URGENT ACTION ALERT ON H.R. 1343 

By Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance

	Please contact your U.S. House of Representative and
urge him or her to sign the discharge petition on H.R.
1343, the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention
Act (LLEEA). 

	In May 2001, Congressman John Conyers Jr. (D-MI) introduced
H.R. 1343, the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention
Act (LLEEA). LLEEA would strengthen current federal
hate crimes laws by expanding the list of federal hate
crimes to include attacks based on a victim's sexual
orientation, gender, or disability. In addition, LLEEA
would enable federal prosecutors to provide more assistance
to state and local authorities in investigating and
prosecuting hate crimes regardless of the hate crimes
victim's participation in a federally protected activity.

	Although the LLEEA has strong bi-partisan support with
206 co-sponsors, no further action has been taken.
At the same time, there has been a dramatic increase
in the number of hate crimes of South Asian Americans
and Arab Americans, particularly after the horrific
events of 9-11. The lack of Congressional action on
the passage of LLEEA is both deplorable and unacceptable.

	In response to the lack of progress, Representative
John Conyers has filed a discharge petition on H.R.
1315. If the discharge petition garners 218 signatures
from Members of the U.S. House of Representative, the
Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act will
be able to finally come to the floor as a stand alone
bill for an up or down vote.  

	It should be noted that LLEEA was first introduced
in 1997 and after close to four years, we still are
not one step closer to passing a strong, comprehensive
hate crimes bill that would ensure the protection of
all Americans. With only few days left in the 107th
Congress, the discharge petition appears to be the
only available option to bring LLEEA to the floor for
a House vote. 

	Therefore, we urge you contact your Representative
immediately to sign the discharge petition to bring
H.R. 1343, the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention
Act to the floor of the House for a vote. 

To contact your representative you can: 

Call: 

Call the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask
to be transferred to your Representative to vote for
the Discharge Petition. 

Write: 

Write to your representative and send it to: 
The Honorable (name of Representative) 
U.S. House of Representatives 
Washington, D.C. 20515  

E-mail: 

To send an e-mail, go to www.house.gov , and click on
"write your representative."