Chairman grassley welcome, everybody, to a very important hearing that we have. Thank you for being patient while we get started here. Ill have an opening statement. Senator feinstein will. And then well godirble introduce our first panel. Then when were done there go to the second panel and introduce that at that time. The Senate Judiciary committee today is holding a hearing that we entitled responses to the increase in religious hate crimes. This is a subject of great bipartisan interest in the committee. Religious hate crimes harm victims. And also have a great impact on communities. Many of these crimes would never have been committed but for hatred. They run counter to americas values such as religious freedom and tolerance. Americans have the right to be safe against those who would treat them as members of religious groups rather than as individuals. Religious hate crimes are on the rise. Crimes against jewish people are the most common religious hate crimes, and they have increased. Religious hate crimes against muslims are the Fastest Growing category. These crimes increase by 67 between 2014 and 2015, the last year in which the f. B. I. Has records available. I have been contacted by fearful iowans. Fear for practicing ones religion should never happen in this country. This problem has been growing for some time, and its not new. Last week President Trump stated, quote, this is my pledge to you, we will confront antisemitism. We will stamp out prejudice. We will condemn hatred. We will bear witness. And we will act. End of quote. With these statements the president followed a tradition for Government Action dating back to George Washington who, in 1790, wrote to a synagogue in rhode island that, quote, the government of the United States sanctions to perfection cution, no assistance. End of quote. Government action to enforce the First Amendment guarantee of free exercise of religion is necessary if these rights are to be protected against those who commit these awful hate crimes. Law enforcement resources will need to be deployed to houses of worship, if necessary. Law enforcement may need to create specific task forces and provide special assistance to religious groups to enhance security or for other purposes. That reality may require people who read the First Amendment establishment clause so broadly as to prohibit any government assistance that aides a religious entity to re aids a religious entity to reconsider those views. I have this for instance. The Supreme Court recently considered the constitutionality of a Missouri State constitutional provision prohibiting government Financial Assistance to religious institutions and whether the state could prohibit a religious institution from receiving government grants in a program that would be available to secular entities. At oral arguments, Justice Alita asked the lawyer from missouri about a Grant Program such an existing federal program to enhance to quote, harden Nonprofit Organization facilities that are deemed to be of high risk for terrorist attacks. Continuing to quote, so if you have a synagogue that is at high risk of an attack by an antisemitic group or a mosque that is considered to be at high isk for attack by an antimuslim group with the would the missouri constitution permit the erection of boulders like we have around the court here, end the quote from alito. Astonishing to me the lawyer responded, no. The missouri constitution would not permit the state even on a mutual basis to administer a security Grant Program to protect houses of worship. The safety of buildings is important in itself, but we cannot lose sight of the fact that people are so often in those buildings and being targeted. The estimated the establishment clause should not be read to forbid government from saving the lives of people practicing their religion. I believe that religious hate crimes require a government governmental response. Our response is Financial Assistance to facilities that are targets. I hope that the Supreme Court does not issue a ruling that allows government to forbid religious entities from receiving assistance against attacks that is available to other organizations. Our Witnesses Today will shed light on this topic. We will hear from the Justice Department about efforts under way to combat religious hate crimes. We will then hear from civil rights and Law Enforcement organizations on the nature of the problems, and how to address it. We will also hear from a variety victim of religious hate crime. I look forward to their testimony. Senator feinstein. Senator feinstein thanks very much, mr. Chairman. And thank you very much for calling this hearing. I think its a very important topic and i think it goes to one of our core values as a country. And thats religious freedom and tolerance. We pride ourselves on being a unique and diverse society. Which means we have to accept many differences, different creeds, different colors, different ethnicities. Thats important to the concept of america to be a United Country that respects these differences. Into this creeps this suspicion and creeps hate. So the topic today is religious hate crimes. And i think it doesnt matter if its a hate crime based on ones religion, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, or any other element of our shared values in humanity as a country. Weve got to condemn every form of it, no matter who is targeted. I believe that to the death of my being. Im hopeful this committee can begin and continue to work on this. Even