Dianne Feinstein: “I rise to say I believe the time has come to adopt the Kennedy legislation. In effect, the study has been done. We know…”

“I rise to say I believe the time has come to adopt the Kennedy legislation. In effect, the study has been done. We know that since the early 1990s, there have been 60,000 hate crimes in this country. We know that young men such as Matthew Shepard, just because they are gay, can be beaten until they are killed. We know that a U.S. postal worker can be shot and killed simply because he happens to be a Filipino American. We see people targeted for specific crimes. I authored the original hate crimes legislation in 1993. It had two loopholes: It excluded sex and sexual orientation. This legislation corrects it, and it only applies in pursuance of a Federal right. This legislation extends that. I urge its adoption. I thank the Chair.”