 

Mr. CONYERS (for himself, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, 

Mr. ACKERMAN, Ms. BALDWIN, Ms. BERKLEY, Mr. BERMAN, Mrs. 

BIGGERT, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mrs. BONO MACK, 

Mr. BRALEY of Iowa, Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida, Mr. CAO, Mrs. 

CAPPS, Mr. CASTLE, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Mr. CLAY, Mr. CUMMINGS, 

Mr. DELAHUNT, Mr. DRIEHAUS, Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas, Mr. 

ISRAEL, Ms. KILROY, Mr. KIRK, Mr. KUCINICH, Mr. LANCE, Mrs. 

MALONEY, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. MOORE of Kansas, Mr. 

MORAN of Virginia, Mr. NADLER of New York, Mr. OLVER, Mr. PETERS, 

Mr. POLIS of Colorado, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Mr. SERRANO, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Ms. WATSON, and Ms. 

WOOLSEY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

APRIL 27, 2009 

Additional sponsors: Mr. CAPUANO, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. COHEN, Mr. 

HARE, Mr. FILNER, Mrs. DAVIS of California, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, 

Mr. MAFFEI, Mr. CROWLEY, Mr. PATRICK J. MURPHY of Pennsylvania, 

Mr. HOLT, Mr. SIRES, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. 

DOGGETT, Mr. PASTOR of Arizona, Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, Mr. 

GRIJALVA, Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California, Ms. NORTON, Mr. QUIGLEY, 

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. PRICE of North Carolina, Mr. WU, Mr. CLYBURN, Mr. MITCHELL, Mr. OBERSTAR, Mr. 

GEORGE MILLER of California, Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York, Ms. MATSUI, Mr. VISCLOSKY, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mr. SESTAK, Mr. 

PLATTS, Mr. GONZALEZ, Mr. COURTNEY, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, 

Ms. GIFFORDS, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. KLEIN of Florida, Mr. SHERMAN, 

Ms. PINGREE of Maine, Mr. INSLEE, Mr. SNYDER, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, 


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Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. DOYLE, Ms. HARMAN, Mr. ROTHMAN of New Jersey, 

Mr. COOPER, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. CONNOLLY of Virginia, Ms. DEGETTE, Mr. FATTAH, Mr. MILLER of North Carolina, Ms. 

CLARKE, Mr. LOEBSACK, Mr. PIERLUISI, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. 

MCMAHON, Mr. FARR, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. JACKSON of 

Illinois, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. CARNAHAN, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Mr. MARKEY of Massachusetts, Mr. PASCRELL, Mr. YARMUTH, 

Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California, Mr. AL GREEN of Texas, Ms. 

FUDGE, Mr. BACA, and Mr. CARSON of Indiana 

APRIL 27, 2009 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on April 2, 2009] 

A BILL 

To provide Federal assistance to States, local jurisdictions, 

and Indian tribes 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 Enforcement 

5 Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITION OF HATE CRIME. 

7 In this Act— 

8 (1) the term ‘‘crime of violence’’ has the meaning 

9 given that term in section 16, title 18, United States 

10 Code; 

11 (2) the term ‘‘hate crime’’ has the meaning given 

12 such term in section 280003(a) of the Violent Crime 


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

2 994 note); and 

3 (3) the term ‘‘local’’ means a county, city, town, 

4 township, parish, village, or other general purpose po5 litical subdivision of a State. 

6 SEC. 3. SUPPORT FOR CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS AND 

7 PROSECUTIONS BY STATE, LOCAL, AND TRIB8 AL LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS. 

9 (a) ASSISTANCE OTHER THAN FINANCIAL ASSIST10 ANCE.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—At the request of a State, 

12 local, or tribal law enforcement agency, the Attorney 

13 General may provide technical, forensic, prosecu14 torial, or any other form of assistance in the criminal 

15 investigation or prosecution of any crime that— 

16 (A) constitutes a crime of violence; 

17 (B) constitutes a felony under the State, 

18 local, or tribal laws; and 

19 (C) is motivated by prejudice based on the 

20 actual or perceived race, color, religion, national 

21 origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender iden22 tity, or disability of the victim, or is a violation 

23 of the State, local, or tribal hate crime laws. 

24 (2) PRIORITY.—In providing assistance under 

25 paragraph (1), the Attorney General shall give priVerDate Nov 24 2008 03:21 Apr 28, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1913.RH H1913

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1 ority to crimes committed by offenders who have com2 mitted crimes in more than one State and to rural 

3 jurisdictions that have difficulty covering the extraor4 dinary expenses relating to the investigation or pros5 ecution of the crime. 

6 (b) GRANTS.— 

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

8 award grants to State, local, and Indian law enforce9 ment agencies for extraordinary expenses associated 

10 with the investigation and prosecution of hate crimes. 

