IB 
Union Calendar No. 67 
110TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1592 
[Report No. 110–113] 
To provide Federal assistance to States, local jurisdictions, and Indian tribes 
to prosecute hate crimes, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 20, 2007 
Mr. CONYERS (for himself, Mr. KIRK, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. 
SHAYS, Ms. BALDWIN, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Mr. NADLER, Mrs. BONO, 
Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mr. ACKERMAN, Mr. ALLEN, Mr. ANDREWS, Mr. 
ARCURI, Mr. BACA, Mr. BAIRD, Mr. BECERRA, Ms. BERKLEY, Mr. BER-
MAN, Mrs. BIGGERT, Mr. BISHOP of New York, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. 
BORDALLO, Mr. BOSWELL, Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, Mr. BRALEY of 
Iowa, Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida, Mrs. CAPPS, Mr. CAPUANO, Mr. 
CARNAHAN, Ms. CARSON, Mr. CASTLE, Mr. COHEN, Mr. COSTA, Mr. 
COURTNEY, Mr. CROWLEY, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mrs. 
DAVIS of California, Mr. DEFAZIO, Ms. DEGETTE, Mr. DELAHUNT, Ms. 
DELAURO, Mr. DINGELL, Mr. DOGGETT, Mr. DOYLE, Mr. ELLISON, Mr. 
EMANUEL, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. FARR, Mr. FATTAH, Mr. FILNER, Mr. GER-
LACH, Ms. GIFFORDS, Mr. GONZALEZ, Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas, Mr. 
GRIJALVA, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. HIGGINS, Mr. HINCHEY, Ms. 
HIRONO, Mr. HODES, Mr. HOLT, Mr. HONDA, Ms. HOOLEY, Mr. INSLEE, 
Mr. ISRAEL, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON 
of Texas, Mr. KAGEN, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. KIND, Mr. 
KLEIN of Florida, Mr. KUCINICH, Mr. KUHL of New York, Mr. 
LANGEVIN, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Ms. LEE, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. LEWIS 
of Georgia, Mr. LOEBSACK, Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California, Mrs. 
LOWEY, Mr. LYNCH, Mrs. MALONEY of New York, Mr. MARKEY, Ms. 
MATSUI, Ms. MCCOLLUM of Minnesota, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. MCGOV-
ERN, Mr. MCNULTY, Mr. MEEHAN, Mr. MICHAUD, Mr. MILLER of North 
Carolina, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, 
Mr. MOORE of Kansas, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Mr. MURPHY of Con-
necticut, Mr. PATRICK J. MURPHY of Pennsylvania, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, 
Ms. NORTON, Mr. OLVER, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. PASCRELL, Mr. PASTOR, 
Mr. PAYNE, Mr. ROTHMAN, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Ms. LINDA T. 
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SA´NCHEZ of California, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. SCHIFF, Ms. SCHWARTZ, 
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Mr. SERRANO, Ms. SHEA-PORTER, Mr. SHER-
MAN, Mr. SIRES, Mr. SKELTON, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. SMITH of Wash-
ington, Mr. STARK, Ms. SUTTON, Mrs. TAUSCHER, Mr. THOMPSON of 
California, Mr. TIERNEY, Mrs. JONES of Ohio, Mr. UDALL of Colorado, 
Mr. UDALL of New Mexico, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Ms. WASSERMAN 
SCHULTZ, Ms. WATSON, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. WEINER, Mr. WEXLER, Ms. 
WOOLSEY, Mr. WU, and Mr. WYNN) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 
APRIL 30, 2007 
Additional sponsors: Mr. DAVIS of Alabama, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Mr. 
YARMUTH, Ms. CLARKE, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Ms. ESHOO, Ms. KAP-
TUR, Ms. BEAN, Mr. RUSH, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Mr. SNYDER, Mr. 
PERLMUTTER, 
Mr. 
JOHNSON
of 
Georgia, 
Ms. 
SOLIS, 
Mr. 
RUPPERSBERGER, Mr. LARSEN of Washington, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr. 
WALSH of New York, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. PRICE of North Carolina, Mr. 
GILCHREST, Ms. CASTOR, Mr. PLATTS, Mr. CLAY, Mr. MATHESON, Mr. 
SARBANES, Mr. NEAL of Massachusetts, Mr. MEEKS of New York, Mrs. 
MCCARTHY of New York, Mr. AL GREEN of Texas, Mr. OBERSTAR, Ms. 
HARMAN, Ms. KILPATRICK, and Mr. LANTOS 
APRIL 30, 2007 
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 March 20, 2007] 
A BILL 
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, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Local Law Enforcement 
Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007’’. 
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SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress makes the following findings: 
(1) The incidence of violence motivated by the 
actual or perceived race, color, religion, national ori-
gin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or 
disability of the victim poses a serious national prob-
lem. 
