Jul 20, 2007   | COMMENTS     

A vote in the U.S. Senate on a gay- and transgender-inclusive hate crimes bill was put on hold this week after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) abruptly withdrew a controversial defense authorization bill to which the hate crimes measure was to be considered as an amendment.

Reid pulled the defense bill from the Senate floor on Wednesday, minutes after Democrats were unable to break a Republican-led filibuster that blocked passage of a Democrat-supported amendment calling for removing U.S. combat troops from Iraq by next spring.

“The Senate obviously devoted all of its attention to the Iraq war,” said Brad Luna, spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign, the national gay advocacy group coordinating lobbying efforts for the hate crimes bill. “This had nothing to do with the hate crimes bill.”

But a spokesperson for Reid said it could be a “long time” before the Nevada senator brings the defense bill back to the floor for a vote, a development that could lead to an indefinite hold on the hate crimes bill and dozens of other amendments that senators were seeking to attach to the defense measure.

“He’ll consider bringing it back when Republicans are ready to stop obstructing our amendments,” said Rodell Mollineau, Reid’s press spokesperson.

Mollineau said Reid supports the hate crimes bill and is ready to work with the bill’s supporters to arrange for another legislative vehicle to which it could be attached if the stalemate over the defense authorization bill drags on. 

Republican and Democratic senators had planned to introduce as many as 60 amendments to the defense bill on a wide range of subjects, including the hate crimes amendment and efforts to change — or reaffirm — President Bush’s handling of the Iraq war.

Sens. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Gordon Smith (R-Ore.) filed the Matthew Shepard Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007 on the Senate floor on July 11 in the form of an amendment to the defense authorization measure. Gay and transgender activists were hoping the Senate would take a break from its heated debate on the war to vote on the Shepard hate crimes amendment late last week or early this week.

Supporters believe they have a filibuster-proof majority of more than 60 votes lined up for the hate crimes measure. The White House has said President Bush might veto a freestanding hate crimes bill, but supporters believe he would be much less likely to veto an important defense bill on which the hate crimes measure was attached.

The House passed an identical version of the hate crimes measure as a freestanding bill earlier this year.

The bill would give the federal government authority to prosecute hate crimes based on the victim’s sexual orientation, gender identity, gender and disability. Existing federal law covers victims based on race, religion and ethnicity.

Delays surrounding the hate crimes measure began last week, when Senate Democrats, led by Reid, decided to wage a high-stakes effort to push through an amendment to the defense bill that they said was aimed at ending U.S. combat involvement Iraq by early next year. Republicans responded by vowing to kill the amendment with a filibuster.

Reid called an all-night marathon session for the Senate on Tuesday, saying he wanted to force his Republican rivals to remain on the Senate floor to keep their filibuster going rather than agreeing to adjourn for the night and resume the filibuster in the morning. Reid conceded defeat shortly after 11 a.m. Wednesday, when the Senate failed, by a vote of 52 to 47, to end the filibuster through a motion known as cloture. Under Senate rules, 60 votes are needed to obtain cloture.

It was at that time that Reid announced to his bleary-eyed colleagues that he was pulling the defense bill from the Senate floor. He did not say when he would bring it back.

Mollineau said Reid and his Democratic allies would not likely bring the bill back for consideration until Republicans compromise over their hard line position on Iraq.

Luna said HRC and leaders of the coalition of civil rights groups supporting the hate crimes bill believe the Democratic leadership remains solidly behind the hate crimes bill and that the delay this week should not be considered a sign of wavering.

But Patrick Sammon, president of Log Cabin Republicans, a national gay group, accused Senate Democrats of holding the hate crimes bill “hostage” to what he called their doomed attempt to force President Bush to change his policies on the war.

“The bottom line is the Democrats don’t have the votes to pass their Iraq ...