11 (2) OFFICE OF JUSTICE PROGRAMS.—In imple12 menting the grant program under this subsection, the 

13 Office of Justice Programs shall work closely with 

14 grantees to ensure that the concerns and needs of all 

15 affected parties, including community groups and 

16 schools, colleges, and universities, are addressed 

17 through the local infrastructure developed under the 

18 grants. 

19 (3) APPLICATION.— 

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—Each State, local, and 

21 Indian law enforcement agency that desires a 

22 grant under this subsection shall submit an ap23 plication to the Attorney General at such time, 

24 in such manner, and accompanied by or conVerDate Nov 24 2008 03:21 Apr 28, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1913.RH H1913

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1 taining such information as the Attorney Gen2 eral shall reasonably require. 

3 (B) DATE FOR SUBMISSION.—Applications 

4 submitted pursuant to subparagraph (A) shall be 

5 submitted during the 60-day period beginning on 

6 a date that the Attorney General shall prescribe. 

7 (C) REQUIREMENTS.—A State, local, and 

8 Indian law enforcement agency applying for a 

9 grant under this subsection shall— 

10 (i) describe the extraordinary purposes 

11 for which the grant is needed; 

12 (ii) certify that the State, local govern13 ment, or Indian tribe lacks the resources 

14 necessary to investigate or prosecute the 

15 hate crime; 

16 (iii) demonstrate that, in developing a 

17 plan to implement the grant, the State, 

18 local, and Indian law enforcement agency 

19 has consulted and coordinated with non20 profit, nongovernmental violence recovery 

21 service programs that have experience in 

22 providing services to victims of hate crimes; 

23 and 

24 (iv) certify that any Federal funds re25 ceived under this subsection will be used to 


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1 supplement, not supplant, non-Federal 

2 funds that would otherwise be available for 

3 activities funded under this subsection. 

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

5 under this subsection shall be approved or denied by 

6 the Attorney General not later than 30 business days 

7 after the date on which the Attorney General receives 

8 the application. 

9 (5) GRANT AMOUNT.—A grant under this sub10 section shall not exceed $100,000 for any single juris11 diction in any 1-year period. 

12 (6) REPORT.—Not later than December 31, 2011, 

13 the Attorney General shall submit to Congress a re14 port describing the applications submitted for grants 

15 under this subsection, the award of such grants, and 

16 the purposes for which the grant amounts were ex17 pended. 

18 (7) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

19 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

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

21 2010 and 2011. 

22 SEC. 4. GRANT PROGRAM. 

23 (a) AUTHORITY TO AWARD GRANTS.—The Office of 

24 Justice Programs of the Department of Justice may award 

25 grants, in accordance with such regulations as the Attorney 


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1 General may prescribe, to State, local, or tribal programs 

2 designed to combat hate crimes committed by juveniles, in3 cluding programs to train local law enforcement officers in 

4 identifying, investigating, prosecuting, and preventing hate 

5 crimes. 

6 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There are 

7 authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be nec8 essary to carry out this section. 

9 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION FOR ADDITIONAL PERSONNEL TO 

10 ASSIST STATE, LOCAL, AND TRIBAL LAW EN11 FORCEMENT. 

12 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Depart13 ment of Justice, including the Community Relations Serv14 ice, for fiscal years 2010, 2011, and 2012, such sums as 

15 are necessary to increase the number of personnel to prevent 

16 and respond to alleged violations of section 249 of title 18, 

17 United States Code, as added by section 7 of this Act. 

18 SEC. 6. PROHIBITION OF CERTAIN HATE CRIME ACTS. 

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

20 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘§ 249. Hate crime acts 

22 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.— 

23 ‘‘(1) OFFENSES INVOLVING ACTUAL OR PER24 CEIVED RACE, COLOR, RELIGION, OR NATIONAL ORI25 GIN.—Whoever, whether or not acting under color of 


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

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

3 incendiary device, attempts to cause bodily injury to 

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

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

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

7 years, fined in accordance with this title, or 

8 both; and 

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

10 years or for life, fined in accordance with this 

11 title, or both, if— 

12 ‘‘(i) death results from the offense; or 

13 ‘‘(ii) the offense includes kidnaping or 

14 an attempt to kidnap, aggravated sexual 

15 abuse or an attempt to commit aggravated 

16 sexual abuse, or an attempt to kill. 

