BACKGROUND

On October 8, 2009, the House will consider the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) Conference Report.  While the House bill (H.R. 2647) did not include hate crimes language (H.R. 1913), the Senate invoked cloture to include the language of H.R. 1913 in S. 1390, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010, by a vote of 63-28. 

H.R. 1913 increases federal authority for criminal investigations that are thought to be motivated by prejudice based on actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability.  FBI statistics show that the incidence of hate crimes has actually declined over the last ten years.  In fact, only 9 of approximately 17,000 (0.05 percent) homicides in the nation involved so called hate crimes.  There is zero evidence that States are not fully prosecuting violent crimes involving hate.

In preparation for the vote, the House Republican Conference has compiled a list of recent votes the House has taken on the issue of hate crimes.

PREVIOUS HOUSE VOTES ON HATE CRIMES

111^th Congress:

H.R. 2647 (Motion to Instruct on Defense Authorization) - Roll Call 754 - 178-234 - October 6, 2009

H.R. 1913 (Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009) - Roll Call 223 - 249-175 - April 29, 2009

110^th Congress:

H.R. 1592 (Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007) - Roll Call 299 - 237-180 - May 3, 2007

109^th Congress:

H.R. 3132 (Amendment to include the "Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2005" to H.R. 3132) - Roll Call 469 - 233-199 - September 14, 2005