Posted on 05/03/2007 11:02:50 AM PDT by SmithL
WASHINGTON, (AP) -- Just hours after the White House issued a veto threat Thursday, the House voted to add gender and sexual orientation to the categories covered by federal hate crimes law.
The House legislation, passed 237-180, also makes it easier for federal law enforcement to take part in or assist local prosecutions involving bias-motivated attacks. Similar legislation is also moving through the Senate, setting the stage for another veto showdown with President Bush.
"This is an important vote of conscience, of a statement of what America is, a society that understands that we accept differences," said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md.
Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., the only openly gay man in the House, presided over the chamber as the final vote was taken.
The vote came after fierce lobbying from civil rights groups, who have been pushing for years for added protections against hate crimes, and social conservatives, who say the bill threatens the right to express moral opposition to homosexuality and singles out groups of citizens for special protection.
The White House, in a statement warning of a veto, said state and local criminal laws already cover the new crimes defined under the bill, and there was "no persuasive demonstration of any need to federalize such a potentially large range of violent crime enforcement."
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Not Veto-Proof. George, get the pen.
I’m concerned with the word “Perceived” that is peppered throughout this bill.
It seems to extend the “hate crimes” from violent action to thought.
That concerns me more than the blatant violation of the 14 Amendment.
I didn’t know there was a federal hate crimes law.
‘All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.’
Animal Farm (George Orwell)
your tax dollars at work
| Yeas | Nays | PRES | NV | |
| Democratic | 212 | 14 | 6 | |
| Republican | 25 | 166 | 10 | |
| Independent | ||||
| TOTALS | 237 | 180 | 16 |
| Abercrombie Ackerman Allen Altmire Andrews Arcuri Baca Baird Baldwin Barrow Bean Becerra Berkley Berman Biggert Bishop (GA) Bishop (NY) Blumenauer Bono Boswell Boucher Boyd (FL) Boyda (KS) Brady (PA) Braley (IA) Brown, Corrine Butterfield Capps Capuano Cardoza Carnahan Carson Castle Castor Chandler Clarke Clay Cleaver Clyburn Cohen Conyers Cooper Costa Costello Courtney Crowley Cuellar Cummings Davis (AL) Davis (CA) Davis (IL) DeFazio DeGette Delahunt DeLauro Dent Diaz-Balart, L. Diaz-Balart, M. Dicks Dingell Doggett Doyle Edwards Ellison Emanuel English (PA) Eshoo Etheridge Farr Ferguson Filner Frank (MA) Frelinghuysen Gerlach Giffords Gilchrest Gillibrand Gonzalez Green, Al |
Green, Gene Grijalva Gutierrez Hall (NY) Hare Harman Hastings (FL) Herseth Sandlin Higgins Hill Hinchey Hinojosa Hirono Hodes Holden Holt Honda Hooley Hoyer Inslee Israel Jackson (IL) Jackson-Lee (TX) Jefferson Johnson (GA) Jones (OH) Kagen Kanjorski Kaptur Kennedy Kildee Kilpatrick Kind Kirk Klein (FL) Kucinich Kuhl (NY) LaHood Langevin Lantos Larsen (WA) Larson (CT) Lee Levin Lewis (GA) Lipinski LoBiondo Loebsack Lofgren, Zoe Lowey Lynch Mahoney (FL) Maloney (NY) Markey Marshall Matheson Matsui McCarthy (NY) McCollum (MN) McCrery McDermott McGovern McNerney McNulty Meehan Meek (FL) Meeks (NY) Michaud Miller (NC) Miller, George Mitchell Mollohan Moore (KS) Moore (WI) Moran (VA) Murphy (CT) Murphy, Patrick Murtha Nadler |
Napolitano Neal (MA) Oberstar Obey Olver Pallone Pascrell Pastor Payne Pelosi Perlmutter Platts Pomeroy Porter Price (NC) Pryce (OH) Rahall Rangel Reichert Reyes Rodriguez Ros-Lehtinen Rothman Roybal-Allard Ruppersberger Rush Ryan (OH) Salazar Sánchez, Linda T. Sanchez, Loretta Sarbanes Saxton Schakowsky Schiff Schwartz Scott (GA) Scott (VA) Serrano Sestak Shays Shea-Porter Sherman Sires Skelton Slaughter Smith (WA) Snyder Solis Space Spratt Stark Stupak Sutton Tauscher Thompson (CA) Thompson (MS) Tierney Towns Udall (CO) Udall (NM) Van Hollen Velázquez Visclosky Walden (OR) Walsh (NY) Walz (MN) Wasserman Schultz Waters Watson Watt Waxman Weiner Welch (VT) Wexler Wilson (OH) Woolsey Wu Wynn Yarmuth |
| Aderholt Akin Alexander Bachmann Bachus Baker Barrett (SC) Bartlett (MD) Barton (TX) Berry Bilbray Bilirakis Bishop (UT) Blackburn Blunt Boehner Bonner Boozman Boren Boustany Brady (TX) Brown (SC) Brown-Waite, Ginny Buchanan Burgess Burton (IN) Buyer Calvert Camp (MI) Campbell (CA) Cannon Cantor Capito Carney Carter Chabot Coble Cole (OK) Conaway Cramer Crenshaw Culberson Davis (KY) Davis, David Davis, Lincoln Davis, Tom Deal (GA) Donnelly Doolittle Drake Dreier Duncan Ehlers Ellsworth Emerson Everett Fallin Feeney Flake Forbes |
Fortenberry Fossella Foxx Franks (AZ) Gallegly Garrett (NJ) Gillmor Gohmert Goode Goodlatte Gordon Granger Hall (TX) Hastings (WA) Hayes Heller Hensarling Herger Hobson Hoekstra Hulshof Inglis (SC) Issa Jindal Johnson (IL) Johnson, Sam Jones (NC) Jordan Keller King (IA) King (NY) Kingston Kline (MN) Knollenberg Lamborn Latham LaTourette Lewis (CA) Lewis (KY) Linder Lucas Lungren, Daniel E. Mack Manzullo Marchant McCarthy (CA) McCaul (TX) McCotter McHenry McHugh McIntyre McKeon Melancon Mica Miller (FL) Miller (MI) Miller, Gary Moran (KS) Murphy, Tim Musgrave |
Myrick Neugebauer Nunes Pearce Pence Peterson (MN) Peterson (PA) Petri Pickering Pitts Poe Price (GA) Putnam Ramstad Regula Rehberg Renzi Reynolds Rogers (AL) Rogers (KY) Rogers (MI) Rohrabacher Roskam Ross Royce Ryan (WI) Sali Schmidt Sensenbrenner Sessions Shadegg Shimkus Shuler Shuster Simpson Smith (NE) Smith (NJ) Smith (TX) Souder Stearns Sullivan Taylor Terry Thornberry Tiahrt Tiberi Turner Upton Walberg Wamp Weldon (FL) Weller Westmoreland Whitfield Wicker Wilson (NM) Wilson (SC) Wolf Young (AK) Young (FL) |
| Cubin Davis, Jo Ann Engel Fattah Gingrey Graves |
Hastert Hunter Johnson, E. B. Lampson McMorris Rodgers Ortiz |
Paul Radanovich Tancredo Tanner |
And if they don't think like us we'll punish them for it. The hypocrisy couldn't be more apparent.
