Lateefah Simon: “I rise today to join Senator Hatch in the introduction of a bill to reauthorize and provide a permanent mandate for the…”

“I rise today to join Senator Hatch in the introduction of a bill to reauthorize and provide a permanent mandate for the Hate Crimes Statistics Act. I would also like to thank Chairman Hatch for his leadership on this important issue, and for scheduling today's Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on this bill. This bill's 28 original cosponsors show the strong bipartisan support for this measure. It also has the strong support of Attorney General Reno, as well as the endorsement of major law enforcement and advocacy groups. The Hate Crimes Statistics Act, which passed the Senate in 1990 by a vote of 92-4 and was signed into law by then President Bush, requires the Justice Department to collect data on crimes that show evidence of prejudice based on race, religion, ethnicity, or sexual orientation. Until this act was passed, no Federal records of such crimes were maintained. This lack of information made it difficult to determine whether a particular crime was an isolated incident, or part of a continuing series against a particular group. The act has proven successful in its initial purpose--the creation of data collection--and has also served as a catalyst for an FBI effort to train State and local law enforcement officials about hate crimes.”