17 ‘‘(2) OFFENSES INVOLVING ACTUAL OR PER18 CEIVED RELIGION, NATIONAL ORIGIN, GENDER, SEX19 UAL ORIENTATION, GENDER IDENTITY, OR DIS20 ABILITY.— 

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

22 not acting under color of law, in any cir23 cumstance described in subparagraph (B), will24 fully causes bodily injury to any person or, 

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


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1 or incendiary device, attempts to cause bodily 

2 injury to any person, because of the actual or 

3 perceived religion, national origin, gender, sex4 ual orientation, gender identity, or disability of 

5 any person— 

6 ‘‘(i) shall be imprisoned not more than 

7 10 years, fined in accordance with this title, 

8 or both; and 

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

10 of years or for life, fined in accordance with 

11 this title, or both, if— 

12 ‘‘(I) death results from the offense; 

13 or 

14 ‘‘(II) the offense includes kid15 naping or an attempt to kidnap, ag16 gravated sexual abuse or an attempt to 

17 commit aggravated sexual abuse, or an 

18 attempt to kill. 

19 ‘‘(B) CIRCUMSTANCES DESCRIBED.—For 

20 purposes of subparagraph (A), the circumstances 

21 described in this subparagraph are that— 

22 ‘‘(i) the conduct described in subpara23 graph (A) occurs during the course of, or as 

24 the result of, the travel of the defendant or 

25 the victim— 


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1 ‘‘(I) across a State line or na2 tional border; or 

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

4 instrumentality of interstate or foreign 

5 commerce; 

6 ‘‘(ii) the defendant uses a channel, fa7 cility, or instrumentality of interstate or 

8 foreign commerce in connection with the 

9 conduct described in subparagraph (A); 

10 ‘‘(iii) in connection with the conduct 

11 described in subparagraph (A), the defend12 ant employs a firearm, explosive or incen13 diary device, or other weapon that has trav14 eled in interstate or foreign commerce; or 

15 ‘‘(iv) the conduct described in subpara16 graph (A)— 

17 ‘‘(I) interferes with commercial or 

18 other economic activity in which the 

19 victim is engaged at the time of the 

20 conduct; or 

21 ‘‘(II) otherwise affects interstate 

22 or foreign commerce. 

23 ‘‘(b) CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENT.—No prosecution 

24 of any offense described in this subsection may be under25 taken by the United States, except under the certification 


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1 in writing of the Attorney General, the Deputy Attorney 

2 General, the Associate Attorney General, or any Assistant 

3 Attorney General specially designated by the Attorney Gen4 eral that— 

5 ‘‘(1) such certifying individual has reasonable 

6 cause to believe that the actual or perceived race, 

7 color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual ori8 entation, gender identity, or disability of any person 

9 was a motivating factor underlying the alleged con10 duct of the defendant; and 

11 ‘‘(2) such certifying individual has consulted 

12 with State or local law enforcement officials regard13 ing the prosecution and determined that— 

14 ‘‘(A) the State does not have jurisdiction or 

15 does not intend to exercise jurisdiction; 

16 ‘‘(B) the State has requested that the Fed17 eral Government assume jurisdiction; 

18 ‘‘(C) the State does not object to the Federal 

19 Government assuming jurisdiction; or 

20 ‘‘(D) the verdict or sentence obtained pursu21 ant to State charges left demonstratively 

22 unvindicated the Federal interest in eradicating 

23 bias-motivated violence. 

24 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.— 

25 ‘‘(1) In this section— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the term ‘explosive or incendiary de2 vice’ has the meaning given such term in section 

3 232 of this title; and 

4 ‘‘(B) the term ‘firearm’ has the meaning 

5 given such term in section 921(a) of this title. 

6 ‘‘(2) For the purposes of this chapter, the term 

7 ‘gender identity’ means actual or perceived gender-re8 lated characteristics. 

9 ‘‘(d) RULE OF EVIDENCE.—In a prosecution for an of10 fense under this section, evidence of expression or associa11 tions of the defendant may not be introduced as substantive 

12 evidence at trial, unless the evidence specifically relates to 

13 that offense. However, nothing in this section affects the 

14 rules of evidence governing impeachment of a witness.’’. 

15 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The 

16 table of sections at the beginning of chapter 13 of title 18, 

17 United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 

18 following new item: 

‘‘249. Hate crime acts.’’. 

19 SEC. 7. SEVERABILITY. 

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

21 this Act, or the application of such provision or amendment 

22 to any person or circumstance is held to be unconstitu23 tional, the remainder of this Act, the amendments made by 

24 this Act, and the application of the provisions of such to 

25 any person or circumstance shall not be affected thereby. 


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1 SEC. 8. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

2 Nothing in this Act, or the amendments made by this 

3 Act, shall be construed to prohibit any expressive conduct 

4 protected from legal prohibition by, or any activities pro5 tected by the Constitution. 


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Union Calendar No. 40 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1913 

[Report No. 111–86] 

A BILL 

To provide Federal assistance to States, local juriscrimes, and for other purposes. dictions, and Indian tribes to prosecute hate 

APRIL 27, 2009 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Comand ordered to be printed mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 


wwoods2 on PRODPC68 with BILLS