[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 80 (Tuesday, April 27, 1999)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 22777-22778]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-10673]
[[Page 22775]]
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Part VII
The President
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Proclamation 7187--National Crime Victims' Rights Week, 1999
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 64, No. 80 / Tuesday, April 27, 1999 /
Presidential Documents
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Title 3--
The President
[[Page 22777]]
Proclamation 7187 of April 22, 1999
National Crime Victims' Rights Week, 1999
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
Over the past year, in communities across our Nation,
Americans have witnessed with shock and disbelief the
painful consequences of hatred and brutality. The
beating and murder of Matthew Shepard in Wyoming and
the killing of Billy Jack Gaither in Alabama taught us
how easily prejudice can erupt into violence. The
murder of James Byrd in Texas reminded us in stark
terms of the poisonous legacy of racism in America.
While the victims of these crimes are known to us
because of the particularly heinous nature of the acts
that took their lives, there are thousands more
Americans unknown to us who become victims of crime
each day. Behind each of these tragic statistics is an
individual whose rights have been violated, whose life
has been taken or irrevocably changed, and whose
family, friends, and community have been touched by the
shadows of violence and fear.
Recognizing the widespread impact of crime on our
Nation, my Administration has worked hard during the
past 6 years to strengthen our criminal justice system,
to reduce the incidence of crime, and to champion the
rights of crime victims. Through such landmark
legislation as the Violent Crime Control and Law
Enforcement Act of 1994--which included the Violence
Against Women Act, the Brady Bill, and the Community
Notification Act--we have put thousands of new police
officers into America's communities, given crime
victims a greater voice in the criminal justice
process, prevented more than a quarter million felons,
fugitives, and stalkers from obtaining handguns, and
protected women and children from violence and abuse in
their homes and communities. With these and other
measures, we have provided communities with needed
assistance and have helped reduce the violent crime
rate in the United States to its lowest level in nearly
a quarter century.
But we still have much to do if we are to prevent those
crimes motivated by hatred. That is why I have urged
the Congress to pass the Hate Crimes Prevention Act of
1999. This proposed legislation would strengthen
existing Federal hate crimes law by covering crimes
committed because of the victim's sexual orientation,
gender, or disability, and by expanding the situations
in which prosecutions can be brought for violent crimes
perpetrated because of the victim's race, color,
religion, or national origin.
As recent events have made clear, we must address
intolerance early in life. We are reaching out to
students in middle school--young people who are at an
especially impressionable age--through a public-private
partnership entitled ``Dealing with Our Differences.''
This partnership will develop a program to teach
tolerance in the classroom, highlight positive ways in
which adolescents are dealing with issues of diversity,
and show the harmful impact intolerance causes in the
daily lives of our youth. In an effort to understand
better the problem of hate crimes and prejudice among
young Americans, I have asked the Departments of
Justice and Education to include in their annual report
card on school safety a new section on hate crimes
among our youth, whether they occur in school or
elsewhere; and these departments will also collect and
publish data regarding hate crimes and intolerance on
college campuses.
[[Page 22778]]
During National Crime Victims' Rights Week, let us
remember not only those who have suffered at the hands
of criminals, but also those generous men and women who
work each day to bring justice and healing to victims
and their loved ones. Whether as victims' advocates,
counselors, law enforcement personnel, prosecutors, or
community volunteers, they reflect America's resolve to
protect the rights of every citizen and to build a
future where our differences no longer make us targets
of hatred and intolerance. Let us also remember in our
prayers the people of Littleton, Colorado. While it is
still too early to determine the specific circumstances
that led to this week's tragic events, it is never too
soon to teach our children that violence and hatred are
wrong and have no place in our schools or in our
society.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the
United States of America, by virtue of the authority
vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United
States, do hereby proclaim April 25 through May 1,
1999, as National Crime Victims' Rights Week. I urge
all Americans to remember crime victims and their
families by working to reduce violence, to assist those
harmed by crime, and to make our homes and communities
safer places in which to live and raise our families.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
twenty-second day of April, in the year of our Lord
nineteen hundred and ninety-nine, and of the
Independence of the United States of America the two
hundred and twenty-third.
(Presidential Sig.)
[FR Doc. 99-10673
Filed 4-26-99; 11:11 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P
