Hate Crimes Legislation is Adopted by US Senate
Last week, the Senate passed approved a hate crimes amendment to the Defense Authorization Bill. This amendment, known as the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act (HR 1592 and S1105) has been in the hopper for over ten years. The passage of this amendment in the Senate was monumental. Over the past decade, this LLEHCPA (as we like to call it for short—maybe not like, perhaps need) has passed been approved by both chambers several times. However, it hasn’t passed the House and Senate in the SAME Congress in way that would send it to the President for his signature. This year, in the 110th Congress, it finally moves forward.
Back in May, the LLEHCPA passed the House with a vote of 237-180. This was a strong bipartisan showing. We were pleased with this vote. This bill engenders deep passions. Here is a clip of Representative John Lewis' (D-GA) floor speech on this bill.
With the stand-alone version approved by the House, and the Senate attaching this language to the Defense Authorization bill, Congress is poised to send this legislation to the President. There are several differences between the House and Senate versions of the Defense bill. A joint House-Senate Conference Committee will be required to hammer out the differences and develop compromise language. However, we don’t expect the hate crimes provisions to be pushed out. The House has already approved them.
When the Senate approved this measure, it required the support of at least 60 Senators. Senate rules allow for debate to continue almost indefinitely. To cut short debate, prevent a filibuster and move to consideration of an amendment (or bill for that matter), 60 Senators are required to support a cloture motion. With the Senate so closely divided between Democrats and Republicans and the intense partisanship that characterizes the Capitol, that is definitely a tall task. That being said, Senate sponsors, Senator Gordon Smith (R-OR) and Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) pushed this amendment through. With exactly 60 votes, the full roll call can be seen here, the Senate ended debate and moved to final passage. The amendment was approved (only a majority needed) by a voice vote.
This is where it gets dicey. The President has issued a veto threat for this legislation (the stand-alone version). The White House has also expressed concern about it being attached to the Defense Authorization Bill. It is unclear now if adding the Hate Crimes bill to the Defense Authorization Bill is a deal breaker. We don’t think so, and we sure hope not. The fact of the matter is, there is plenty in the Defense Authorization Bill the President doesn’t like. Check out the White House’s Statement of Administration Policy for this bill when it was debated in the House of Representatives.
These hate crimes provisions are a good addition to the Defense Authorization Bill and will make good law. That should be the test. Will legislation make set solid and thoughtful public policy? Will it protect the rights and liberty of American citizens? The answer to both is yes. In the end, to quote Rep. Lewis, "Hate is too heavy a burden to bear."
