Last-Minute Hate Crime Rider Catches Pro-Family Forces Off Guard
by Bill Fancher
September 26, 2005
(AgapePress) - Bob Knight of the Culture and Family Institute says pro-family allies were caught flat-footed by a pro-homosexual rights amendment effort when the U.S. House of Representatives "blindsided" them by rushing through a hate crimes bill sponsored by Congressman John Conyers, a liberal Democrat from Michigan.
Congress tacked the amendment onto the Child Safety Act, legislation that Knight says "tightened laws against sex offenders who violate children," and pro-family groups only had a four-hour notice that the amendment was being voted on. Still, he notes, there is good news.
Bob Knight | |
"We're told that a lot of people are very upset about this," the CFI spokesman says, "and that the House leadership is telling people it will be stripped out in conference. That's when the differences between the Senate and House bills are worked out." However, Knight says he and other pro-family advocates would much rather see the Senate deal with the issue before it reaches the conference stage. "Right now we'd like to see the bill stopped in the Senate," he asserts. "It's in the Judiciary Committee and we'd either like to see it voted down there or voted down by the Senate itself."
Conyers first introduced his "Hate Crimes Prevention Act" in May 2005, along with colleagues Barney Frank, Lleana Ros-Lehtinen, Tammy Baldwin and Christopher Shays. In addition to enhancing the government's ability to respond to hate crime violence by covering all violent crimes based on race, color, religion, or national origin, the legislation also permits federal involvement in the prosecution of so-called bias-motivated crimes based on the victim's gender, sexual orientation, or disability.
Congress passed Conyers' legislation as a late amendment to the Child Safety Act by a vote of 223-199, with 30 Republicans crossing over to vote in favor of the hate crimes measure. Knight and other pro-family advocates are hoping the hate crime measure can still be stripped when the Child Safety Act goes to conference, if not before.
Bill Fancher, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