as we focus on one part of it, which is religious hate today. While the federal government has an Important Role to play in helping state and local governments address hate crimes, i want to make clear the change needs in my view to take place on the local level. Each Community Faces its own unique challenge when it comes to racial and religious bias. I think back as my time in local government for some 18 years, nine as a county supervisor, and ine as a mayor, and i remember when swastikas were painted on synagogues, and i got on the phone. I called the chief of bliss. I said you go down there chief of police. I said you go down there. You look at it. You have your people do something about it and i made a strong Public Statement that this was not going to be tolerated in my city. Same thing happened with other kinds of crimes designated at people because of who they are, their religion, their race, whether they are straight or gay. So my view is, its very important to address it. Its very important to say were not going to allow it. And its very important for leaders not to shrink from this but to lead in it. And so in a sense this is a start. I think everybody on this dais understands and wants to really create a Different Society that does not countenance this kind of hate. According to the antidefamation league, there have been reports of 541 antisemitic incidents in the first four months of this year. Thats an increase of 86 compared to the number of incidents recorded over the same period the year before. There have been 380 harassment incidents. 161 bomb threats. Hats an increase of 127 over 2016. Bomb threats were called in to more than 80 Jewish Community centers, and childrens day schools, located in 33 states and two canadian provinces. One day, february 27 of this year, there were 31 threats called in to 23 Jewish Community centers and eight jewish day schools. Thats 31 bomb threats in a single day. These crimes spark tremendous fear, and thankfully the Justice Department has arrested the men responsible. And no one was injured or killed. Hate crimes against muslims and those perceived to be muslim have also increased at an alarming rate. And these crimes include horrific murders. Id like to draw your attention to a map which shows recent incidents of antimuslim hate crimes tracked by muslim advocates, an organization thats a leader on this topic. And you can see where they are consequence rated concentrated. I find that very interesting as well. It counts 254 separate incidents since november 15 to the present. In 2016 alone, the Southern Poverty Law Center also found the number of antimuslim hate groups tripled in 2016, going muslim in 2015 to 101 hate groups last year similarly, the f. B. I. s hate crimes data also captures this sharp increase during that same period. In my home state of california, according to researchers from cal state san bernardino, hate crimes against american muslims increased 78 in 2015. Attacks on perceived muslims also rose sharply. So what can be done . First, its incumbent as i said, on all leaders to loudly condemn these crimes. That includes race as well as religion. In my view, the rise in hate crimes is due in part to the perception that people in positions of power are indifferent to whats happening. Dont prioritize the protection of the rights of all americans, and dont speak out. Weve got to stand together and we have to make clear that hate has no place in our country and these crimes will be investigated and the seriousness will be taken into consideration in the sentencing. Second, we need to ensure that communities and Law Enforcement have the support and resources they need to prevent and investigate these crimes. Where state and local agencies and victims need federal support , the Justice Department needs to provide it. And third, the federal government must improve the reporting of hate crimes. And reportings key because it increases awareness and accountability. But its inadequate today. So if we dont have an accurate picture of whats happening, its much harder for justice and f. B. I. To address the problem. The hate Crime Statistics act of 1990 require the f. B. I. To collect hate crimes data and develop reporting guidelines for state and local Law Enforcement. Now, the quality of that data has improved over time. The Justice Department revised its incident report to collect data on hate crimes against sikh, hindu, arab, buddhist, mormon, jehovahs witness, and Orthodox Christian individuals. 26 of us requested that change. But we can and must do better. Many states and local jurisdictions still dont report hate crimes to the f. B. I. While the f. B. I. Typically reports 5,000 to 10,000 hate crimes, the true number is said to approach 300,000, which is 30 times the f. B. I. Estimation. Senator hatch and i just introduced a bill to update the churcharson prevention act of 1996 to prevent the intentional making of threats to religious property. Now, thats a big deal. Someone goes to anothers church and defaces it or puts a bomb threatening es graffiti on it, it has an impact on a wide range of people. So it has to be taken very seriously. Let me end by quoting Nobel Laureate and holocaust survivor, elie wiesel. Sometimes we must interfere. When new hahn lives are endangered, when Human Dignity is in jep yardy jeopardy, National Borders and sensitivities become irrelevant. Whenever men or women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views. That place must at that moment become the center of the