Jul 03, 2009  |  By: Chris Johnson  | COMMENTS     

U.S. Senate leaders intend to pass a hate crimes measure next month as an amendment to the defense authorization bill even as President Obama has threatened to veto the bill based on language in the House version, according to sources.

David Smith, HRC’s vice president of programs, said in a June 26 statement to the Blade that the Senate would probably pass the bill in this way.

“The [Department of Defense] authorization bill as well as other vehicles have been under consideration since House passage earlier this year,” he said. “Between now and the August recess, DOD appears to be the most likely candidate for hate crimes.”

A senior Senate Democratic aide confirmed that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid intended to pass hate crimes legislation as an amendment to the fiscal year 2010 defense authorization bill.

“We understand the House has concerns, but we have yet to find another vehicle that will work,” the aide said.

The Senate’s plan is identical to what happened in 2007, when the Senate attempted to pass hate crimes legislation by amending the fiscal year 2008 Defense Authorization Act. Anti-war lawmakers and conservatives banded together to remove the language from the legislation and the hate crimes provision didn’t become law.

Smith said a vote on the defense bill is tentatively scheduled in the Senate by mid July, but added that “as with any Senate scheduled bill, that could change.”

Upon hearing of the Senate’s plan, gay Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) said he’s “disappointed” the Senate settled on this method of passage. But he added “we could still be all right” because the House passed its version of the defense bill with a bigger margin than he expected.

Still, he expressed concern about how Obama has threatened to veto the House version of the defense bill because it contains funding beyond the administration’s request for F-22 fighter jets.

Frank said passing a hate crimes measure as an amendment to the defense bill would stand a better chance if the Senate didn’t follow suit and declined to provide additional funding for the jets.

A White House spokesperson declined to comment on the situation.

The Senate aide noted that Reid had pledged to pass hate crime legislation by August recess and said the defense bill is the only option as a vehicle before that time.

A standalone bill submitted to the Senate floor would be vulnerable to dangerous amendments, such as a measure that would ban same-sex marriage in D.C., the he said.

The aide said the Senate will “hopefully” approve the hate crimes measure, but added that “it’s going to be very, very close … as it has been in the past.”

Smith noted that passing the measure as an amendment to the defense bill has “advantages and disadvantages … as with any other vehicle.”

“Our job is to be clear about the objective, hold the Senate’s feet to the fire, and mobilize our community to help achieve passage,” he said.

Federal hate crimes legislation would enable the Justice Depart-ment to assist in the prosecution of hate crimes committed against LGBT people that result in death or serious injury.

Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) introduced a version of the bill earlier this year in the Senate. The House passed another version of the legislation on April 29, 249-175.

Sexual orientation-inclusive hate crimes bills have languished in Congress since they were first introduced in 1997.

In memory of Matthew Shepard, a gay college student who was murdered in 1998 near Laramie, Wyo., the Senate version of the legislation is known as the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act.