Washington – The House voted Thursday to expand federal hate-crime categories to include violent attacks against gays and people targeted because of gender, acting just hours after the White House threatened a veto.
The legislation, passed 237-180, also would make it easier for federal law enforcement to take part in or assist local prosecutions involving bias-motivated attacks. Similar legislation is also moving through the Senate, setting the stage for a possible veto showdown with President Bush.
“This is an important vote of conscience, of a statement of what America is, a society that understands that we accept differences,” said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md.
Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., the only openly gay man in the House, presided over the chamber as the final vote was taken.
Colorado’s Democratic Congress members all voted for the bill. Republicans Doug Lam born and Marilyn Musgrave voted against it. Rep. Tom Tancredo was in California for a GOP presidential debate.
The vote came after fierce lobbying from opposite sides by civil-rights groups, which have been pushing for years for added protections against hate crimes, and social conservatives, who say the bill threatens the right to express moral opposition to homosexuality and singles out groups of citizens for special protection.
The White House said state and local criminal laws already cover the new crimes defined under the bill and there was “no persuasive demonstration of any need to federalize such a potentially large range of violent-crime enforcement.” It also noted that the bill leaves other classes, such as the elderly, the military and police officers, without similar special status.
Republicans, in a parliamentary move that would have effectively killed the bill, tried to add seniors and the military to those qualifying for hate-crimes protection. It was defeated on a mainly party-line vote.
Hate crimes under current federal law apply to acts of violence against individuals on the basis of race, religion, color or national origin. Federal prosecutors have jurisdiction only if the victim is engaged in a specific federally protected activity such as voting.
The House bill would extend the hate-crimes category to include sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or disability and give federal authorities greater leeway to participate in hate-crime investigations.
