Update for October 7, 2009

Latest News on Hate Crimes Legislation

Vote Could Come as Early as Thursday, October 8

Call the Armed Services Committee Members and/or Fax Congress

From the Family Research Council:

Hate Crimes -- House and Senate Conferees have planned to meet sometime today (Wednesday, October 7) to reconcile differences between the House and Senate versions of the fiscal 2010 Defense Authorization bill. Conferees have struggled over whether to keep a Senate Hate Crimes amendment that will make acts of violence against people because of their " sexual orientation" and "gender identity" subject to federal investigation, prosecution and imprisonment. In 2007, conferees dropped a similar provision, fearing it might jeopardize final action on the bill. Last night, the U.S. House defeated 178 to 234 a motion to instruct House conferees to remove the hate crimes amendment from the Defense bill. A final House vote on the conference report is expected Thursday and a Senate vote next week. While no one is in favor of violent acts against anyone in a civil society, we discern that this legislation will become a gateway to criminalizing public opposition to homosexual, bi-sexual, and transvestite behavior.

Pray in Jesus Name Director Chaplain Gordon Klingenschmitt has provided a way to fax all members of the Armed Services Committee.  To Send a Fax for as little as $19:   https://secure.conservativedonations.com/pijn_fax_newhatecrimes/?a=3071

Call and/or Fax Members of the Senate Armed Services Committee and the House Armed Services Committee and tell them to drop the Hate Crimes Amendment from this Defense Bill.

To Call Members of the Armed Services Committees:

• House Armed Services Committee Members:  http://armedservices.house.gov/list_of_members.shtml

• Senate Armed Services Committee Members:  http://armed-services.senate.gov/members.htm

 Rules for Calling:

1. Always be polite. 

2. When they answer simply ask to leave a comment for the Congressman or Senator. 

3. Ask them to drop Senator Leahy's Hate Crimes Amendment from the 2010 Defense Authorization Bill. 

4. If they ask for a reason or try to argue, there are many.  Some responses might include:

   • Let the bill stand on its own and be voted on rather than attaching to a bill that it has nothing to do with. 

   • All crimes should be punished equally, regardless of race, color or gender. 

   • This bill violates First Amendment (free speech). Every nation or state where it has been enacted has resulted in the arrest of Christians for preaching the Bible. 

   • This bill violates the Fourteenth Amendment (creating special classes of protection). 

5. If you are calling a Representative or Senator in another State and they ask where you are calling from, don't lie.  Simply say, "I'm calling from ________ but as a Citizen of the United States the Senator/Representatives vote on this bill will directly affect me, therefore I am asking him/her to oppose Senator Leahy's Hate Crime Amendment."

6. Thank them for their time.

Remember, our Founding Fathers signed their death warrants when they added their names to the Declaration of Independence pledging to one another their lives, fortunes and sacred honor.  After they gave so much so that we could enjoy Christian Liberty is it too much to ask of us to spend $19 for a fax or spend twenty minutes making phone calls to keep it?

***********************************************************************************************************************

Update for July 22, 2009

**  Brief Overview

**  Thorough Presentation and Action Items by Attorney Mat Staver

**  List of Senators and how they Voted

 

OVERVIEW

The Defense Bill/Hate Crimes Bill has not passed yet, but Thursday was not good as a cloture vote was taken, thus ending the discussion.  The Bill will next be voted on Monday or Tuesday, so we still have slight hope.  Sen. Brownback added an amendment which seeks to guaranty First Amendment rights for Christians, so that is good, but still there is this question:  Since there is no rash of hate crimes being committed, and since all crimes already are punished with EQUAL justice, why is it so important for the liberals to push this through?  History shows that every state or nation that has passed Hate Crimes has used it to suppress Christian thought and speech.  I believe this bill is like opening Pandora's Box. For example, the Revenue Act of 1913 established a federal income tax rate of 1%.  Now look at us.  If they succeed with this, they will push for ENDA, eliminate "Don't Ask, Don't Tell", and overall all state DOMA laws, and by that time the Speech and Thought protections will be rolled away. We still need to act by calling and faxing today and on Monday.  If nothing else, learn from this.  With a liberal supermajority in both houses and the most liberal President in American history, they thought this would sail through 2 months ago.  Instead they have had a fistfight and ultimately used underhanded procedural tactics to slide it through.  We must keep active on every measure including Sotomayor and keep score of these votes and VOTE THE BUMS OUT in 16 months.

 

 

 

FROM ATTORNEY MAT STAVER AND LIBERTY COUNSEL:

 

Late Thursday night, the Senate voted 63-28 to end discussion on 2009's version of the Hate Crimes bill and to make it an amendment to the Defense Authorization bill.

Just as we've been warning, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid found a way to abuse the rules and prevent an honest vote!

I am outraged by this blatant manipulation and I am not alone. While Reid crowed about his great "victory," John McCain and other Senators bitterly protested the underhanded way he attached the Hate Crimes bill to vital defense funding authorization.

"While we have young Americans fighting and dying in two wars, we're going to take up a Hate Crimes bill that has nothing to do whatsoever with defending this nation...,"McCain complained.

Meanwhile, all seven Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee went on record to say their committee never even got a chance to review the bill - a blatant departure from proper procedure.

The reason for all this subterfuge?  Reid strong-armed the system and by-passed a fair and open debate in order to deliver a political prize to homosexual interest groups - pure and simple!!

++Harry Reid has stooped to a new low as Majority Leader

Senators are now being forced to make a choice between approving a vital defense spending bill and voting against the dangerous, unneeded Hate Crimes amendment.   And Reid cynically used the cover of Sonia Sotomayor's Supreme Court confirmation hearings in hopes that grassroots Americans like you would not take notice!

