IIB 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1913 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
APRIL 30, 2009 
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 
AN ACT 
To provide Federal assistance to States, local jurisdictions, 
and Indian tribes to prosecute 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, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Local Law Enforce-
ment Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009’’. 
SEC. 2. DEFINITION OF HATE CRIME. 
In this Act— 
(1) the term ‘‘crime of violence’’ has the mean-
ing given that term in section 16, title 18, United 
States Code; 
(2) the term ‘‘hate crime’’ has the meaning 
given such term in section 280003(a) of the Violent 
Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 
(28 U.S.C. 994 note); and 
(3) the term ‘‘local’’ means a county, city, town, 
township, parish, village, or other general purpose 
political subdivision of a State. 
SEC. 3. SUPPORT FOR CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS AND 
PROSECUTIONS BY STATE, LOCAL, AND TRIB-
AL LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS. 
(a) ASSISTANCE OTHER THAN FINANCIAL ASSIST-
ANCE.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—At the request of a State, 
local, or tribal law enforcement agency, the Attorney 
General may provide technical, forensic, prosecu-
torial, or any other form of assistance in the crimi-
nal investigation or prosecution of any crime that— 
(A) constitutes a crime of violence; 
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(B) constitutes a felony under the State, 
local, or tribal laws; and 
(C) is motivated by prejudice based on the 
actual or perceived race, color, religion, national 
origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender iden-
tity, or disability of the victim, or is a violation 
of the State, local, or tribal hate crime laws. 
(2) PRIORITY.—In providing assistance under 
paragraph (1), the Attorney General shall give pri-
ority to crimes committed by offenders who have 
committed crimes in more than one State and to 
rural jurisdictions that have difficulty covering the 
extraordinary expenses relating to the investigation 
or prosecution of the crime. 
(b) GRANTS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General may 
award grants to State, local, and Tribal law enforce-
ment agencies for extraordinary expenses associated 
with the investigation and prosecution of hate 
crimes. 
(2) OFFICE OF JUSTICE PROGRAMS.—In imple-
menting the grant program under this subsection, 
the Office of Justice Programs shall work closely 
with grantees to ensure that the concerns and needs 
of all affected parties, including community groups 
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and schools, colleges, and universities, are addressed 
through the local infrastructure developed under the 
grants. 
(3) APPLICATION.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—Each State, local, or 
Tribal law enforcement agency that desires a 
grant under this subsection shall submit an ap-
plication to the Attorney General at such time, 
in such manner, and accompanied by or con-
taining such information as the Attorney Gen-
eral shall reasonably require. 
(B) DATE FOR SUBMISSION.—Applications 
submitted pursuant to subparagraph (A) shall 
be submitted during the 60-day period begin-
ning on a date that the Attorney General shall 
prescribe. 
(C) REQUIREMENTS.—A State, local, or 
Tribal law enforcement agency applying for a 
grant under this subsection shall— 
(i) describe the extraordinary pur-
poses for which the grant is needed; 
(ii) certify that the State, local gov-
ernment, or Indian tribe lacks the re-
sources necessary to investigate or pros-
ecute the hate crime; 
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(iii) demonstrate that, in developing a 
plan to implement the grant, the State, 
local, or Tribal law enforcement agency 
has consulted and coordinated with non-
profit, nongovernmental violence recovery 
service programs that have experience in 
providing services to victims of hate 
crimes; and 
(iv) certify that any Federal funds re-
ceived under this subsection will be used to 
supplement, not supplant, non-Federal 
funds that would otherwise be available for 
activities funded under this subsection. 
(4) DEADLINE.—An application for a grant 
under this subsection shall be approved or denied by 
the Attorney General not later than 180 business 
days after the date on which the Attorney General 
receives the application. 
(5) GRANT AMOUNT.—A grant under this sub-
section shall not exceed $100,000 for any single ju-
risdiction in any 1-year period. 
(6) REPORT.—Not later than December 31, 
2011, the Attorney General shall submit to Congress 
a report describing the applications submitted for 
grants under this subsection, the award of such 
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grants, and the purposes for which the grant 
amounts were expended. 
(7) AUTHORIZATION
OF
APPROPRIATIONS.— 
There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 
this subsection $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 
2010 and 2011. 
SEC. 4. GRANT PROGRAM. 
(a) AUTHORITY TO AWARD GRANTS.—The Office of 
Justice Programs of the Department of Justice may 
award grants, in accordance with such regulations as the 
Attorney General may prescribe, to State, local, or tribal 
programs designed to combat hate crimes committed by 
juveniles, including programs to train local law enforce-
ment officers in identifying, 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. 5. AUTHORIZATION FOR ADDITIONAL PERSONNEL TO 
ASSIST STATE, LOCAL, AND TRIBAL LAW EN-
FORCEMENT. 
There are authorized to be appropriated to the De-
partment of Justice, including the Community Relations 
Service, for fiscal years 2010, 2011, and 2012, such sums 
as are necessary to increase the number of personnel to 
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prevent and respond to alleged violations of section 249 
of title 18, United States Code, as added by section 7 of 
this Act. 
