I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1082
To enhance Federal enforcement of hate crimes, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 11, 1999
Mr. CONYERS (for himself, Mrs. MORELLA, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. FORBES, Mr.
GEPHARDT, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. BOUCHER,
Mr. NADLER, Ms. LOFGREN, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. MEEHAN,
Mr. DELAHUNT, Mr. WEXLER, Mr. ROTHMAN, Mr. WEINER, Mr. ABER-
CROMBIE, Mr. ACKERMAN, Mr. ALLEN, Mr. ANDREWS, Mr. BAIRD, Mr.
BALDACCI, Mr. BARRETT of Wisconsin, Mr. BILBRAY, Mr. BLAGOJEVICH,
Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. BOEHLERT, Mr. BONIOR, Mr. BOSWELL, Mr.
BRADY of Pennsylvania, Ms. BROWN of Florida, Mr. BROWN of Califor-
nia, Mr. BROWN of Ohio, Mrs. CAPPS, Mr. CAPUANO, Mr. CARDIN, Ms.
CARSON, Mr. CLAY, Mrs. CLAYTON, Mrs. CHRISTENSEN, Mr. COYNE, Mr.
CROWLEY, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Ms. DEGETTE, Mr. DINGELL, Mr.
DIXON, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. FARR of California, Mr. FILNER, Mr. FORD,
Mr. FROST, Mr. GEJDENSON, Mr. GILMAN, Mr. GONZALEZ, Mr. GREEN
of Texas, Mr. GREENWOOD, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. HINOJOSA,
Mr. HORN, Mr. HOYER, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mrs.
JOHNSON of Connecticut, Mr. KENNEDY of Rhode Island, Mr. KILDEE,
Ms. KILPATRICK, Mr. KUCINICH, Mr. LANTOS, Mr. LARSON, Mr. LEACH,
Mr. LEVIN, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mrs. LOWEY, Mrs. MCCARTHY of
New York, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. MCNULTY, Mrs.
MALONEY of New York, Mr. MALONEY of Connecticut, Mr. MARKEY, Mr.
MATSUI, Mrs. MEEK of Florida, Mr. MENENDEZ, Ms. MILLENDER-
MCDONALD, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, Mrs. MINK of Hawaii,
Mr. MOAKLEY, Mr. MOORE, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Ms. NORTON, Mr. OBER-
STAR, Mr. OLVER, Mr. OWENS, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. PELOSI,
Mr. PRICE of North Carolina, Mr. RAHALL, Mr. REYES, Ms. ROYBAL-
ALLARD, Mr. RUSH, Mr. SABO, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. SANDLIN, Mr. SAW-
YER, Mr. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. SHERMAN, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. SMITH of
Washington, Ms. STABENOW, Mr. STARK, Mrs. TAUSCHER, Mr. THOMP-
SON of Mississippi, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. UNDERWOOD, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr.
WEYGAND, Ms. WOOLSEY, and Mr. WYNN) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To enhance Federal enforcement of hate crimes, and for
other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Hate Crimes Preven-
tion Act of 1999’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that—
(1) the incidence of violence motivated by the
actual or perceived race, color, national origin, reli-
gion, sexual orientation, gender, or disability of the
victim poses a serious national problem;
(2) such violence disrupts the tranquility and
safety of communities and is deeply divisive;
(3) existing Federal law is inadequate to ad-
dress this problem;
(4) such violence affects interstate commerce in
many ways, including—
(A) by impeding the movement of members
of targeted groups and forcing such members to
move across State lines to escape the incidence
or risk of such violence; and
(B) by preventing members of targeted
groups from purchasing goods and services, ob-
taining or sustaining employment or participat-
ing in other commercial activity;
(5) perpetrators cross State lines to commit
such violence;
(6) instrumentalities of interstate commerce are
used to facilitate the commission of such violence;
(7) such violence is committed using articles
that have traveled in interstate commerce;
(8) violence motivated by bias that is a relic of
slavery can constitute badges and incidents of slav-
ery;
(9) although many State and local authorities
are now and will continue to be responsible for pros-
ecuting the overwhelming majority of violent crimes
in the United States, including violent crimes moti-
vated by bias, Federal jurisdiction over certain vio-
lent crimes motivated by bias is necessary to supple-
ment State and local jurisdiction and ensure that
justice is achieved in each case;
(10) Federal jurisdiction over certain violent
crimes motivated by bias enables Federal, State, and
local authorities to work together as partners in the
investigation and prosecution of such crimes; and
(11) the problem of hate crime is sufficiently
serious, widespread, and interstate in nature as to
warrant Federal assistance to States and local juris-
dictions.
