WASHINGTON, April 30 /PRNewswire/ -- YWCA USA, the nation's oldest and largest women's organization serving more than 2.5 million American women each year, met today with members of Congress to urge final passage of legislation that improves and expands federal hate crimes legislation.

The U.S. House of Representatives approved the bill yesterday by a comfortable vote margin of 249 -178, but the Senate has yet to consider the measure.

Nearly 250 local YWCA executives from across the nation converged on Capitol Hill, both to congratulate the House of Representatives and urge the Senate to pass the legislation. As a 150-year-old organization whose mission is the elimination of racism and the empowerment of women, the YWCA supports hate crimes legislation that protects individuals from harassment, violence and other crimes committed on the basis of race, color, sex, gender, religion, national origin, ethnicity, age, disability, sexual orientation, or gender identity.

"Hate crimes are on the increase. They are very serious, often fatal and dramatically underreported," said Lorraine Cole, Ph.D., YWCA USA CEO. "They don't just affect the victim - they intimidate and terrorize entire communities and have divisive, long-term harmful effects. Congress must make it clear that, in the United States, we have a zero-tolerance policy on hate crimes."

The Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act, just passed by the U.S. House of Representatives, expands the legal definition of a hate crime to cover crimes committed because of bias against a victim's actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability. It also provides local law enforcement agencies with important resources, including federal training and direct assistance, to combat violent, bias-motivated crime.

YWCA USA joins more than 300 law enforcement, women's, civil rights, civic, and religious organizations in support of expanded federal legislation to combat hate crimes. The Senate will soon consider a companion bill, the Matthew Shepard Act, named in memory of the Wyoming college student who was brutally murdered in 1998 because he was gay.

The YWCA USA is a national non-profit organization dedicated to social service, advocacy, education, leadership development, and racial justice. Established in the United States in 1858, the YWCA is the oldest and largest national women's organization, and celebrating its 150th anniversary. The YWCA USA is also a member of World YWCA, which has affiliates in 122 countries that serve 25 million women and girls worldwide. Visit www.ywca.org.

SOURCE YWCA USA

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