Civil Rights Community Lauds Congress??? Final Passage of the Hate Crimes Prevention Act

The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR), the nation’s premier civil and human rights coalition released the following statement on today’s Senate passage (68-29) of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act as part of the Department of Defense (DOD) Authorization (H.R. 2647):

“A nation based on the proposition that all people are created equal should never tolerate violent crimes motivated by hateful bias that are intended to intimidate and victimize entire communities.

Today’s vote by the Senate giving final congressional approval to the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act reaffirms our country’s commitment to equality by giving law enforcement the tools needed to investigate and punish criminal acts based on prejudices that undermine the fabric of our society.

We applaud lawmakers for recognizing the fundamental right of all Americans to be protected from violence because of their race, the way they worship, their sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability status. Congress’ decision to pass this bill sends a clear message to these victims of violence and their families – individuals like Stephen Tyrone Johns of Washington, D.C., Sean Kennedy of South Carolina, Angie Zapata of Colorado, Luis Ramirez of Pennsylvania, and Matthew Shepard of Wyoming – that we value every American’s basic civil and human right to be safe and free from physical harm.

We look forward to President Obama’s swift signing of this vital legislation into law.”