Congressman Gohmert on H.R. 35

Congressman Louie Gohmert (TX-01) released the following statement on his vote against H.R. 35, "To amend section 249 of title 18, United States Code, to specify lynching as a hate crime act":

"Lynching is one of the most heinous forms of murder. It absolutely deserves to be treated as a capital crime, and those who directly participate in lynching should rightly be subjected to a harsh penalty. However, H.R. 35 makes conspiring to commit civil rights violations a federal crime without a proper nexus. Moreover, the maximum prison sentence allotted in the bill is 10 years. This is an outrageously low maximum sentence for such an odious crime. It almost trivializes such a heinous offense.

Previous versions of H.R. 35 contained much stronger language than that of the bill we voted on yesterday. A version of the bill released on January 3 of this year stated that anyone who assembles with the intention of lynching or who causes death by lynching 'shall be imprisoned for any term of years or for life.' The bill we voted on does not include this clause. Instead, the language of H.R. 35 that was brought to the House Floor for a vote contains diluted language that does not provide a proper avenue for punishment. Under Texas law, such an offense can and does merit capital punishment as the two most culpable killers of James Byrd received.

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