SEC. 3. DEFINITION OF HATE CRIME.
In this Act, the term ‘‘hate crime’’ has the same
meaning as in section 280003(a) of the Violent Crime
Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (28 U.S.C.
994 note).
SEC. 4. PROHIBITION OF CERTAIN ACTS OF VIOLENCE.
Section 245 of title 18, United States Code, is
amended—
(1) by redesignating subsections (c) and (d) as
subsections (d) and (e), respectively; and
(2) by inserting after subsection (b) the follow-
ing:
‘‘(c)(1) Whoever, whether or not acting under color
of law, willfully causes bodily injury to any person or,
through the use of fire, a firearm, or an explosive device,
attempts to cause bodily injury to any person, because of
the actual or perceived race, color, religion, or national
origin of any person—
‘‘(A) shall be imprisoned not more than 10
years, or fined in accordance with this title, or both;
and
‘‘(B) shall be imprisoned for any term of years
or for life, or fined in accordance with this title, or
both if—
‘‘(i) death results from the acts committed
in violation of this paragraph; or
‘‘(ii) the acts omitted in violation of this
paragraph include kidnapping or an attempt to
kidnap, aggravated sexual abuse or an attempt
to commit aggravated sexual abuse, or an at-
tempt to kill.
‘‘(2)(A) Whoever, whether or not acting under color
of law, in any circumstance described in subparagraph
(B), willfully causes bodily injury to any person or,
through the use of fire, a firearm, or an explosive device,
attempts to cause bodily injury to any person, because of
the actual or perceived religion, gender, sexual orientation,
or disability of any person—
‘‘(i) shall be imprisoned not more than 10
years, or fined in accordance with this title, or both;
and
‘‘(ii) shall be imprisoned for any term of years
or for life, or fined in accordance with this title, or
both, if—
‘‘(I) death results from the acts committed
in violation of this paragraph; or
‘‘(II) the acts committed in violation of
this paragraph include kidnapping or an at-
tempt to kidnap, aggravated sexual abuse or an
attempt to commit aggravated sexual abuse, or
an attempt to kill.
‘‘(B) For purposes of subparagraph (A), the cir-
cumstances described in this subparagraph are that—
‘‘(i) in connection with the offense, the defend-
ant or the victim travels in interstate or foreign
commerce, uses a facility or instrumentality of inter-
state or foreign commerce, or engages in any activity
affecting interstate or foreign commerce; or
‘‘(ii) the offense is in or affects interstate or
foreign commerce.’’.
SEC. 5. DUTIES OF FEDERAL SENTENCING COMMISSION.
(a) AMENDMENT OF FEDERAL SENTENCING GUIDE-
LINES.—Pursuant to its authority under section 994 of
title 28, United States Code, the United States Sentencing
Commission shall study the issue of adult recruitment of
juveniles to commit hate crimes and shall, if appropriate,
amend the Federal sentencing guidelines to provide sen-
tencing enhancements (in addition to the sentencing en-
hancement provided for the use of a minor during the
commission of an offense) for adult defendants who recruit
juveniles to assist in the commission of hate crimes.
(b) CONSISTENCY WITH OTHER GUIDELINES.—In
carrying out this section, the United States Sentencing
Commission shall—
(1) ensure that there is reasonable consistency
with other Federal sentencing guidelines; and
(2) avoid duplicative punishments for substan-
tially the same offense.
SEC. 6. GRANT PROGRAM.
(a) AUTHORITY TO MAKE GRANTS.—The Office of
Justice Programs of the Department of Justice shall make
grants, in accordance with such regulations as the Attor-
ney General may prescribe, to State and local programs
designed to combat hate crimes committed by juveniles,
including programs to train local law enforcement officers
in investigating, prosecuting, and preventing hate crimes.
(b) AUTHORIZATION
OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There
are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be
necessary to carry out this section.
SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION FOR ADDITIONAL PERSONNEL TO
ASSIST STATE AND LOCAL LAW ENFORCE-
MENT.
There are authorized to be appropriated to the De-
partment of the Treasury and the Department of Justice,
including the Community Relations Service, for fiscal
years 1998, 1999, and 2000 such sums as are necessary
to increase the number of personnel to prevent and re-
spond to alleged violations of section 245 of title 18,
United States Code (as amended by this Act).
SEC. 8. SEVERABILITY.
If any provision of this Act, an amendment made by
this Act, or the application of such provision or amend-
ment to any person or circumstance is held to be unconsti-
tutional, the remainder of this Act, the amendments made
by this Act, and the application of the provisions of such
to any person or circumstance shall not be affected there-
by.
Æ