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American Morning
Hate Crimes Bill
Aired May 01, 2003 - 09:18 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: The FBI's reporting that while crime rose just 2 percent overall in the year 2001 compared to the year before, hate crimes were up by 20 percent. There is an anti-hate crime law on the book right now, but this morning, some senators planning to reintroduce a bill designed to crack down even more.
Senator Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, one of those senators, and our guest today from Washington D.C.
Welcome back, senator. Good morning to you.
SEN. EDWARD KENNEDY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: Good morning.
HEMMER: Why do you believe right now with legislation already out there that more laws are needed?
KENNEDY: Well, first of all, we are fighting hate crimes with the federal government on the sidelines. Hate crimes are acts of violence, not just against individuals, but against a whole class of people. Like terrorism, it affects not just the individual, but the whole society. And we cannot permit the continued escalation of hate crimes that are taking place all across this country. Some 26 hate crimes a day are taking place. And the federal government ought to be a participant with the states in making sure that Americans are going to be free from this kind of hatred, and this kind of violence.
HEMMER: Understood, senator, I apologize for the interruption. Tell me what another law would do though? How this would help across the country with the increases we have seen lately.
KENNEDY: Because in many instance, hate crimes that take place in certain parts of country are not prosecuted to the full extent, because of a lot of different local reasons. We want to make sure that all Americans are protected. We want to make sure that all Americans are protected by who they are. Hate crimes are crimes against individuals based upon who they are -- based upon race, based upon religion, based upon sexual orientation, and that is why these are true acts of violence. We have seen since 9/11 the escalation of hate crimes taken place in the United States, and in too many instances, these case are not being prosecuted to the fullest extent.
All Americans should be protected. That is one of the fundamental rights in our society.
HEMMER: And senator, you mentioned 9/11. Not excuse anything that has happened since that or the aftermath, the attacks here in New York and in Washington. But are the numbers a bit skewed right now because of what we have seen unfold after September 11th?
KENNEDY: Very definitely. The hate crimes against Muslims and Arabs after 9/11 increased dramatically. But we still have the hate crimes against those based on sexual orientation and based upon race. Those continue, and those acts have increased as well, as well as against the disabled in our society.
HEMMER: So, then, if the numbers are skewed, would you anticipate them to go back down, return to normal?
KENNEDY: Well, the best way to try and do this is to bring in the full forces of the federal government. For example, we had fire bombings in the southern part of this country a number of years ago of churches, and once we brought in the full force of federal government in terms of the FBI and the Justice Department, those fire bombings against the churches virtually disappeared.
We ought to have the full force of the American government behind the elimination of hate crimes in our society. It is not there now. It should be there, and that's what this legislation will do. We have the support of 49 members of United States Senate. We have 175 different law enforcement agencies, civic and the religious groups. We have a broad constituency. We've already passed this twice in the United States Senate. It's time that we pass it in the Senate, and also have the House of Representatives act.
HEMMER: Senator Edward Kennedy, our guest today from D.c. Thank you, senator, for coming back with us.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired May 1, 2003 - 09:18 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: The FBI's reporting that while crime rose just 2 percent overall in the year 2001 compared to the year before, hate crimes were up by 20 percent. There is an anti-hate crime law on the book right now, but this morning, some senators planning to reintroduce a bill designed to crack down even more.
Senator Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, one of those senators, and our guest today from Washington D.C.
Welcome back, senator. Good morning to you.
SEN. EDWARD KENNEDY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: Good morning.
HEMMER: Why do you believe right now with legislation already out there that more laws are needed?
KENNEDY: Well, first of all, we are fighting hate crimes with the federal government on the sidelines. Hate crimes are acts of violence, not just against individuals, but against a whole class of people. Like terrorism, it affects not just the individual, but the whole society. And we cannot permit the continued escalation of hate crimes that are taking place all across this country. Some 26 hate crimes a day are taking place. And the federal government ought to be a participant with the states in making sure that Americans are going to be free from this kind of hatred, and this kind of violence.
HEMMER: Understood, senator, I apologize for the interruption. Tell me what another law would do though? How this would help across the country with the increases we have seen lately.
KENNEDY: Because in many instance, hate crimes that take place in certain parts of country are not prosecuted to the full extent, because of a lot of different local reasons. We want to make sure that all Americans are protected. We want to make sure that all Americans are protected by who they are. Hate crimes are crimes against individuals based upon who they are -- based upon race, based upon religion, based upon sexual orientation, and that is why these are true acts of violence. We have seen since 9/11 the escalation of hate crimes taken place in the United States, and in too many instances, these case are not being prosecuted to the fullest extent.
All Americans should be protected. That is one of the fundamental rights in our society.
HEMMER: And senator, you mentioned 9/11. Not excuse anything that has happened since that or the aftermath, the attacks here in New York and in Washington. But are the numbers a bit skewed right now because of what we have seen unfold after September 11th?
KENNEDY: Very definitely. The hate crimes against Muslims and Arabs after 9/11 increased dramatically. But we still have the hate crimes against those based on sexual orientation and based upon race. Those continue, and those acts have increased as well, as well as against the disabled in our society.
HEMMER: So, then, if the numbers are skewed, would you anticipate them to go back down, return to normal?
KENNEDY: Well, the best way to try and do this is to bring in the full forces of the federal government. For example, we had fire bombings in the southern part of this country a number of years ago of churches, and once we brought in the full force of federal government in terms of the FBI and the Justice Department, those fire bombings against the churches virtually disappeared.
We ought to have the full force of the American government behind the elimination of hate crimes in our society. It is not there now. It should be there, and that's what this legislation will do. We have the support of 49 members of United States Senate. We have 175 different law enforcement agencies, civic and the religious groups. We have a broad constituency. We've already passed this twice in the United States Senate. It's time that we pass it in the Senate, and also have the House of Representatives act.
HEMMER: Senator Edward Kennedy, our guest today from D.c. Thank you, senator, for coming back with us.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
