July 16, 2009 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S7591 amendments, and keep the process Crimes and Terrorism Division, Jeffrey orientation, gender, gender identity, or moving forward. At the end of the day, is on the front line in both the war on disability. if we end up emptyhanded, it will be a crime and the war on terror. Hate crimes are serious and well-doc- great loss for America. We will have to At age 36, Jeffrey has already umented problems that remain inad- come back again under even worse cir- achieved distinction for prosecuting a equately prosecuted and recognized. cumstances, where there is a lot more number of important cases. He has be- Current Federal hate crimes law af- suffering and a lot fewer people with come one of the Nation’s preeminent fords important protections against good insurance in America. prosecutors trying suspects in ter- crimes motivated by a person’s race, Mr. President, I yield the floor. rorism cases. In his role as head of the color, religion, or national origin. It f Violent Crimes and Terrorism Division, fails to protect a significant number of Jeffrey has been a leader in investiga- Americans when victims are targeted CONCLUSION OF MORNING tions of terror groups such as al-Qaida, based on their actual or perceived sex- BUSINESS Hamas, and LTTE. His colleagues have ual orientation, gender, gender iden- The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. praised him for his roll-up-your- tity, or disability. This legislation will BEGICH). Morning business is closed. sleeves, get-your-hands-dirty philos- expand protection to these groups, en- ophy, and he has traveled to dangerous suring that all Americans are afforded f hot spots in pursuit of evidence. equal protection under the law. NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZA- One of Jeffrey’s landmark cases was In addition to recognizing and pros- TION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2010 the successful investigation, arrest, ecuting all forms of hate crimes, we The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under and indictment of four suspects who must also provide local law enforce- the previous order, the Senate will re- were charged with plotting to attack ment agencies with the requisite tools sume consideration of S. 1390, which the fuel tanks at JFK Airport. The at- to successfully combat these heinous the clerk will report. tack they had planned was intended to acts. This legislation provides signifi- The assistant legislative clerk read be as devastating as September 11. Jef- cant support to local law enforcement as follows: frey worked closely with the military, agencies across the Nation, including the intelligence community, foreign critical technical, forensic, prosecu- A bill (S. 1390) to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2010 for military activities of governments, and local law enforce- torial, and other assistance to State, the Department of Defense, for military con- ment agencies in an 18-month-long in- local, and tribal law enforcement offi- struction, and for defense activities of the vestigation. cials for hate crime investigations and Department of Energy, to prescribe military In another high-profile case, he suc- prosecutions. personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and cessfully obtained the convictions of a It is essential that we send the mes- for other purposes. group of conspirators who were at- sage that these crimes will not be con- Pending: tempting to deliver missiles and other doned. When we fail to prosecute vio- Reid (for Leahy) amendment No. 1511, to weapons to the LTTE in Sri Lanka. He lence driven by hatred and protect provide Federal assistance to States, local also worked to put behind bars an Iraqi Americans’ human rights, we risk esca- jurisdictions, and Indian tribes to prosecute translator who stole classified defense lation of such activities. hate crimes. information and passed it to insurgents New York State has recently had nu- Reid (for Kennedy) amendment No. 1539 (to targeting our troops. Jeffrey has pros- merous examples of hate crimes that amendment No. 1511), to require comprehen- ecuted violent street gangs in New would be prosecuted under this legisla- sive study and support for criminal inves- York City as well. tion. Within 3 weeks, three commu- tigations and prosecutions by State and What inspires me most about Jeffrey local law enforcement officials. nities in Queens and Long Island— is that he did not start as a criminal within an hour’s drive—have experi- The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- prosecutor. Before September 11, he enced violent hate crimes targeted at ator from Delaware is recognized. was a corporate lawyer on Wall Street. gay, lesbian, and transgender victims. Mr. KAUFMAN. Mr. President, I ask After that terrible day, Jeffrey was In each instance, the victims were the unanimous consent to speak as in motivated to leave Wall Street