Senate looking to add Hate Crimes to Defense spending

Washington DC is clearly broken:

Democrats are expected to sneak the hate crimes bill through the Senate as early as tomorrow after they offered it as an amendment to the Defense Authorization bill.

The Senate approved the same hate crime legislation last year as part of the military funding bill, but it was never reconciled with the House's bill.

The current House version – H.R. 1913, or the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009 – was passed April 29 and referred to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary.

Now the Senate is considering the military appropriations bill, or S.1390, and the Senate "hate crimes" act, or S. 909, may be passed as an amendment soon.

The "hate crimes" legislation now faces its best chance in years to become federal law.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., announced Senate consideration of S.909, or the "Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act" on Tuesday.

"For the last decade, Matthew Shepard's name has been associated with hate crimes. When this bill passes, his name will thereafter be associated with justice," Reid said, according to a Politico report.

Sen. John McCain, R.-Ariz, blasted the hate crimes amendment today, saying it is unrelated to the defense bill.

"The hate-crimes bill is not without controversy," McCain said, according to a CQ Today report. "This is a complete abdication of the responsibilities of the Judiciary Committee, but more importantly could hang up this bill for a long period of time while we have young Americans fighting and dying in two wars."

Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., has now signed on as one of more than 45 co-sponsors of the act, the Minneapolis Post reported.

"The overwhelming majority of Americans know that these protections are long overdue," Sen. Franken said. "No American should suffer because of their gender or sexual orientation, and no law enforcement official should be denied the necessary resources to prosecute their case. Minnesotans have a strong sense of justice, and no tolerance for hate. It’s time our laws reflect our convictions."

So why is Franklen hating America's Constitution? Because he is part of teh Progressive movement.

Comments

[WHY?]

All this Political Correctness which is at the roots of so-called HATE CRIME legislation is driving our country into the ground. Why does Political Correctness have to REPLACE our common values and ethics that have served us well throughout our entire history? This is nonsense that will cause more travesties of justice, not less.

By the way, if a GAY person kills a STRAIGHT person, is THAT a "hate crime"? What if a GAY person kills a GAY person? It is all nonsense--like so much coming out of Washington nowadays.