Date: 2012-04-17
Speaker: AL GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I rise this morning with good news and bad news. This news comes by way of my hometown newspaper. the Houston Chronicle. and Im proud that they have printed and published the news that Im about to share with the public. The bad news is that Mr. Yondell Johnson was accosted and beaten on the streets of Houston. Texas. simply because of his race. This is bad news for anyone in our great country. a country that believes in liberty and justice for all. The good news. however. is they were prosecuted and they were convicted in a Federal court pursuant to the James Byrd hate crime law. and Im honored to tell you that that law passed here in this Congress in 2009 and was signed into law. It is properly styled as the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd. Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act. It was supported by many people and organizations expressing goodwill. The NAACP supported it. the ADL supported it. a good many Members of this Congress supported it. and many others supported this law. This law allowed the prosecution to take place in a Federal court. when these three men would have been charged in a State court. and if convicted. faced misdemeanor charges. In this. the greatest country in the world. no one should have to fear for life or liberty simply because of who you are. simply because of your race. your ethnicity. your gender. your sexuality. It shouldnt happen in this country. The truth is that in this case there was some testimony with reference to one of the defendants having dated a person of African ancestry. There was testimony that he did not appear to be the kind of person that would be considered a white supremacist. But here is another truth that we have to deal with. The truth is that there is confusion about the hate crime law. Theres a misunderstanding. This law does not allow you to impose dastardly deeds upon persons simply because you are of the same race as the person that you are assaulting. The truth is that if you assault and target a person because of race. it doesnt matter what your race is. and you are committing a hate crime. The truth is that you can be of the same race and commit a hate crime. The victim and the perpetrator can be of the same race and you will still have a hate crime. We need to rid ourselves of this foolish notion that this law was passed in some way to assault persons who are of an ethnicity or a race that we have traditionally. in this country. found to be engaged in some of these kinds of activities. Its not targeted at any given race. its targeted at people who commit crimes against other people simply because of who these people are. I remind you that an injustice against any one of us is a threat to justice for every one of us. and we all have a duty to make sure that we dont send out some silly notion that this law was designed for one race of people. This law was designed for every person who would commit a hate crime against another person. So Im saddened to say this morning that the bad news is Mr. Johnson had to fight off several persons. stood his ground for 10 minutes. but indicated that he thought he was going to die as they assaulted him. Thats the bad news. The good news is that the law has worked. that this law is bringing new meaning to the notion of justice for all. This law will not allow those who would commit dastardly deeds and be prosecuted in State courts for misdemeanors to go unchecked. They will now face felony charges in our Federal courts. This is the way it should be in the greatest country in the world. Mr. Speaker. God bless all listening. and God bless the United States of America.