SEC. 6. PROHIBITION OF CERTAIN HATE CRIME ACTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 13 of title 18, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘§ 249. Hate crime acts 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.— 
‘‘(1) OFFENSES INVOLVING ACTUAL OR PER-
CEIVED RACE, COLOR, RELIGION, OR NATIONAL ORI-
GIN.—Whoever, whether or not acting under color of 
law, willfully causes bodily injury to any person or, 
through the use of fire, a firearm, a dangerous 
weapon, or an explosive or incendiary device, at-
tempts to cause bodily injury to any person, because 
of the actual or perceived race, color, religion, or na-
tional origin of any person— 
‘‘(A) shall be imprisoned not more than 10 
years, fined in accordance with this title, or 
both; and 
‘‘(B) shall be imprisoned for any term of 
years or for life, fined in accordance with this 
title, or both, if— 
‘‘(i) death results from the offense; or 
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‘‘(I) death results from the of-
fense; or 
‘‘(II) the offense includes kid-
naping or an attempt to kidnap, ag-
gravated sexual abuse or an attempt 
to commit aggravated sexual abuse, or 
an attempt to kill. 
‘‘(B) CIRCUMSTANCES
DESCRIBED.—For 
purposes 
of 
subparagraph 
(A), 
the 
cir-
cumstances described in this subparagraph are 
that— 
‘‘(i) the conduct described in subpara-
graph (A) occurs during the course of, or 
as the result of, the travel of the defendant 
or the victim— 
‘‘(I) across a State line or na-
tional border; or 
‘‘(II) using a channel, facility, or 
instrumentality of interstate or for-
eign commerce; 
‘‘(ii) the defendant uses a channel, fa-
cility, or instrumentality of interstate or 
foreign commerce in connection with the 
conduct described in subparagraph (A); 
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‘‘(iii) in connection with the conduct 
described in subparagraph (A), the defend-
ant employs a firearm, explosive or incen-
diary device, or other weapon that has 
traveled in interstate or foreign commerce; 
or 
‘‘(iv) the conduct described in sub-
paragraph (A)— 
‘‘(I) interferes with commercial 
or other economic activity in which 
the victim is engaged at the time of 
the conduct; or 
‘‘(II) otherwise affects interstate 
or foreign commerce. 
‘‘(3) ADDITIONAL
FEDERAL
NEXUS
FOR
OF-
FENSE.—Whoever, in the special maritime or terri-
torial jurisdiction of the United States, or in Indian 
country, engages in conduct described in paragraph 
(1) or in paragraph (2)(A) (without regard to 
whether that conduct occurred in a circumstance de-
scribed in paragraph (2)(B)) shall be subject to the 
same penalties as those provided for offenses under 
those paragraphs. 
‘‘(b) CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENT.—No prosecu-
tion of any offense described in this subsection may be 
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undertaken by the United States, except under the certifi-
cation in writing of the Attorney General, the Deputy At-
torney General, the Associate Attorney General, or any 
Assistant Attorney General specially designated by the At-
torney General that— 
‘‘(1) such certifying individual has reasonable 
cause to believe that the actual or perceived race, 
color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual ori-
entation, gender identity, or disability of any person 
was a motivating factor underlying the alleged con-
duct of the defendant; and 
‘‘(2) such certifying individual has consulted 
with State or local law enforcement officials regard-
ing the prosecution and determined that— 
‘‘(A) the State does not have jurisdiction 
or does not intend to exercise jurisdiction; 
‘‘(B) the State has requested that the Fed-
eral Government assume jurisdiction; 
‘‘(C) the State does not object to the Fed-
eral Government assuming jurisdiction; or 
‘‘(D) the verdict or sentence obtained pur-
suant to State charges left demonstratively 
unvindicated the Federal interest in eradicating 
bias-motivated violence. 
‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.— 
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‘‘(1) In this section— 
‘‘(A) the term ‘explosive or incendiary de-
vice’ has the meaning given such term in sec-
tion 232 of this title; 
‘‘(B) the term ‘firearm’ has the meaning 
given such term in section 921(a) of this title; 
and 
‘‘(C) the term ‘State’ includes the District 
of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and any other terri-
tory or possession of the United States. 
‘‘(2) For the purposes of this chapter, the term 
‘gender identity’ means actual or perceived gender- 
related characteristics. 
‘‘(d) STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS.— 
‘‘(1) OFFENSES NOT RESULTING IN DEATH.— 
Except as provided in paragraph (2), no person shall 
be prosecuted, tried, or punished for any offense 
under this section unless the indictment for such of-
fense is found, or the information for such offense 
is instituted, not later than 7 years after the date 
on which the offense was committed. 
‘‘(2) DEATH
RESULTING
OFFENSES.—An in-
dictment or information alleging that an offense 
under this section resulted in death may be found or 
instituted at any time without limitation. 
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‘‘(e) RULE OF EVIDENCE.—In a prosecution for an 
offense under this section, evidence of expression or asso-
ciations of the defendant may not be introduced as sub-
stantive evidence at trial, unless the evidence specifically 
relates to that offense. However, nothing in this section 
affects the rules of evidence governing impeachment of a 
witness.’’. 
(b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 
The table of sections at the beginning of chapter 13 of 
title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 
end the following new item: 
‘‘249. Hate crime acts.’’. 
SEC. 7. 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. 
SEC. 8. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 
Nothing in this Act, or the amendments made by this 
Act, shall be construed to prohibit any expressive conduct 
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protected from legal prohibition by, or any activities pro-
tected by, the Constitution. 
Passed the House of Representatives April 29, 2009. 
Attest: 
LORRAINE C. MILLER, 
Clerk. 
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