universe. So with that before us, chairman grassley, i want to thank you very much for working with us and also holding this hearing. Thank you. Chairman grassley thank you. I would now introduce our first witness, eric treene, he is special counsel for religious discrimination in a Civil Rights Division of the department of justice. An undergraduate degree from am Hearst College and law degree from harvard. I recognize you for five minutes, but if you have a longer statement to put in the record, and i never cut anybody off at just the exact five minutes, but when that happens kind of summarize the rest of your statement. Thank you. Go ahead mr. Treene thank you, good morning chairman grassley, Ranking Member feinstein, and respected members of the committee. I thank you for holding this hearing this morning to discuss the important top erik of enforcing federal hate crime laws to the focus on religious based hate crimes. Im sorry that acting attorney general tom wheeler cannot be here today due to a family emergency. The attorney general has made fighting Violent Crime one of his top priorities. Hate crimes are serious problem that the attorney general believes must be part of our National Effort to reduce Violent Crime. This is the case for two basic reasons. First, hate crimes make up about 4 of Violent Crime in america. Its thus part of a picture of Violent Crime in our country. Second, its are crimes meant to intimidate and terrorize communities. Were all concerned about ourselves, our families becoming victims of crimes, but when people are targeted for hate crimes, they experience omething on top of this. The experience the concern that theyll be attacked because they stand out in some way, because of their race, their religion, or their national origin. President trump in his first address to congress spoke about the threats against Jewish Community centers around the country, as well as the shooting of two interian men in kansas city, one fatally. He stated, were a country that stands united in condemning hate and evil in all its forms. Attorney sessions has stressed the violence against people of all religious backgrounds. While race based hate crimes remains the largest cat gorery, religionbased hate crimes are the second largest. There is some concerning trends. The f. B. I. Uniform crime report data show a 23 rise in religious hate crimes from including a 67 rise in antimuslim hate crime, and a 9 rise in antijewish hate crimes. The department of justice is committed to aggressively prosecuting these cases. On april 21, we charged a man arrested in israel with making threats to Jewish Community centers in the u. S. We obtained a conviction of a tennessee man on february 16 for soliciting another man to help him burn down a mosque in the all hamlet of islamberg, new york. On january 10, the department obtained a Death Penalty fo dylann roof, for the murder of worshipers at a bible study at a church in charleston, south carolina. My wreten testimony details the various hate crime laws we can use in these situations. These are powerful laws that allow us to bring federal resources to bear, to support our state and local Law Enforcement partners. And ensure that serious crimes have serious consequences. Congress has also provided us with strong resources for fighting hate crimes. With arsons were able to bring in the resources of the a. T. F. And f. B. I. To find and pursue the perpetrators. We do think we have good processes in place for working with our state and local Law Enforcement partners in an efficient and effective manner. But we can always get better and we must do better in reducing these deplorable hate crimes. Thats why the attorney general has made the hate crime subcommittee of his Violent Crimes Task Force One of the pillars of this effort. In the third week of june, the task force will hold a summit on Violent Crime. The following week on june 29, the hate crime subcommittee will hold an additional oneday summit focusing solely on identifying, prosecuting, and preventing hate crimes. The summit will allow d. O. J. Official to discuss with experts, community groups, and state and local Law Enforcement partners how to best reduce the incidents of hate crime in america. The summit and the subcommittee are also focused on the problem of incomplete hate crime data. We know that the u. C. R. Data undercounts hate crimes and we need to do bert. This will be part of the conversation at the summit and with this subcommittee going forward. We can fully address the problem ever hate crimes only when we ghri understand it. Except the committee and summit will also work on ways to improve training and outreach. Many members of majority communities due to language or cultural barriers are reluctant to come forward when they are victims of hate crimes. Outreach is critical to the success of any program to combat hate crimes. Since he joined the Civil Rights Division three months ago, acting assistant attorney general tom wheeler and i have met with muslim, jewish, sikh, hindu, and christian organizations and can attest to the importance of communications. For us as the government to hear whats going on and what we can do better, and to let the Community Know the areas where we need help from them such as helping to ensure that hate crimes are reported. I thank you for the dialogue you are facilitating here today and look forward to your questions. Chairman grassley fiveminute rounds. I think you covered my first question some. But because its the summit i