The Senate is expected
to vote Thursday on whether to attach the Matthew Shepard Hate
Crimes Prevention Act to the Department of Defense
authorization bill.
Senate Majority Leader
Harry Reid called for the vote Wednesday. "We must act in
the name of Judy Shepard, of her son Matthew Shepard,"
Reid said from the Senate floor, "so that others may know
justice. If their country doesn't stand up for them, if we
don't stand up for them, who will?"
While
many Republicans oppose the measure, most Democrats
support it and Reid hopes to get help from GOP moderates such
as senators Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine and Judd
Gregg of New Hampshire in order to meet the 60-vote threshold
necessary to pass the amendment.
But Sen. John McCain of
Arizona flatly called the vote an abuse of power. "While
we have young Americans fighting and dying in two wars,
we're going to take up the hate-crimes bill because the
majority leader thinks that's more important, more
important than legislation concerning the defense of this
nation," said McCain.
McCain called the
measure "highly explosive" and said it would force
senators to make an unfair choice when the Defense Department
bill comes to a vote. "Those of us who oppose this
legislation -- and it is important legislation -- will be faced
with a dilemma of choosing between a bill which can harm, in my
view, the United States of America and its judicial system and
a bill defending the nation," he said.
The existing
hate-crimes measure -- which already protects citizens
against bias crimes on the basis of race, color, national
origin, or religion -- would be broadened to
recognize bias crimes against citizens for their
actual or perceived gender, gender identity, sexual
orientation, or disability. It would also allow the
federal government to provide assistance to local law
authorities investigating a bias crime and to step
in where local authorities are themselves unable or
unwilling to prosecute a hate crime.
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