Posted on 10/06/2005 6:25:23 AM PDT by areafiftyone
(CNSNews.com) - Virginia Republican Sen. George Allen, considered by political insiders to be a contender for the party's 2008 presidential nomination, is being accused of breaking a campaign promise with his support of pro-homosexual federal "hate crimes" legislation. Allen denies that he broke any promise.
The criticism comes from Joe Glover, president of the Virginia-based Family Policy Network (FPN) and involves an Oct. 27, 2000, letter that Allen wrote to a constituent.
The recipient of that letter was acting as a liaison between Allen - at the time a candidate for the Senate - and pro-family leaders who were concerned about Allen's position on granting legal recognition or special privileges to homosexuals.
"As we discussed, if I am elected to the Senate, I will take no action that would have the effect of elevating sexual orientation to civil rights status," Allen wrote, "including, but not limited to, adding sexual orientation to Federal Hate Crimes legislation or any other similar legislation."
Glover is accusing Allen of violating that pledge when the freshman senator voted to support the addition of "sexual orientation" as a protected category under the federal "hate crimes" law in 2004. The amendment did not become law, but the House recently passed a similar proposal. Glover is rallying conservatives to discourage Allen from supporting the current measure in an upcoming vote.
"If pro-family leaders talking to him privately can't trust George Allen to follow through with a promise," Glover told Cybercast News Service, "hopefully enough conversation with Virginians who feel strongly about this issue can make that difference."
But Allen insists he has broken no promise.
"When I ran for the U.S. Senate in 2000, I stated numerous times that I would support adding 'sexual orientation' to the category of 'hate crimes,' unless the legislation raised 'sexual orientation' to the level of a civil right, which I could not support," Allen said. He explained that the 2004 amendment was "different from earlier proposals," and "(did) not elevate 'sexual orientation' to civil rights status."
Glover argues that Allen's promise to "take no action that would have the effect of ... adding sexual orientation to Federal Hate Crimes legislation or any other similar legislation," in the 2000 letter negates those arguments.
"This isn't about what we're saying our position is," Glover said. "It's about what George Allen assured pro-family leaders, was his position."
Glover claims it was Allen, not the pro-family groups, who first used the language regarding "elevating 'sexual orientation' to civil rights status," during their discussions.
"He made it extremely clear that any type of legislation similar to what he was looking at in 2000 ... would have the effect, in his own words, of elevating 'sexual orientation' to civil rights status," Glover continued. "And he promised not to do it."
John Reid, communications director for Allen, called the disagreement "a misunderstanding of what the letter says and what the senator said over and over again in the campaign.
"We understand the sensitivity that others are expressing on this," Reid continued, "but the main point of Senator Allen's support for this legislation is to get criminals off the street and that needs to be the paramount concern here."
Glover scoffed at that claim.
"I know that he'd like to come up with some way to wiggle out of this," Glover said of Allen. "But the fact of the matter is he left himself no room to wiggle from it with this letter."
On Sept. 14, the House passed The Children's Safety Act of 2005 (H.R. 3132), which added gender, "sexual orientation," "gender identity" and disability to the list of motivations for criminal offenses which could trigger federal involvement in a state prosecution.
Critics charge that, in addition to providing legal recognition of individuals because they engage in homosexual behavior, the proposal could quash criticism of homosexuality by religious leaders.
Allen is better than many, but by no means my first choice for President in '08. Stuff like this is why.
Something tells me his dreams are coming to an end.
Watching paint dry is mroe fun than watching Senator Allen on TV. The guy has no appeal. He has a habit of putting his foot in his mouth. I kinda got turned off when he suggested that Bush should meet with Cindy Sheehan a second time.
This is exactly why Senators never win the White House. They have all these different votes that can be twisted many different ways.
In order for America to descend to the next level
certain voices must be silenced.
Hehe...true. Allen makes Frist look exciting.
LOL - that's pretty bad! LOL
The one's in Allen's head might be a better place to start,however.
--- 'Hate Crime' legislation is an incremental step toward thought control. ---
If we were going to even have such a thing as a "hate crime" it should not include categories of victims that somehow deserve more protection from hate than others.
For example, some people might hate white guys who wear black rimmed glasses and victimize them for it. Should we add them to the list?
How about people who dress poorly?
People who have bad teeth?
Lets face it, most people that are victimized are attacked because they are perceived to have more money than the perpetrator. Should "people with money" be included on the list of hate victims?
"As we discussed, if I am elected to the Senate, I will take no action that would have the effect of elevating sexual orientation to civil rights status," Allen wrote, "including, but not limited to, adding sexual orientation to Federal Hate Crimes legislation or any other similar legislation."
This is why you can't sue or take to court a POLITICIAN for being a stinking LIAR!
Because be they Rep or Dem they all lie through they teeth to US.
... "When I ran for the U.S. Senate in 2000, I stated numerous times that I would support adding 'sexual orientation' to the category of 'hate crimes,'...
Scratch this turkey of the list.
With Republicans like this, who needs Bolsheviks?
Yep. He's going the way of Bill Owens.
I see a 3 way race go into the peak primaries with Allen, Romney, and Gulianni.
and the conservatives of America will vote for who???????????????????????????
Allen is the only one that MIGHT make it that far.
George Allen ping.
Good question. Who will be the break-out conservative candidate other then those 3?
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