The ayes are 60.
The nays are 39. Three fifths of the senators duly
chosen and sworn having voted in the affirmative, the motion
is agreed to.
Yes, elections do
matter.
On September 27,
nine Republican senators joined all 51 Democrats to pass
an amendment enabling federal prosecution of hate crimes.
I had the honor
of serving as president pro tempore of the U.S. Senate --
presiding over the Senate -- when we invoked a procedure
called cloture to cut off a Republican filibuster on
Sen. Ted Kennedy's hate-crimes amendment. A few
minutes before the vote, the Massachusetts Democrat
said, "If America is to live up to its founding
ideals of liberty and justice for all, combating hate
crimes must be a national priority."
The amendment was
attached to a defense bill. Senator Kennedy said,
"The defense authorization bill is about
dealing with the challenges of terrorism overseas.
This is about terrorism in our neighborhood." Those
of us in the Senate and House who have fought for
hate-crimes legislation for years understand that this
is our best chance yet of enacting it into law.
Before last
November, hate-crimes legislation was repeatedly sidelined
in Congress, never having a chance to get to the
president's desk. Today, thanks to the efforts
of human rights activists in every state in our
nation, we are closer than ever to prosecuting crimes
motivated by prejudice and hatred and divisiveness.
We should not, as
a nation, tread softly when individuals use violence to
perpetuate hatred.
The Senate action
last week brought us one major step closer to that
reality.