- Could the federal hate crimes bill be passed in the remaining
months of this Congress? Matt Staver, head of Liberty Counsel, thinks
so. He says:
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- With Congress back in session, we are bracing for the
homosexual lobby to push for passage of anti-faith "hate crimes"
legislation. My Capitol Hill staff has warned me that the hate crimes language
could be added to the Defense Appropriations Bill any day. If this happens,
we could have less than 72 hours to stop the amendment before final passage.
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- Staver's concern is justified. According to the August
22nd Washington Blade, "Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass), a lead sponsor
of the bill in the House, has called on the Senate to pass the measure
this year as a freestanding bill" Frank, a homosexual, is as much
a bellwether of pro-homosexual legislative trends in the House, as is Sen.
Edward Kennedy in the Senate.
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- In 2007, The Hate Crimes Prevention Act passed both houses
of Congress, first as a freestanding bill in the House, then as Kennedy's
amendment to the Defense Appropriations bill in the Senate. Two months
later, 55 Democrats were angry that the defense bill did not require withdrawal
from Iraq; they refused to give it final House/Senate approval, even though
their cherished hate bill was attached. They joined 185 Republicans in
protest. Leading Democrats jettisoned Kennedy's hate crimes amendment from
the arms bill; the hate bill floundered.
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- Yet the hate bill is not officially dead until the new
Congress is seated in January 2009. If those 55 dissenting Democrats return
to the fold, the hate bill could go forward.
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- Here is my best guess as to how that might happen: as
Barney Frank recommends, objections of the 55 renegade Democrats could
be overcome simply by putting the hate bill forward in the Senate as freestanding
legislation (not related to their quarrel with the arms bill). Since Kennedy
is the bill's sponsor, he could do this any time he wants, demanding a
roll call vote from Senators. Will they be moved to honor the cancer-stricken
"lion of the Senate" by finally passing one of his most cherished
pieces of legislation?
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- How Kennedy was blocked in 2007
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- In mid-September 2007, while the evangelical right was
asleep to the hate bill threat (confident that Pres. Bush would veto it),
Sen. Ted Kennedy boldly asked the Senate to pass his hate bill amendment
without discussion. Guess who leapt to his feet to block him? Sen. John
McCain.
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- Sen. McCain, despite many imperfections, has always opposed
the federal hate bill - as much as Barack Obama has supported it.
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- Let's not take Chances
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- We do not yet have definitive evidence. Yet, considering
this bill's staggering potential to destroy freedom, it is best to err
on the side of caution.
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- Lovers of freedom, call Sen. McCain's office and encourage
him to vocally oppose possible reintroduction of the hate bill. Also,
call your Senators of both parties. The Democrats must be served notice
that if they try to sneak their pro-homosexual hate bill through, the American
people, and possibly Sen. McCain, will vocally tarnish their "family
values" charade in the critical last weeks before election.
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- Your Senators are listed at <http://www.truthtellers.org/senatorstaff.html>www.truthtellers.org/senatorstaff.html.
Let them know you will not tolerate last-minute resuscitation of this freedom-stealing
legislation. It was killed last year and should stay dead forever!
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- TAKE ACTION! Call 1-877-851-6437 toll free or 1-202-225-3121
toll.
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- Tell your Senators and John McCain: "Please reject
any attempt to revive the federal hate crimes bill. Similar legislation
has taken away free speech in Canada and many other countries."
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