Local Law Enforcement Act

LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT ACT

Mr. SMITH. Mr. President, I rise today to speak about my friend Chad Debnam and the need for hate crimes legislation. In the last Congress Senator Kennedy and I introduced the Local Law Enforcement Enhancement Act, a bill that would expand current hate crimes law, sending a signal that violence of any kind is unacceptable in our society.

Each day since the introduction of the Local Law Enforcement Enhancement Act, I have detailed for the RECORD a hate crime that has affected our fellow citizens. Today, I would like to describe a terrible crime that occurred very recently, on January 19, 2003, in my home State of Oregon. Four young men went on a shooting spree through Northeast Portland because, according to police, they thought the neighborhood was predominantly African American. The four fired shots into cars and homes as they drove down the street. Although no one was physically injured, the incident opened painful wounds in a community that, like so many others, has seen hate crimes before.

For Chad Debnam, the shooting was particularly difficult. 23 years earlier, his brother, Clarence Debnam, an African American college student, was shot through the back by a white sailor. The shooting "affected us so deeply, our family was never the same," Chad, now 52, said. "And then it comes to visit me again."

As Chad and his neighbors understand all too well, hate crimes cause harm above and beyond the effects produced by random acts of violence, because when such a wrong is perpetrated, the intended victim is not just a single person, but an entire community. And it creates within that community a sense of alienation, and the very real fear that other members may be future targets of similar violence.

This weekend, Chad Debnam and others will be marching down the streets of Northeast Portland in a united front against hate. The Federal Government should be there with them. Passing the Local Law Enforcement Enhancement Act will demonstrate to our fellow citizens that, in the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." The victims of hate, in Portland and elsewhere, need to know that their Federal Government stands with them, and will help them create a nationwide community of hope and healing, where intolerance has no place. I believe that by passing the Local Law Enforcement Enhancement Act we will not only change the law, but hearts and minds as well.