(2) Such violence disrupts the tranquility and 
safety of communities and is deeply divisive. 
(3) State and local authorities are now and will 
continue to be responsible for prosecuting the over-
whelming majority of violent crimes in the United 
States, including violent crimes motivated by bias. 
These authorities can carry out their responsibilities 
more effectively with greater Federal assistance. 
(4) Existing Federal law is inadequate to ad-
dress this problem. 
(5) A prominent characteristic of a violent crime 
motivated by bias is that it devastates not just the ac-
tual victim and the family and friends of the victim, 
but frequently savages the community sharing the 
traits that caused the victim to be selected. 
(6) Such violence substantially affects interstate 
commerce in many ways, including the following: 
(A) The movement of members of targeted 
groups is impeded, and members of such groups 
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are forced to move across State lines to escape 
the incidence or risk of such violence. 
(B) Members of targeted groups are pre-
vented from purchasing goods and services, ob-
taining or sustaining employment, or partici-
pating in other commercial activity. 
(C) Perpetrators cross State lines to commit 
such violence. 
(D) Channels, facilities, and instrumental-
ities of interstate commerce are used to facilitate 
the commission of such violence. 
(E) Such violence is committed using arti-
cles that have traveled in interstate commerce. 
(7) For generations, the institutions of slavery 
and involuntary servitude were defined by the race, 
color, and ancestry of those held in bondage. Slavery 
and involuntary servitude were enforced, both prior to 
and after the adoption of the 13th amendment to the 
Constitution of the United States, through widespread 
public and private violence directed at persons be-
cause of their race, color, or ancestry, or perceived 
race, color, or ancestry. Accordingly, eliminating ra-
cially motivated violence is an important means of 
eliminating, to the extent possible, the badges, inci-
dents, and relics of slavery and involuntary servitude. 
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(8) Both at the time when the 13th, 14th, and 
15th amendments to the Constitution of the United 
States were adopted, and continuing to date, members 
of certain religious and national origin groups were 
and are perceived to be distinct ‘‘races’’. Thus, in 
order to eliminate, to the extent possible, the badges, 
incidents, and relics of slavery, it is necessary to pro-
hibit assaults on the basis of real or perceived reli-
gions or national origins, at least to the extent such 
religions or national origins were regarded as races 
at the time of the adoption of the 13th, 14th, and 15th 
amendments to the Constitution of the United States. 
(9) 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. 
(10) The problem of crimes motivated by bias is 
sufficiently serious, widespread, and interstate in na-
ture as to warrant Federal assistance to States, local 
jurisdictions, and Indian tribes. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITION OF HATE CRIME. 
In this Act— 
(1) the term ‘‘crime of violence’’ has the meaning 
given that term in section 16, title 18, United States 
Code; 
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(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 po-
litical subdivision of a State. 
SEC. 4. 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 State, local, 
or Tribal law enforcement agency, the Attorney Gen-
eral may provide technical, forensic, prosecutorial, or 
any other form of assistance in the criminal inves-
tigation or prosecution of any crime that— 
(A) constitutes a crime of violence; 
(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. 
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(2) PRIORITY.—In providing assistance under 
paragraph (1), the Attorney General shall give pri-
ority to crimes committed by offenders who have com-
mitted crimes in more than one State and to rural 
jurisdictions that have difficulty covering the extraor-
dinary expenses relating to the investigation or pros-
ecution of the crime. 
(b) GRANTS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General may 
award grants to State, local, and Indian 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 and 
schools, colleges, and universities, are addressed 
through the local infrastructure developed under the 
grants. 
(3) APPLICATION.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—Each State, local, and 
Indian law enforcement agency that desires a 
grant under this subsection shall submit an ap-
plication to the Attorney General at such time, 
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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 beginning on 
a date that the Attorney General shall prescribe. 
(C) REQUIREMENTS.—A State, local, and 
Indian law enforcement agency applying for a 
grant under this subsection shall— 
(i) describe the extraordinary purposes 
for which the grant is needed; 
(ii) certify that the State, local govern-
ment, or Indian tribe lacks the resources 
necessary to investigate or prosecute the 
hate crime; 
(iii) demonstrate that, in developing a 
plan to implement the grant, the State, 
local, and Indian law enforcement agency 
has consulted and coordinated with non-
profit, nongovernmental victim services pro-
grams 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 
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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 30 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 juris-
diction in any 1-year period. 
(6) REPORT.—Not later than December 31, 2008, 
the Attorney General shall submit to Congress a re-
port describing the applications submitted for grants 
under this subsection, the award of such grants, and 
the purposes for which the grant amounts were ex-
pended. 
(7) AUTHORIZATION
OF
APPROPRIATIONS.— 
There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 
this subsection $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 
2008 and 2009. 
SEC. 5. 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 
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