I 
110TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6776 
To prevent hate crimes, to provide support services for victims of hate crimes, 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
AUGUST 1, 2008 
Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas (for herself, Ms. EDWARDS of Maryland, Ms. 
CLARKE, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. PAYNE, and Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin) in-
troduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the 
Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, En-
ergy and Commerce, Education and Labor, Oversight and Government 
Reform, House Administration, and Financial Services, for a period to 
be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider-
ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
concerned 
A BILL 
To prevent hate crimes, to provide support services for 
victims 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 AND TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘David Ray Ritcheson Hate Crime Prevention Act’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act is as follows: 
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Sec. 1. Short title and table of contents. 
TITLE I—ASSISTANCE FOR VICTIMS OF HATE CRIMES 
Sec. 101. Unemployment compensation. 
Sec. 102. Insurance protection for victims of hate crimes. 
Sec. 103. Entitlement to leave for victims of hate crimes. 
Sec. 104. Temporary housing assistance. 
Sec. 105. Counseling grant program. 
TITLE II—RESOURCES 
Sec. 201. National clearinghouse and resource center. 
Sec. 202. National hate crime hotline and Internet website grant. 
Sec. 203. Federal employee programs relating to hate crimes. 
TITLE III—EDUCATION AND PREVENTION SERVICES 
Sec. 301. Elementary and secondary hate crime educational grants. 
Sec. 302. College and University hate crime educational grants. 
TITLE I—ASSISTANCE FOR 
VICTIMS OF HATE CRIMES 
SEC. 101. UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION. 
(a) UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION.—Subsection 
(a) of section 3304 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 
is amended by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 
(18), by striking the period at the end of paragraph (19) 
and inserting ‘‘; and’’, and by inserting after paragraph 
(19) the following new paragraph: 
‘‘(20) compensation shall be payable in the case 
of an individual separated from employment due to 
circumstances directly resulting from the individual’s 
experience as a victim of a hate crime.’’; 
(b) SPECIAL RULES RELATING TO HATE CRIMES.— 
Section 3304 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 
amended by adding at the end the following new sub-
section: 
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‘‘(g) SPECIAL RULES RELATING TO HATE CRIMES.— 
‘‘(1) For purposes of determining, under sub-
section (a)(20), whether an individual’s separation 
from employment shall be treated as directly result-
ing from the individual’s experience as a victim of a 
hate crime, it shall be sufficient if the separation 
from employment resulted from— 
‘‘(A) the individual’s relocation to another 
geographic area in order to avoid future hate 
crimes against the individual or the individual’s 
family; 
‘‘(B) the individual’s need to recover from 
physical injury or emotional distress resulting 
from the individual’s experience as a victim of 
a hate crime; or 
‘‘(C) the employer’s denial of the individ-
ual’s request for the temporary leave from em-
ployment authorized by section 102 of the Fam-
ily and Medical Leave Act of 1993 to address 
the hate crime and its consequences. 
‘‘(2) For purposes of this section, the term 
‘hate crime’ means a criminal offense in which the 
prosecutor has determined that the defendant inten-
tionally selected a victim, or in the case of a prop-
erty crime, the property that is the object of the 
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crime, because of the actual or perceived race, color, 
religion, national origin, ethnicity, gender, disability, 
or sexual orientation of any person.’’. 
SEC. 102. INSURANCE PROTECTION FOR VICTIMS OF HATE 
CRIMES. 
(a) DISCRIMINATION PROHIBITED.—An insurer may 
not take into account whether a person is or has been a 
victim of a hate crime when making a determination with 
respect to— 
(1) the eligibility (including continued eligi-
bility) of such person to enroll (or continue enroll-
ment) under the terms of the plan, coverage, or pol-
icy of insurance involved; 
(2) the rate or premium of a plan or policy of 
insurance involved; and 
(3) the amount of coverage provided (or a de-
termination of coverage for a claim made) under the 
plan, coverage, or policy of insurance involved. 
(b) DEFINITIONS.— 
(1) HATE CRIME.—For purposes of this section, 
the term ‘‘hate crime’’ means a criminal offense in 
which the prosecutor has determined that the de-
fendant intentionally selected a victim, or in the case 
of a property crime, the property that is the object 
of the crime, because of the actual or perceived race, 
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