- Sen. Kennedy's hate crime bill, attached to the National
Defense Appropriations Act, H.R. 1585, is coming out of conference and
scheduled to be on the President's desk for either signing or veto after
the Thanksgiving recess.
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- Yet it must pass one last hurdle: The
House and Senate must approve the final conference version of H.R 1585.
Should Congress reject the arms bill, it is possible to defeat the hate
bill before it reaches the President.
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- An <http://www.southernvoice.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=15272>article
by Lou Chibbaro Jr. in the Nov. 15 Southern Voice says members of Congress
are angry with H.R. 1585 for two reasons:
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- 1.
As many as 20 Democrats don't want to fund the war and threaten
not to vote for the arms bill because it contains no significant requirements
of withdrawal.
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- 2.
As many as 180 Republicans who voted against the hate bill in May
also threaten to vote against it; they don't want to pass an arms bill
that includes the hate bill.
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- It is suggested that, for the moment, our
military might continue being supplied by extending levels of funding approved
by the previous DOD authorization bill. Then, next year, a whole new arms
appropriations bill might be created. Whether the Democrats will be able
to reattach the Kennedy hate bill is unclear.
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- Once a bill has gone through conference,
it cannot be altered by Congress -- only accepted or rejected. If the arms
bill is defeated, largely because of the hate bill attached to it, a strong
message will be sent that if another hate bill is attached it should be
stand-alone legislation. A bill that must stand on its own merits, especially
one surrounded by controversy, has less of a chance at passage than a bill
attached as a rider to "must pass" legislation.
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- Second Chance to Defeat the Hate Bill?
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- If there is a second fight over the
hate bill, it will provide renewed opportunity for Senate Republicans and
Christian/conservative organizations to mount the kind of opposition they
failed to muster in September. (ADD LINK to Video Report) It is vital that
you call your Senators and House members NOW telling them: "Please
reject the National Defense Appropriations Act, H.R. 1585, and its hate
crime amendment."
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- God may be giving our nation a second
opportunity to keep from going into the darkness of a hate crime bureaucracy.
Clearly, He is doing His part. Now it's time for us to do ours.
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- The House and Senate are going on Thanksgiving
break, but they should be welcomed back to Washington by many messages
demanding that our First Amendment rights be preserved. Call again the
first week of December and make your voice heard in the cause of freedom!
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- Call today toll-free 1-877-851-6437
or toll 1-202-225-3121.
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