and targets of violent attacks while the as- morning business. work in the Federal Government as an sailants communicated homophobic The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without assistant U.S. attorney. When asked slurs. objection, it is so ordered. why he gave up such a lucrative posi- During one of the incidents in IN PRAISE OF JEFFREY KNOX tion on Wall Street for a tough job Queens, a transgender female was bru- Mr. KAUFMAN. Mr. President, last prosecuting terrorists and gang mem- tally attacked while walking to her week, I spoke about the founding gen- bers, Jeffrey said: home. As she walked down her residen- eration of Americans and the legacy If you can put a dangerous individual be- tial block, she was repeatedly taunted they passed down to us of sacrifice and hind bars so that individual will never have by two men who only ended their service above self. These are the values the ability to jeopardize another person’s life taunting with homophobic slurs so that constitute the foundation of our again, then it’s all worth it. they could focus on beating her with a civil service, and it is these values that Jeffrey Knox is just one of many Fed- metal belt buckle. Her anguished cries motivate our Federal employees. It is eral prosecutors and law enforcement for help were met with laughter as the what drives each of them, each day, to officials who risk their lives every day two men removed all of her clothing perform the small miracles that make to keep Americans safe. The sacrifices and left her naked and bleeding in the the American Government work. With- they make all too often go unrecog- middle of the street. out their dedicated efforts and impor- nized. I urge my colleagues to join me Unfortunately, this case was not in- tant contributions, we could not have a in honoring their service and sacrifices, vestigated as a hate crime because cur- government that is responsive and rep- and I join all Americans in thanking rent law does not provide protection resentative. That is the birthright the them for the important contribution for gender identity. This victim, like Founders left for us—that the people they make to our Nation. many others around the Nation, was a should be represented not only by offi- The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- target of violence because of who she cials they have elected but by civil ator from New York is recognized. was. This must end. servants entrusted to carry out the AMENDMENT NO. 1511 In 2007, there were 500 such incidents people’s business. Mrs. GILLIBRAND. Mr. President, I in New York State alone. This is a re- In thinking about these ideas and rise today in support of the Matthew flection of a larger national trend about the Founders, I cannot help but Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act of where we see that the number of docu- think of those who risk their safety 2009. I am proud to join Senator KEN- mented hate crimes is on the rise. In working as Federal law enforcement NEDY as an original cosponsor of this 1991, the Federal Bureau of Investiga- officers and prosecutors. One such Fed- important legislation. This legislation tion began collecting hate crimes sta- eral prosecutor is Jeffrey Knox. As an condemns the poisonous message that tistics, and since then the number of assistant U.S. Attorney from the East- some human beings deserve to be vic- reported crimes motivated by sexual ern District of New York’s Violent timized solely based on their sexual orientation has more than tripled. VerDate Nov 24 2008 23:32 Jul 16, 2009 Jkt 079060 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 0624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G16JY6.008 S16JYPT1 smartinez on DSKB9S0YB1PROD with SENATE S7592 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE July 16, 2009 This legislation, which has received The Raptor is equipped with super- of its military resources toward bol- bipartisan support before, is supported cruise engines that are unique because stering its counterinsurgency capabili- by more than 300 civil rights, law en- they do not need to go to after-burner ties. forcement, and civil and religious orga- to achieve supersonic flight. This pro- This is a fair point. Unwisely, the nizations in addition to the vast major- vides the F–22 with a strategic advan- United States did permit its counterin- ity of the American people. It is impor- tage by enabling supersonic speeds to surgency capabilities to atrophy after tant we ensure that all Americans and be maintained for a far greater length the Vietnam war. As events in Iraq and all States are covered under this com- of time. By comparison, all other fight- Afghanistan have shown, we continue prehensive hate crimes legislation. ers require their engines to go to after- to pay dearly for that error. However, There is some concern this bill would burner to achieve supersonic speeds, as we reconstitute our ability to suc- impact the first amendment.