Date: Sat, 07 Jun 97 17:51:57 EDT From: "communications" Subject: President's Address on Hate Crimes: HRC Release & Transcript ________________________________________________________ NEWS from the Human Rights Campaign 1101 14th Street NW Washington, DC 20005 email: hrc@hrc.org WWW: http://www.hrc.org ________________________________________________________ EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE AT 10 A.M. EDT Saturday, June 7, 1997 IN WEEKLY RADIO ADDRESS, PRESIDENT CLINTON CALLS FOR ALL-OUT ASSAULT ON HATE CRIMES HRC Renews Call to Amend Hate Crimes Laws to Include Sexual Orientation WASHINGTON -- President Clinton drew praise today from the Human Rights Campaign for his weekly radio address, in which he called for an all-out assault on hate crimes -- including those based on sexual orientation. The president also announced that he has asked Attorney General Janet Reno to study and recommend legislative options for curbing the rise in bias-motivated crimes, including hate violence targeting lesbians, gay men and bisexuals. Clinton also announced he will convene a White House conference Nov. 10 to study the problem. "We applaud President Clinton for speaking out against the rising tide of hate-motivated violence in this country," said Elizabeth Birch, executive director of the Human Rights Campaign. "President Clinton has the ability to set a national tone that hate-violence will not be tolerated, including violence directed at lesbian, gay and bisexual people." Hate crimes based on sexual orientation constitute a significant portion of all hate crimes committed in this country -- a total of 12.8 percent in 1995, according to FBI statistics. This is up significantly from 8.9 percent in 1991, the first year the FBI tracked such crimes. "Under current federal law, hate crimes based on sexual orientation cannot be investigated and prosecuted in the same manner as hate crimes based on race, religion, color or national origin," said Winnie Stachelberg, HRC's legislative director. "This is an enormous legal oversight that must be fixed. We hope that will be one of the outcomes of the president's initiatives," she said. Last week, the FBI determined that the February bombing of The Otherside Lounge, a predominantly lesbian bar in Atlanta appears to have been committed by the same person or persons who bombed a women's health clinic in Sandy Spring, Ga., earlier this year. For several years, HRC has been working with Congress to try to add sexual orientation to those categories of hate crimes that can be prosecuted under federal law. "Hate crimes based on sexual orientation are as heinous as other hate crimes and must be prosecuted as such," Stachelberg said. As a result of work by a civil rights coalition that includes HRC, the Hate Crimes Statistics Act of 1990 included crimes based on sexual orientation. "Charging the FBI with collecting the data was an important first step," Stachelberg said. "It is now past time for us to move to the next level and make it possible to prosecute these crimes adequately and effectively." The Human Rights Campaign is the largest national lesbian and gay political organization, with members throughout the country. It effectively lobbies Congress, provides campaign support and educates the public to ensure that lesbian and gay Americans can be open, honest and safe at home, at work and in the community. ________________________________________________________ RADIO ADDRESS BY THE PRESIDENT TO THE NATION THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary Embargoed For Release Until 10:06A.M. EDT Saturday, June 7, 1997 THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. This morning I want to talk about one of America's greatest challenges and greatest opportunities -- conquering the forces of hatred and division that still exist in our society so that we can move forward into the 21st century as one America. We are clearly the world's most diverse democracy, bound together across all of our differences by a belief in the basic dignity of every human being's life and liberty and the right of every American who lives by our laws and lives up to his or her responsibilities to share in the full promise of the greatest nation on Earth. Especially as we move into a new century with its global economy and its global society, our rich diversity is a powerful strength, if we respect it. We are clearly stronger as a nation when we use the full talents of all of our people, regardless of race or religious faith, national origin or sexual orientation, gender or disability. Much of America's story is really the stories of wave after wave of citizens struggling over our full history for full equality of opportunity and dignified treatment. We stand today in sharp contrast to the racial, ethnic, tribal and religious conflicts which continue to claim so many lives all around the world. But we have still not purged ourselves of all bigotry and intolerance. We still have our ugly words and awful violence. our burned churches and bombed buildings. In a predominantly white suburb of Atlanta, Georgia last month, an African American couple was greeted with racial epithets as they moved into their new home. Just a week later, their home was sprayed with gunfire in the middle of the night. In a recent incident right here in Washington, D.C., three men accosted a gay man in a park, forced him at gunpoint to go under a bridge and beat him viciously while using anti-gay epithets. Last fall in Los Angeles, a Jewish student's dormitory room wes bombed with a quarter stick of dynamite and a swastika was drawn near the door. Such hate crimes, committed solely because the victims have a different skin color or a different faith or are gays or lesbians, leave deep scars not only on the victims, but on our larger community. They weaken the sense that we are one people with common values and a common future. They tear us apart when we should be moving closer together. They are acts of violence against America itself. And even a small number of Americans who harbor and act upon hatred and intolerance can do enormous damage to our efforts to bind together our increasingly diverse society into one nation realizing its full promise. As part of our preparation for the new century, it is time for us to mount an all-out assault on hate crimes, to punish them swiftly and severely, and to do more to prevent them from happening in the first place. We must begin with a deeper understanding of the problem itself. That is why I'm convening a special White House conference on hate crimes this November 10th. We'll bring to the White House victims of hate crimes and their families to understand why the impact of these acts runs so much deeper than the crimes themselves. We'll bring together law enforcement experts and leading officials from Congress and the Justice Department to take a serious look at the existing laws against hate crime and consider ways to improve enforcement and to strengthen them. We'Il bring together community and religious leaders to talk about solutions that are already making a real difference in communities all across our nation. In preparation for the conference, Attorney General Reno has begun a thorough review of the laws concerning hate crimes and the ways in which the federal government can make a difference to help us to build a more vigorous plan of action. But, of course, the fight against hatred and intolerance must be waged not just through our laws, but in our hearts as well. A newborn child today does not know how to hate or stereotype another human being; that behavior must be learned. And intolerance does not generally begin with criminal acts. Instead, it begins with quiet acts of indignity: the bigoted remark, the African American who is followed around the grocery store by a suspicious clerk, the gay or lesbian who is denied a job, the Hispanic or Asian who is targeted because of unfair stereotypes. To truly move forward as one community, it is just not enough to prevent acts of violence to our bodies we must prevent acts of violence to our spirits. By convening the very first White House Conference on Hate Crimes this November, America can confront the dark forces of division that still exist. We can shine the bright light of justice, humanity and harmony on them. We'll take a serious look at the laws and remedies that can make a difference in preventing hate crimes. We'll have the frank and open dialogue we need to build one America across all difference and diversity. And, together, we will move closer to the day when acts of hatred are no longer a stain on our community or our conscience; closer to the day when we can redeem for ourselves and show to the world the 220-year-old promise of our founders, that we are "One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." Thanks for listening. - 30 -