Once again Congressional Democrats take gay votes and money for granted and will not go to the mat for us on the Matthew Shepard Act. The whining about a veto by the Chimperator is - in my opinion - utterly disingenuous. I don't give a damn if Bush were to veto it. The point is he needs to be put on the spot and forced to veto the legislation. This way he has won without officially doing anything. Chicken shit behavior begets chicken shit results. I have posted contact information below for both Rep. Hoyer - who I might add doesn't even provide an e-mail contact address so as to I assume avoid actually hearing from voters - Rep. Clyburn and Speaker Peolsi. I would urge all U. S. voters to contact them and register your extreme displeasure. Ironically, I just got a call from a Democrat Congressional fund raiser a short while ago and I told them "no, I will not give any money. I am waiting to see some actual results - THEN I will send money." The caller got an earful and was not pleased. Well, neither am I at the moment. Here are some story highlights from 365gay.com (http://www.365gay.com/Newscon07/12/120607hate.htm):
Washington) The Matthew Shepard Hate Crime bill was removed Thursday from defense authorization legislation. The Shepard Act would have added sexuality to the list of categories covered under federal hate crime law. It passed the House in May and the White House threatened to veto it. (story)
In an effort to get around a veto the Senate version tied the measure to the 2008 defense authorization bill. It passed in September (story) and then went to conference where the two versions of the bill needed to be harmonized for a final vote. Since then the bill has been tied up. (story)
Thursday Senate conferees reluctantly agreed to strip the Shepard Act from the defense bill, realizing that they lack the votes to pass the measure. In a private meeting Wednesday night, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and House Democratic Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) told Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) that if the Senate continued to insist on the hate crimes provision the defense legislation would fail.
"I am deeply frustrated and disappointed with this Congress," said Gordon Smith (R-OR). "The unwillingness of a few to compromise is keeping Matthew’s bill from becoming law. The fight doesn’t stop now. I will pursue every possible option to turn this legislation in law." Gay Democrats had a strong message for their party.
"The Democratic Leadership, which guided this legislation to successful passage in their respective chambers, are now burdened with a moral obligation to see their work completed," said Jon Hoadley, the Executive Director of National Stonewall Democrats. "If the National Defense Authorization Act is not the appropriate vehicle for passage, then we encourage the Democratic Leadership to work with our community to find the most expedient way to place this legislation on the President's desk within this Congress."
Here is the contact information. I urge you to voice your concerns and displeasure (I already have):
Rep. Steny Hoyer House Majority Leader, H-107 Capitol Building, Washington, D.C. 20515 • 202.225.3130
James E. Clyburn (SC-06) United States House of Representatives H-329, The Capitol Washington, DC 20515 (202) 226-3210
Nancy Pelosi, Office of the SpeakerH-232, US Capitol, Washington, DC 20515 (202) 225-0100
1 comment:
I hate it when they tie some completely irrelevant legislation to another bill like a defense authorization bill. What the hell does hate crime legislation have to do with defense authorization? Would line-item veto power make a difference here?
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