At the same time the President spoke out against anti-gay discrimination and harassment to the NAACP, the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act, sometimes called the Matthew Shepard Act, passed on a voice vote on Thursday night. The bill was attached as an amendment to a $680 billion defense authorization bill that must pass early next week and extends protections of the 1968 hate crimes law to include sexual orientation and gender identity, the AP reports:
"Passage of the bill would effect the most significant extension of hate crimes law since Congress first acted in 1968 after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. ... The proposed legislation expands federal hate crimes to include those perpetrated against people because of gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability. It also removes restrictions on federally protected activities."
Some 45 states have hate crime statutes, and investigations and prosecutions would remain mainly in state and local hands. ... The federal government can step in after the Justice Department certifies that a state does not have jurisdiction or is unable to carry out justice.
The Senate voted 63-28 to end debate. The 28 no votes were all Republicans. All the Democrats voted for the measure, with the exception of Kennedy and Byrd, who did not vote. Five Republicans supported the bill: Collins and Snowe from Maine, Lugar (IN), Voinovich (OH), and, freshman Sen. Lisa Murkowski from Alaska. Murkowski's corrupt and anti-gay predecessor Ted Stevens opposed this bill.,
The bill passed the House on April 29 by 249-175.
However, the President has threatened to veto the bill over the F-22: "Though the amendment garnered three votes more than necessary to reach cloture, the fate of the hate crimes measure is now partially linked to $1.75 billion in funding for F-22 fighter jets that is also included in the DOD legislation. President Barack Obama and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates both oppose the F-22 program and a White House spokesperson said the president will not sign a DOD bill that continues to fund the program." Majority Leader Harry Reid is hopeful a rewritten bill, sans the F-22 funding, will eventually pass with the hate crimes amendment intact.
This is what I hate about Congress. They attach two completely unrelated issues together. President Obama definitely supports the hate crime legislation, but he opposes the F-22 program because it is wasteful and unnecessary. Even Defense Secretary Gates is against the F-22, but Congress loves to keep these boondoggle programs going. This is a common and despicable tactic that Congress uses in order to get what they want through. Senator Reid better get the F-22 funding out of that bill.
Posted by: Ravenback | 17 July 2009 at 11:40
Just when you think a federal hate crimes bill will pass, some *sshat in Congess want to put something unneccessary as the more funds for military contracts. Why or why would you do this so that we will continue to deal with more foolishness?
Posted by: kayman | 18 July 2009 at 17:19