Democrats Remove ‘Findings’ From Hate Crime Bill
They Have Gutted Their Publicly-Stated Reasons For Legislation Traditional Values Coalition By TVC Chairman Louis P. Sheldon & TVC Executive Director Andrea Lafferty April 22, 2009 – We just spent 5 hours sitting in the House Judiciary Committee hearing room monitoring the debate over passage of the so-called hate crime bill, H.R. 1913, the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act. This legislation is designed to add “sexual orientation,” “gender” and “gender identity” as specially protected categories of persons under federal law. During the debates between Republicans and Democrats, it became clear that Democrats were prepared to vote down every amendment offered by the Republican minority – and that’s what they did. We were there to monitor the debate. Throughout the mark-up, we interacted directly with Members of Congress and their staffers on this dangerous legislation. The debate is not over. The markup and vote is to be continued tomorrow morning. But, there were some very telling developments from today’s hearing: -
The Democrats admitted defeat on the phony “findings” to justify passage of H.R. 1913. TVC hammered them on these phony findings that claimed homosexuals and drag queens were fleeing across state lines to avoid personal attacks. The Democrats voted to remove the “findings.” This is a major victory for our side – and for our activists who wrote thousands of letters to expose this fraud. -
The Democrats had claimed that the interstate commerce clause applied to protecting gays and drag queens, but without the “findings” this excuse has been taken from them! -
Lesbian Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) was visibly shaken and upset by a series of questions about sexual orientation and gender identity. She refused to define what gender or “gender identity” might mean in the law. She was repeatedly asked to define these terms and she danced around giving a real answer. -
Democrats refused to add members of the military, seniors, unborn babies, pregnant women, and Americans targeted by illegals as protected classes under this hate crimes bill! Clearly, gays and drag queens are of more value than these persons. -
Democrats admitted that “animus” – or what a person thinks – is the basis for enhanced penalties against homosexuals, bisexuals, and transsexuals. They have admitted that this is a thought crime bill! People will be punished for what they think – just for their violent actions! -
Rep. Gerald Nadler (D-NY) admitted that this bill is designed to raise the penalties for crimes against these specially protected groups! This is unequal protection under the law. Nadler’s specially-protected groups are more valuable than soldiers, the elderly, pregnant women, or unborn babies
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