Washington Bureau, National Association for The Advancement of Colored People Opposing
Amendment No. 1251
HATE CRIME STATISTICS ACT (Senate — February 8, 1990)
Congressional Record [S1071]
Washington Bureau, National Association for The Advancement of Colored People,
Washington, DC, July 18, 1989.
Dear Senator: The NAACP enthusiastically endorses S. 419, a bill to require the
Attorney General to collect data and report annually about hate crimes, on behalf of the
Association’s half-million members in fifty states and the District of Columbia. We
applaud the leadership of Sen. Paul Simon and the fifty-two (52) cosponsors in the Senate
and urge the Senate to pass S. 419 without any weakening amendments.
Crimes motivated by racial, ethnic, sexual preference or religious bias are pervasive.
Yet, there exists no national comprehensive, current, accurate bank of statistics. At
present, hate crime statistics are compiled by organizations such as the Southern Poverty
Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith, who have reported
that more crimes have been committed by right-wing extremists groups from 1984 to 1988
than in the past twenty years.
S. 419 would enable the Attorney General to collect data about crimes that manifest
prejudice based on race, religion, sexual orientation or ethnicity. Hate crime statistics
compiled by the Attorney General would aid law enforcement authorities in tracking the
extent and frequency of hate crimes.
S. 419 would remedy the problem of the lack of national comprehensive statistics on
hate crimes in this county. We urge you to support this legislation.
Sincerely yours,
Althea T. L. Simmons,
Director/Chief Lobbyist.
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