++ We have one last chance to protest this travesty

The sneaky late-night cloture vote was designed to silence our voice in this battle.  But today, Friday, is a "no-vote" day in the Senate.  And the earliest the Defense Authorization bill and its Hate Crimes amendment can come to a vote is Monday.

I know it's a long shot, but there could still be some Democratic defections, especially if they "feel the heat."
And there are still some technicalities in the bill that could cause more delays before a final vote can take place.

Even if the Senate's Defense Authorization bill passes along with its Hate Crimes amendment, it still has to be reconciled with the House version. So, the battle is not completely over yet!

We need to be heard up until the last possible minute!  And we must not allow Reid and his crowd to think no one noticed what they've been doing.

Also, please take time today to pray that God will cause the tide to turn against the Hate Crimes Law. All things are possible to the wondrous God we serve.

Paul, we have had a major impact in this battle. Now, Harry Reid and his operatives are hoping they can get off the stage before the rotten tomatoes start flying.

Many courageous conservative Senators don't want them to get away with this outrage.  I don't either.

We've already done so much to stop this dangerous bill, but now I think we should take two more vital steps...

+ + Action #1 -- FAX YOUR SENATORS TODAY!

I hope you will fax your senators today - even if you've already done it many times before.  Your continuing protest will tell them you oppose the way in which the Hate Crimes amendment is being smuggled through the Senate.

I want to tell Harry Reid and his crowd that they have stirred up a hornet's nest with their intolerable manipulation!

Please go here to schedule your faxes:

http://www.libertyaction.org/r.asp?U=20301&CID=292&RID=20044515 

As always, you can send your own faxes. We have provided all the information you need at the above link. Either way -- PLEASE SEND FAXES OF PROTEST TODAY!

+ + Action #2 -- Call Harry Reid and your Senators

Also, call Majority Leader Reid and tell him you oppose the way he sneaked the Hate Crimes bill through the Senate as an amendment. Our sources have informed us that Senate phone lines have been
jammed all week with protests. Let's keep it up!

Outraged citizens like you forced Reid to take drastic steps to sneak this bill through.  Now we have a chance to make him reconsider the cost of his hollow, dishonest "victory."

Reid's Majority Leader office: 202-224-5556

Reid's D.C. Senate office: 202-224-3542

Talking Points:

1. I am very disappointed that the Senate fast-tracked the Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009 (S. 909) by attaching it as an amendment to the Defense Authorization Act.

2. This Hate Crimes legislation is so controversial that it should have been considered as a stand-alone bill, not rushed as an amendment.  It wasn't even reviewed by the Senate Judiciary Committee!

3. I oppose the Hate Crimes Prevention Act and urge you to oppose it as well. It is an attack on faith and family while granting special rights based on "sexual orientation" and "gender identity," terms which are not even clearly defined in the bill.

 

HOW THEY VOTED
 

YEAs ---63
Akaka (D-HI) Baucus (D-MT) Bayh (D-IN) Begich (D-AK) Bennet (D-CO) Bingaman (D-NM) Boxer (D-CA) Brown (D-OH) Burris (D-IL) Cantwell (D-WA) Cardin (D-MD) Carper (D-DE) Casey (D-PA) Collins (R-ME) Conrad (D-ND) Dodd (D-CT) Dorgan (D-ND) Durbin (D-IL) Feingold (D-WI) Feinstein (D-CA) Franken (D-MN)	Gillibrand (D-NY) Hagan (D-NC) Harkin (D-IA) Inouye (D-HI) Johnson (D-SD) Kaufman (D-DE) Kerry (D-MA) Klobuchar (D-MN) Kohl (D-WI) Landrieu (D-LA) Lautenberg (D-NJ) Leahy (D-VT) Levin (D-MI) Lieberman (ID-CT) Lincoln (D-AR) Lugar (R-IN) McCaskill (D-MO) Menendez (D-NJ) Merkley (D-OR) Mikulski (D-MD) Murkowski (R-AK)	Murray (D-WA) Nelson (D-FL) Nelson (D-NE) Pryor (D-AR) Reed (D-RI) Reid (D-NV) Rockefeller (D-WV) Sanders (I-VT) Schumer (D-NY) Shaheen (D-NH) Snowe (R-ME) Specter (D-PA) Stabenow (D-MI) Tester (D-MT) Udall (D-CO) Udall (D-NM) Voinovich (R-OH) Warner (D-VA) Webb (D-VA) Whitehouse (D-RI) Wyden (D-OR)

NAYs ---28
Barrasso (R-WY) Bennett (R-UT) Brownback (R-KS) Burr (R-NC) Chambliss (R-GA) Coburn (R-OK) Cochran (R-MS) Cornyn (R-TX) Crapo (R-ID) DeMint (R-SC)	Ensign (R-NV) Enzi (R-WY) Grassley (R-IA) Hatch (R-UT) Hutchison (R-TX) Inhofe (R-OK) Isakson (R-GA) Johanns (R-NE) Kyl (R-AZ) McCain (R-AZ)	McConnell (R-KY) Risch (R-ID) Roberts (R-KS) Sessions (R-AL) Shelby (R-AL) Thune (R-SD) Vitter (R-LA) Wicker (R-MS)

Not Voting - 9
Alexander (R-TN) Bond (R-MO) Bunning (R-KY)	Byrd (D-WV) Corker (R-TN) Graham (R-SC)	Gregg (R-NH) Kennedy (D-MA) Martinez (R-FL)