Opinion Editorials, May 2009

HR 1913, May Prevent Hate Crimes Against Arab and Muslim Americans in the Future, Argues ADC

ccun.org, ADC, May 3, 2009

The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) is calling on your support now to help put an end to hate crimes in our nation!  Please contact your member of Congress today and encourage them to support the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act (LLEHCPA) (HR 1913). 

This Act would eliminate the limitations on federal involvement to investigate and prosecute hate crimes.  This Act will also provide assistance to state and local law enforcement agencies to facilitate the investigation and prosecution of bias-motivated crimes and expands the coverage of existing federal hate crimes law to include victims of bias-motivated crimes based on the victim's gender, gender identity, or actual or perceived sexual orientation or disability.

Since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the Arab-American community has been subjected to numerous documented hate and bias-motivated crimes.  This is well-documented in the following reports:

 - 2003 - 2007 Report on Hate Crimes and Discrimination Against Arab Americans

-  http://www.adc.org/PDF/hcr07.pdf

-  Report on Hate Crimes and Discrimination Against Arab Americans: The Post-September 11 Backlash

-  http://www.adc.org/hatecrimes/pdf/2003_report_web.pdf  

Incidents similar to these could be more effectively investigated and prosecuted if HR 1913 were passed into law. 

Contact your member of Congress now and let them know that you would like to see them support the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act- HR 1913.  You can do so by clicking here and using our convenient web form.  This will allow you to send a prepared message directly to your member of Congress based on your address.  If your member of Congress is already supporting the legislation, you will be able to send them a thank you note and if not, you will be able to send them a request asking them to support HR 1913.

With everyone's quick action, we can encourage support for H.R. 1913 and put an end to hate crimes in our nation.  Let's Act NOW!

ADC

www.adc.org