Hate Crimes Bill On To President For Signature

The Bill approved by the Senate by a 68-29 vote was a victory for civil rights groups that have been fighting for years to expand the federal hate-crimes law beyond attacks motivated by bias based on religion, race, national origin or color.

President Obama is expected to sign the bill that includes penalties for assaults based on a victim's sexual orientation, gender, disability or gender identity. Former President George W. Bush had threatened to veto a similar measure.

More than 77,000 hate-crime incidents were reported by the FBI over the past decade. That amounts to nearly one hate crime every hour for the 10-year time period.

Attorney General Eric Holder praised the bill's passage calling it a milestone. "There have been nearly 80,000 hate crime incidents reported to the FBI since I first testified before Congress in support of a hate crimes bill 11 years ago," Holder said. He said recent incidents such as the shooting in June of an African-American security guard at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum by a white supremacist "demonstrate that there are still those for whom prejudice can translate into violence."

The bill is named for Matthew Sheppard, a gay Wyoming teenager who died after being kidnapped and severely beaten in October 1998 and James Byrd, Jr., an African-American man dragged to death in Texas also in 1998.

The legislation also would give federal authorities more power to help state and local law enforcement officials investigate hate crimes.

The bill was attached to a $680 billion measure outlining the Pentagon's budget. Some of the 28 Senate Republicans who voted against the bill said they didn't like being forced to vote on the issue in relation to a Defense Department bill. The Defense bill includes $130 billion for ongoing operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and authorizes a 3.4 percent pay raise for the military.

"It has been more than 10 years since the senseless and brutal death of Matthew Shepard," said Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), "and I look forward to watching President Obama sign this much-needed legislation into law."

Written by Jesse Slome
Los Angeles, CA
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