THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
______________________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release October
12, 2000
STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT
Today marks two years since young Matthew Shepard was beaten unconscious,
tied to a fence, and left to die. At the time of Matthew's death, I expressed
my sympathy for the family, and my outrage about the heinous nature of the
crime. Since then, Matthew's death has been a call to action to many across the
country committed to doing more to prevent and prosecute hate crimes. Many have
worked tirelessly, along with my Administration, to pass meaningful hate crimes
legislation this year. Their efforts led to two strong bipartisan votes -- one
in the House and one in the Senate -- in favor of hate crimes legislation.
Unfortunately, just last week, the Republican leadership -- denying the will of
a bipartisan majority in both the House and the Senate -- stripped hate crimes
legislation from the Department of Defense Authorization bill. This action is
wrong and the will of the majority should be respected. We must not let the
fear of people different from ourselves prevent this legislation from passing.
Working with the bipartisan coalition that supports hate crimes legislation, I
will continue to fight to make sure this important work gets done.
30-30-30
President and First Lady | Vice President and Mrs. Gore
Record of Progress | The Briefing Room
Gateway to Government | Contacting the White House | White House for Kids
White House History | White House Tours | Help
Privacy Statement