Rick336
05-03-2007, 10:19 AM
White House Issues Veto Threat Against Gay Hate Bill
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
Posted: May 3, 2007 - 11:00 am ET
(Washington) Just hours before the House votes on the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Act the White House issued a statement saying that if the bill passes the House and Senate and goes to the President, his senior advisors would recommend that he veto it.
A statement from the Executive Office of the President said: "The Administration favors strong criminal penalties for violent crime, including crime based on personal characteristics, such as race, color, religion, or national origin.
"However, the Administration believes that H.R. 1592 is unnecessary and constitutionally questionable."
The White House statement said that state and local criminal laws already provide penalties for the crimes defined by the bill and "there has been no persuasive demonstration of any need to federalize such a potentially large range of violent crime enforcement."
On the issue of constitutionality the White House statement said terms of the bill could be enforced only "if done in the implementation of a power granted to the Federal government, such as the power to protect Federal personnel, to regulate interstate commerce, or to enforce equal protection of the laws. [The legislation] is not by its terms limited to the exercise of such a power, and it is not at all clear that sufficient factual or legal grounds exist to uphold this provision."
The statement comes on the heels of intense lobbying by social conservatives for Bush to issue statement condemning; the bill.
The American Family Association sent an alert to thousands of its members calling on them to email and phone the White House to call for a veto. (story)
"The Hate Crimes Act criminalizes a vast array of state and local acts and threatens religious leaders with criminal prosecution for their thoughts, beliefs, and statements," AFA claims - something supporters of the bill and LGBT civil rights groups dispute.
Concerned Women for America also is calling for a veto.
In a letter to the President the group says "there is no evidence to suggest that homosexuals or cross-dressers do not receive equal protection under the law."
Meanwhile, Judy Shepard, the mother of Matthew, was on Capitol Hill Thursday lobbying for support of the bill.
The Shepard Act, also called the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act, would allow the Department of Justice to assist local authorities in investigating and prosecuting cases in which violence occurs against people based on their sexuality.
Federal hate crime legislation already covers people on the basis of race and religion.
FBI statistics show that one in six hate crimes is motivated by the victim’s sexual orientation.
The hate crime bill passed the House in the last Congress but was dropped in the then Republican-controlled Senate last year.
Although the bill has bi-partisan support, with Democrats now in control of both houses in Congress it is seen as having a better chance of passage, but it is believed there is not enough support to override a veto.
The legislation has the support of LGBT civil rights groups and has been endorsed by more than 210 law enforcement, civil rights, civic and religious organizations, including: the National Sheriffs' Association, International Association of Chiefs of Police, U.S. Conference of Mayors, and the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association.
©365Gay.com 2007
http://www.365gay.com
Contact the White House:
202-456-1111 Ask President Bush to support this bill.
Here's the link to the White House web site:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
Posted: May 3, 2007 - 11:00 am ET
(Washington) Just hours before the House votes on the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Act the White House issued a statement saying that if the bill passes the House and Senate and goes to the President, his senior advisors would recommend that he veto it.
A statement from the Executive Office of the President said: "The Administration favors strong criminal penalties for violent crime, including crime based on personal characteristics, such as race, color, religion, or national origin.
"However, the Administration believes that H.R. 1592 is unnecessary and constitutionally questionable."
The White House statement said that state and local criminal laws already provide penalties for the crimes defined by the bill and "there has been no persuasive demonstration of any need to federalize such a potentially large range of violent crime enforcement."
On the issue of constitutionality the White House statement said terms of the bill could be enforced only "if done in the implementation of a power granted to the Federal government, such as the power to protect Federal personnel, to regulate interstate commerce, or to enforce equal protection of the laws. [The legislation] is not by its terms limited to the exercise of such a power, and it is not at all clear that sufficient factual or legal grounds exist to uphold this provision."
The statement comes on the heels of intense lobbying by social conservatives for Bush to issue statement condemning; the bill.
The American Family Association sent an alert to thousands of its members calling on them to email and phone the White House to call for a veto. (story)
"The Hate Crimes Act criminalizes a vast array of state and local acts and threatens religious leaders with criminal prosecution for their thoughts, beliefs, and statements," AFA claims - something supporters of the bill and LGBT civil rights groups dispute.
Concerned Women for America also is calling for a veto.
In a letter to the President the group says "there is no evidence to suggest that homosexuals or cross-dressers do not receive equal protection under the law."
Meanwhile, Judy Shepard, the mother of Matthew, was on Capitol Hill Thursday lobbying for support of the bill.
The Shepard Act, also called the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act, would allow the Department of Justice to assist local authorities in investigating and prosecuting cases in which violence occurs against people based on their sexuality.
Federal hate crime legislation already covers people on the basis of race and religion.
FBI statistics show that one in six hate crimes is motivated by the victim’s sexual orientation.
The hate crime bill passed the House in the last Congress but was dropped in the then Republican-controlled Senate last year.
Although the bill has bi-partisan support, with Democrats now in control of both houses in Congress it is seen as having a better chance of passage, but it is believed there is not enough support to override a veto.
The legislation has the support of LGBT civil rights groups and has been endorsed by more than 210 law enforcement, civil rights, civic and religious organizations, including: the National Sheriffs' Association, International Association of Chiefs of Police, U.S. Conference of Mayors, and the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association.
©365Gay.com 2007
http://www.365gay.com
Contact the White House:
202-456-1111 Ask President Bush to support this bill.
Here's the link to the White House web site:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/