White House Threatens to Veto Hate Crimes Bill

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The House of Representatives passed the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Act Thursday, just hours after the White House said aides would recommend President Bush veto the measure.

The House voted 237 to 180. A parallel bill is working its way through the Senate.

The Shepard Act, also called the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act, would allow the Department of Justice to assist local authorities in investigating and prosecuting cases in which violence occurs against people based on their sexuality.

Federal hate crime legislation already covers people on the basis of race and religion.

Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) - the only openly gay man in the House - presided over the chamber as the final vote was taken.

"Today, we paid a sad but fitting tribute to victims of hate crimes like James Byrd, Matthew Shepherd and Michael Sandy," said Rep. Nadler (D-NY).

"No American should be threatened with violence because of who they are. Hate crimes attack not only the individual victim, but they send a violent message to an entire group of people. This hate crimes legislation takes critical steps to address violent bigotry and vicious acts of hatred. I urge my colleagues in the Senate to swiftly act to protect all Americans."

FBI statistics show that one in six hate crimes is motivated by the victim's sexual orientation.

"This is a historic day that moves all Americans closer to safety from the scourge of hate violence," said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese in a statement following the vote.

"Today, legislators sided with the 73 percent of the American people who support the expansion of hate crimes laws to include sexual orientation and gender identity."

But as the House was preparing to vote the White House issued a statement saying that if the measure passed both houses and goes to the President, his senior advisors would recommend that he veto it.

A statement from the Executive Office of the President said: "The Administration favors strong criminal penalties for violent crime, including crime based on personal characteristics, such as race, color, religion, or national origin."

"However, the Administration believes that H.R. 1592 is unnecessary and constitutionally questionable."

The White House statement said that state and local criminal laws already provide penalties for the crimes defined by the bill and "there has been no persuasive demonstration of any need to federalize such a potentially large range of violent crime enforcement."

The veto threat was immediately denounced by gay Democrats.

"By issuing a premature veto threat, President Bush fails to understand that he is not the sole decider regarding the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act," said Jo Wyrick, NSD Executive Director.

"Once again, the majority of American oppose the position of the President, and that is why we are urging the Senate Leadership to quickly move on this important legislation. We need Senate Democrats to step up before President Bush can step down"

Faith in America

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The nondenominational group Faith in America today announced the launch of a five-city "Call to Courage" campaign to educate Americans about what it calls the misuse of religious teachings to discriminate and isolate LGBT people.

The campaign officially kicks off on May 6th in Ames, Iowa.

"Today marks an important day in the shared history of America’s religious and GLBT communities. For a long time we’ve stood on separate sides of an impasse" said Jimmy Creech, Executive Director of Faith In America.

"But through this education campaign we will begin a deep and sustained dialogue, to bridge the gaps of tolerance and understanding in this country." Creech served twenty-nine years as a minister in the United Methodist Church and is considered a leading expert and spokesperson on faith and the GLBT community.

The campaign will provide a forum for citizens to express their sentiments about religion-based bigotry and to discuss its harm on society and the LGBT community.

In 2006, Faith in America initiated a similar media campaign that found that participants were more accepting of 'homosexuals' after the six-month education campaign.

"We're asking Americans to be courageous and to join us in a stand against discrimination in all forms. As a nation, we have exhibited such courage in the past by rejecting the use of religion to sanction slavery and the subjugation of women," said Mitchell Gold, founder of Faith In America and a noted North Carolina furniture designer.

"This campaign is a first step toward putting an end to bigotry disguised as religious truth and creating a just world where everyone will be allowed to flourish in America without prejudice."

Learn more about Faith in America

The Conservative Hate Agenda

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Socially conservative groups appear resigned to the likelihood the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Act will be passed by Congress and are now turning their opposition to calling for President Bush to veto it.

The House is expected to vote on the bill on Thursday. The legislation would add crimes based on sexuality to the federal hate crime law.

Also called the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act it would allow the Department of Justice to assist local authorities in investigating and prosecuting cases in which violence occurs.

FBI statistics show that one in six hate crimes is motivated by the victim’s sexual orientation.

The American Family Association has sent an alert to thousands of its members calling on them to email and phone the White House to call for a veto.

"The Hate Crimes Act criminalizes a vast array of state and local acts and threatens religious leaders with criminal prosecution for their thoughts, beliefs, and statements," AFA claims - something supporters of the bill and LGBT civil rights groups dispute.

The hate crime bill passed the House in the last Congress but was dropped in the then Republican-controlled Senate last year.

Although the bill has bi-partisan support, with Democrats now in control of both houses in Congress it is seen as having a better chance of passage.

The legislation has the support of LGBT civil rights groups and has been endorsed by more than 210 law enforcement, civil rights, civic and religious organizations, including: the National Sheriffs' Association, International Association of Chiefs of Police, U.S. Conference of Mayors, and the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association.

Timetables..........

Reacting to President Bush's veto of the Iraq supplemental bill, Speaker Nancy Pelosi noted this evening that Bush once believed it was important for a president to lay out a timetable:

The president wants a blank check. The Congress is not going to give it to him.

The president said, in his comments, he did not believe in timelines, and he spoke out very forcefully against them.

Yet in 1999, on June 5th, then-Governor Bush said, about President Clinton, "I think it’s important for the president to lay out a timetable as to how long they will be involved and when they would be withdrawn."

Despite his past statements, President Bush refuses to apply the same standard to his own activities. Standards - that's the issue.

If the president thinks that what is happening on the ground in Iraq now is progress, as he said in his comments tonight, then it's clear to see why we have a disagreement on policy with him. I agree with Leader Reid. We look forward to working with the president to find common ground, but there is great distance between us right now.