John Conyers: “I close with a reminder from the International Association of Chiefs of Police in the United States: this is not a…”

“I close with a reminder from the International Association of Chiefs of Police in the United States: this is not a door-opener for State prosecutors to get rid of cases or get into the Federal jurisdiction. They can only bring these cases if the Department of Justice agrees that they can be brought. Without that, the Department of Justice wants to make sure that they need this help and in some cases will grant programs to the State and local law enforcement to cover the costs of investigating and prosecuting. So this hate crimes law will greatly assist law enforcement officers in investigating hate crimes. Mr. Speaker, 175 organizations, law enforcement, civil rights, Hispanic national law groups, the Presbyterian Church, the Episcopal Church, Anti-Defamation League, Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, the NAACP, National Council of La Raza, American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium, Sikh Mediawatch and Resource Task Force, Human Rights Campaign, the American Association of People With Disabilities, and the National Center For Victims of Crime pray that we will take action today.”