House
to Vote on Hate Crimes bill this Wednesday!
Eagle Forum ^ | April 27,2009
H.R 1913 is a dangerous and unprecedented proposal which will
transform the criminal justice system and threaten religious liberty.
H.R. 1913 violates the First Amendment by infringing upon the
constitutional guarantees of religious expression and freedom of speech.
H.R. 1913 violates the Fourteenth Amendment by deliberately
compromising the principle of equal protection under the law for all Americans.
H.R. 1913 seeks to silence and punish all opposing viewpoints.
H.R. 1913 targets those who hold traditional beliefs on
homosexuality.
H.R. 1913 grants more government protection to certain classes of
people, particularly homosexuals.
Tell Congress to uphold equal protection for all
Americans by voting NO on H.R. 1913! April 27, 2009
The liberal
House Leadership has scheduled a floor vote on H.R. 1913, the Local Law
Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009, for this Wednesday, April 29th.
Sponsored by Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), H.R. 1913 will make a hate crime -- a
crime in which the victim is intentionally selected based on his or her race,
religion, ethnicity, gender, etc. -- a federal offense.
The bill
seeks to accomplish this by mandating federal criminal prosecution for state
offenses, with the possibility of life imprisonment, for crimes motivated by
the "actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, gender,
sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability of any person." H.R.
1913 will also establish homosexual and transgender persons as a protected
class of victims by adding the words "sexual orientation" and
"gender identity" to Title 18 of the
Make no
mistake, H.R 1913 is a dangerous and unprecedented proposal which will
transform the criminal justice system and threaten religious liberty by:
* Violating
the First Amendment by infringing upon the constitutional guarantees of
religious expression and freedom of speech. * Violating the Fourteenth
Amendment by deliberately compromising the principle of equal protection under
the law for all Americans. * Aiming to silence and punish all opposing
viewpoints. * Targeting those who hold traditional beliefs on homosexuality. *
Granting more government protection to certain classes of people, particularly
homosexuals.
A typical tactic of the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender) groups is to distort and
exaggerate FBI statistics to their benefit. In 2007, there were 1,521 victims
of "sexual orientation" bias, however, 335
of these were incidents of "intimidation," also known as shouting or name-calling.
448 of these crimes were "simple assault," defined as pushing or
shoving without physical injury, with 242 of the crimes being aggravated
assault, defined as bodily harm. So, in a nation with 300 million people, there
were only 242 "violent" crimes committed against homosexuals,
bisexuals, or drag queens in 2007.
In fact, in analyzing FBI statistics even further,
it is clear that violence as a result of anti-religious bias and racial bias
occurs more frequently than sexual orientation bias. Compared to the 1,521 bias
crimes against LGBT individuals, 4,956 racial incidents occurred in 2007 -- 908
were anti-white; 3,424 were anti-African American; and the rest were bias
crimes against other races. Out of 1,628 anti-religious crimes, 1,127 were against
Jewish people; 142 against Muslims; 70 against Catholics; 67 against
Protestants; and the rest against other religions.
Not only is H.R. 1913 unconstitutional, it is also
unnecessary. The underlying offense, whether it is murder, assault, or any other
crime, is already fully and aggressively prosecuted in all 50 states. We do not
need a new law; rather, we need strict enforcement of existing laws. All
violent crimes are hate crimes and all violent criminals should be severely
punished. Elevating particular groups of victims above others and awarding them
a special status is not the answer to decreasing crime in
TAKE ACTION! The House will vote on this bill on
Wednesday, April 29th. Please begin calling, emailing, and faxing your
Representatives and tell them you expect them to oppose H.R. 1913!
Addendum: Please keep in mind that an identical
bill was passed back in 2007 under the Democrat Majority by a vote of 237 to
180 (House Roll Call 299). Also, last week, H.R. 1913 was reported out of the
House Judiciary Committee by a vote of 15 to 12. Republican Members of the
committee offered amendments to provide equal protections for other groups,
such as veterans, the unborn, and Americans who are frequently victims of
violence perpetrated by illegal aliens; however, these amendments were either
denied debate or voted down.
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