so barging in on a political office or a campaign office or ripping out campaign signs from yards or vandalizing cars/slashing tires can now be a hate crime?
Some activists are not going to like that.
By definition, hate crimes legislation has ALWAYS been about thought. Hate is not an action; it is a thought.
"Except for differences with us", he added mentally.
Irresponsible, unimaginable, unfair, insane legislation...
What's your logic? This $hit would have never passed even with a GOP majority watered down with Rhinos. Now with Dem control and a those same Rhinos it's now down to counting heads for the VETO to hold. Does that make you feel safer?
Of course the two new moonbats from NH voted Yea (Hodes and Shea-Porter).
Who will be the ‘thought police’?
Email from a friend
The Thought Police
What the Hate Crimes Law Would Do
Chuck Colson
May 1, 2007
In George Orwell’s classic novel 1984, the government Thought Police constantly spies on citizens to make sure they are not thinking rebellious thoughts. Thought crimes are severely punished by Big Brother.
1984 was intended as a warning against totalitarian governments that enslave and control their citizens. Never have we needed this warning more urgently than now, because America’s Thought Police are knocking on your door.
Last week the House Judiciary Committee, egged on by radical homosexual groups, passed what can only be called a Thought Crimes bill. It’s called the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act. But this bill is not
about hate. It’s not even about crime. It’s about outlawing peaceful speech
— speech that asserts that homosexual behavior is morally wrong.
Some say we need this law to prevent attacks on homosexuals. But we already have laws against assaults on people and property. Moreover, according to the FBI, crimes against homosexuals in the United States have dropped
dramatically in recent years. In 2005, out of 863,000 cases of aggravated assault, just 177 cases were crimes of bias against homosexuals — far less than even 1 percent.
Another problem is that in places where hate crimes laws have been passed, hate crimes have been defined to include verbal attacks — and even peaceful speech. The Thought Police have already prosecuted Christians under hate crimes laws in England, Sweden, Canada, and even in some places
in the United States.
If this dangerous law passes, pastors who preach sermons giving the biblical view of homosexuality could be prosecuted. Christian businessmen who refuse to print pro-gay literature could be prosecuted. Groups like
Exodus International, which offer therapy to those with unwanted same-sex attraction, could be shut down.
In classic 1984 fashion, peaceful speech will be redefined as a violent attack worthy of punishment.
This is the unspoken goal of activist groups. We know this because during the debate over the bill last week, Congressman Mike Pence (R) of Indiana offered a Freedom of Religion amendment to this hate crimes bill. It asked
that nothing in this law limit the religious freedom of any person or group under the Constitution. The committee refused to adopt it.
It also refused to adopt amendments protecting other groups from hate crimes — like members of the military, who are often targets of verbal attacks and spitting. They also shot down amendments that would protect the homeless
and senior citizens, also often targeted by criminals.
Nothing doing, the committee said — the only group they wanted to protect: homosexuals.
Clearly, the intent of this law is not to prevent crime, but to shut down freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and freedom of thought. Its passage would strike at the very heart of our democracy.
The full Congress may vote on this bill as early as this week. Unless you want Big Brother telling you what to say, what to think, and what to believe, I urge you to contact your congressman immediately, urging him or her to vote against this bill. If you visit the BreakPoint website
http://www.breakpoint.org/listingarticle.asp?ID=6440#Further, you’ll find
more information about this radical law.
If we do nothing, 1984 will no longer be fiction, and Big Brother will be watching you and me — ready to punish the “wrong” thoughts.
The House didn’t pass it.....Democrats passed it. Big difference. The Bill also doesn’t talk about discrimination against White Males. Guess we loose again.
Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., the only openly gay man in the House...”
Frank should head up the Sodomy & AIDS Committee, since he’s an expert. He must know all about gay sex and the spread of disease by gays, causing a worldwide epidemic costing billions of dollars and millions (?) of lives. Gays are proud to be spreading disease and abusing children.
My rep voted NO. Of course, I called him and let him know that I was against it yesterday. I’m going to start calling everytime so my voice will be heard.
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