Free Republic

John Walsh and "America's Most Wanted" urge Congress to pass sex offender legislation (H.R. 3132 and S.1086) before the end of the year. Right now Congress is set to adjourn without sending a bill to the President to be signed into law. This critical legislation would strengthen current laws to protect children from predators by creating a comprehensive, national system for sex offender registration and community notification. "How many more children and other victims need to suffer before our elected officials do the right thing and pass this legislation," said John Walsh, host of America's Most Wanted. "Enough is enough....

(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...

Bill Summary & Status for the 109th CongressNEW SEARCH | HOME | HELP | ABOUT COSPONSORS H.R.3132Title: To make improvements to the national sex offender registration program, and for other purposes. Sponsor: Rep Sensenbrenner, F. James, Jr. [WI-5] (introduced 6/30/2005)      Cosponsors (88) Related Bills: H.RES.436, H.R.3133Latest Major Action: 9/15/2005 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. House Reports: 109-218 Part 1, 109-218 Part 2 COSPONSORS(88), ALPHABETICAL [followed by Cosponsors withdrawn]:     (Sort: by date) Rep Alexander, Rodney [LA-5] - 7/27/2005 Rep Bachus, Spencer [AL-6] - 7/14/2005 Rep Baker, Richard H....

Below is the roll call vote.The link you provided is the final vote on the whole bill. It appears to have received bipartisan support. Just before that vote, another vote was held on the amendment by Rep. John Conyers which inserted the "Hate Crimes" provision. Amendment #25 - Roll #469   AYES NOES PRES NV REPUBLICAN 30 194   6 DEMOCRATIC 192 5   5 INDEPENDENT 1       TOTALS 223 199   11 REPUBLICANS VOTING AYE DEMOCRATS VOTING NO Bass Biggert Boehlert Bono Castle Dent Diaz-Balart, L. Diaz-Balart, M. Fitzpatrick (PA) Foley Gerlach Johnson (CT) Kelly Kirk Kolbe...

WASHINGTON -- Supporters of expanding hate crime law to include acts of violence against gays and lesbians scored a surprise win in the House, boosting their hopes on an issue repeatedly blocked in Congress. With the help of 30 Republicans, House Democrats on Wednesday pushed through a measure that would add sexual orientation, gender and disability to protections covered by federal hate crime law. Under current law, the federal government assists local and state authorities prosecuting limited types of crimes based on the victim's race, religion or ethnic background. Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., offered the measure, which passed 223-199, as...

WASHINGTON, Sept 14 (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday unexpectedly backed a measure to expand federal hate crime protection to gay people, a measure that House conservatives had blocked for years. The Senate has passed similar legislation, which also expanded protections for the disabled, several times in recent years but House conservatives had argued that these cases should be dealt with on a local or state level without additional federal intervention. This time the hate crime measure was attached to a bipartisan bill known as the Children's Safety Act aimed at tightening reporting requirements for child sex...