Congress pulls hate crimes bill

Congress pulls hate crimes bill

The move to expand federal hate crimes laws to include protection
for sexual orientation and gender identity was dealt a setback
December 6 when Senate Democratic leaders removed the provision
from the Department of Defense authorization bill.



The House passed a stand-alone hate crimes bill on May 3. Senator
Ted Kennedy (D-Massachusetts) introduced a parallel bill in the
Senate, named in honor of Matthew Shepard, who was slain in 1998.
Kennedy chose to attach it as an amendment to the defense
appropriations bill as the quickest way to move it forward on
a crowded legislative calendar. The amendment passed the Senate
60-39 on September 27.



White House officials have called the amendment unnecessary and
unrelated to the military bill, and have threatened
a presidential veto.



A House-Senate conference to work out differences between the two
versions of the appropriations measure decided to jettison the
hate crimes amendment. It had become clear that enough House
Democrats opposed funding the war in Iraq, and enough Republicans
opposed the hate crimes provision that the Senate version of the
bill would not pass.



So the Democratic congressional leadership decided to sacrifice
the hate crimes measure that most of their political base wants,
in order to pass the military spending bill that much of their
political base does not want.



"It is clear that attaching the language to the DoD authorization
bill would not create a successful outcome in the House," said Speaker
Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco), referring to the defense bill. She
said that she is committed "to make certain that a hate crimes bill
passes the Senate and goes to the president's desk."




Judy and Dennis Shepard, Matthew's parents, expressed disappointment
with the action. "We are truly dismayed to find that Congress
now will put aside its leadership on passage of federal hate
crimes legislation that includes sexual orientation and gender
identity. ... If not here, where? If not now, when?" they said
in a statement.




Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese called the decision
"deeply disappointing, especially given the historic passage of
hate crimes legislation through both Houses of Congress this year.
After more than 10 years and several successful bipartisan votes,
it is heartbreaking to fall short this close to the finish line."




National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Executive Director Matt Foreman
said, "We are deeply angered and disappointed by the decision to
strip hate crimes provisions from the defense authorization bill
since we'd been assured by congressional leaders that attaching
the provisions to the larger bill was the only way to avoid a
presidential veto."




Foreman called on the Senate to pass the stand alone legislation
already passed by the House, and "when the president vetoes the
bill – as he has repeatedly promised to do – everyone will see
just how subservient this administration is to America's anti-gay
industry. Force his hand, for goodness sake, rather than hiding
us away."




Log Cabin Republican President Patrick Sammon was critical of
the Democratic leadership and those congressional Democrats who
are against the war.




"It's unfortunate that dozens of Democrats in Congress won't
admit that things are going better in Iraq," Sammon said in a
statement. "It's a shame that so many Democrats are more
anti-war than pro-gay."




"To have yet another important LGBT bill with wide support
stripped at the last minute is really unconscionable, " said
Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for
Transgender Equality.




Last month the House passed the Employment Non-Discrimination
Act, but it was the version that did not include protections
for gender identity. The Senate has yet to take action on ENDA.



National Stonewall Democrats Executive Director Jon Hoadley
said, "The Democratic leadership, which guided this legislation
to successful passage in their respective chambers, are now
burdened with a moral obligation to see their work completed."