Unable to pass stand-alone hate crimes legislation on its own merits, Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) is trying to ram hate crimes language through the Senate as an amendment (S.Amdt.2067) to a defense spending bill. This amendment could effectively hijack H.R. 1585, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008, which the President hoped to sign. Unfortunately, federal hate crimes legislation already exists. But we must not exacerbate the situation with more hate crimes legislation; it’s unnecessary, makes certain people unequal under the law, and paves the way for religious persecution.

Senator Kennedy’s proposed legislation, co-sponsored by Senator Gordon Smith (R-OR), purports to "strengthen the enforcement and prosecution of hate crimes based on race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, and disability" by "(addressing) gaping loopholes and excessive restrictions requiring proof (emphasis mine) victims were attacked because of engaging in ‘federally protected activities’ (such as sodomy-editor)."  Imagine a court of law "requiring proof" a person was attacked for a particular reason!

Senators Kennedy and Smith have introduced hate crimes legislation for many years. In a 1999 press release, Senator Kennedy stated such slayings as that of Matthew Shepard, apparently killed because he was homosexual, "made clear … the inadequacy of current law (that doesn’t give) federal authorities … jurisdiction to assist (emphasis mine) state and local authorities in investigating (such a) case."

In a 2004 press release, Senator Smith acknowledged, "The first duty of government is to protect and defend its citizens." Yet both Senators have failed in their duty to protect our nation’s borders. Senator Kennedy voted in 2006 against construction of the fence along the border with Mexico, and both he and Senator Smith failed to vote funding to build that fence. And both senators oppose drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). Drilling would probably affect less than .0001% (one hundredth of one percent) of the total acreage within the refuge, with negligible impact to native wildlife. More importantly, it would ultimately free the American people of our dependence on Middle East oil; that dependence is a very real threat to our national security.

Hate crimes legislation seeks increased criminal sentences according to what the perpetrator was supposedly thinking during, or prior to, a crime. Such a law would make killing a homosexual more heinous than killing a little old lady.

Senator Kennedy’s amendment says hate crime acts are "divisive;" so is a two-tiered justice system, making some people second-class victims. This special treatment curries favor with homosexuals, bisexuals and transsexuals, when we should value all human life as sacred under the law. Crime should be punished equally regardless of who the victim is.

Creating a special victims category at a time when FBI statistics clearly show there is no epidemic of hate crimes in the U.S. defies common sense. In 2005, for instance, out of 862,947 case of aggravated assault, 177 were reportedly committed because of the sexual orientation bias of the criminal – that’s 0.000205% of all such assaults in 2005. This clearly does not warrant special federal legislation and intervention.

Additionally, hate crimes legislation actually establishes federal "thought police." All crime is hateful. But combining this proposed legislation with existing "aiding and abetting" statutes could easily set up the situation where people are arrested for their spoken or written views, rather than their actions. Such a slippery slope would be very dangerous, and destructive of our other civil liberties, and should be of special concern to Americans of faith who view homosexuality as deviant and immoral.

Speaking to a provision supposedly exempting "free speech" from prosecution, Janet Folger, a WorldNetDaily columnist, writes "the idea of arresting people for stating their religious beliefs that homosexuality is wrong is no longer something that ‘may’ happen in the future." Ms. Folger lists disturbing examples of what hate crimes legislation has already done in the United States (http://worldnetdaily.com/news/
article.asp?ARTICLE _ID=56701).

The Human Rights Commission of the Canadian government is currently investigating a political website for the crime of "offending" (http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE
_ID=56826). Connie Wilkins and Mark Fournier run Canada’s Free Dominion website (www.freedominion.ca/). They post articles, comments and blogs on a wide range of conservative issues, such as their opposition to formation of a North American Union. Can’t you just wait to "harmonize" and "integrate" our laws with those of Canada … and Mexico?!!!

One stunning provision of Senator Kennedy’s amendment (http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/F?r110:1:./temp/
~r110SRT9fG:e0:) would amend existing law, making it illegal for "Whoever, whether or not acting under color of law (emphasis mine), willfully causes bodily injury to any person or, through the use of fire, a firearm, or an explosive or incendiary device, attempts to cause bodily injury to any person, because of the actual or perceived race, color, religion, or national origin of any person--  

``(A) shall be imprisoned not more than 10 years, fined in accordance with this title, or both; and

    ``(B) shall be imprisoned for any term of years or for life, fined in accordance with this title, or both, if--

    ``(i) death results from the offense; or

    ``(ii) the offense includes kidnapping (sic) or an attempt to kidnap, aggravated sexual abuse or an attempt to commit aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to kill.

    ``(B) CIRCUMSTANCES DESCRIBED- For purposes of subparagraph (A), the circumstances described in this subparagraph are that--

    ``(i) the conduct described in subparagraph (A) occurs during the course of, or as the result of, the travel of the defendant or the victim--

    ``(I) across a State line or national border; or

    ``(II) using a channel, facility, or instrumentality of interstate or foreign commerce;

    ``(ii) the defendant uses a channel, facility, or instrumentality of interstate or foreign commerce in connection with the conduct described in subparagraph (A);

    ``(iii) in connection with the conduct described in subparagraph (A), the defendant employs a firearm, explosive or incendiary device, or other weapon that has traveled in interstate or foreign commerce; or

    ``(iv) the conduct described in subparagraph (A)--

    ``(I) interferes with commercial or other economic activity in which the victim is engaged at the time of the conduct; or

    ``(II) otherwise affects interstate or foreign commerce."

 Now, I’m not a lawyer, and I don’t even play one on TV…but it appears this little provision would criminalize any effort by our Border Patrol agents to interdict illegal aliens, since said agents would target someone because of their "actual or perceived national origin" … which might result in "bodily injury…or an "attempt to kill" … while engaged in "conduct" involving the "travel" of the "victim" … "across a…national border" … and possibly "affects interstate or foreign commerce." It certainly appears Senator "Shamnesty" Kennedy is once again trying to pull a fast one, committing treason against the American people.

President Bush has promised to veto any "hate crimes legislation," but he wants this defense spending bill. The House has already passed similar legislation, so we must stop this bill in the Senate to ensure President Bush doesn’t have to make a compromised decision.

ACTION TO TAKE

Contact your Senators

• Tell them to oppose Senator Kennedy’s hate crimes amendment (S.Amdt. 2067) to the defense spending bill (H.R. 1585).
• Tell them offending someone must not be a federal crime.
• Tell them censorship is un-American and unconstitutional.
• Tell them not to play games with our troops.
• Tell them they must not further hamstring, handcuff or criminalize the necessary actions of our Border Patrol.

Phone calls and letters are the most effective way to contact your elected representatives.

E-mails and faxes are many times ignored. Members of Congress have been changing their e-mail addresses and fax numbers when we send out alerts. If you prefer, though, you can send an e-mail by going to each member’s website at http://thomas.gov.

If you are unsure who your Senators are, this link will tell you http://www.senate.gov/.

You may phone the United States Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121. A switchboard operator will connect you directly with the Senate office you request.

If you choose to write, and do not know your Senators’ mailing addresses, you may simply address your letters as follows:

Office of Senator (Name)
United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510

SEND THIS MESSAGE TO AT LEAST TEN MORE PEOPLE! APC is now offering you a quick and easy way to multiply your efforts and help win more battles! Simply click http://www.referralblast.com/rblast.asp?sid=5906 to send this APC
Action Alert to up to TEN of your friends! It’s fast, it’s easy and most of all, it’s extremely effective in KILLING OPPRESSIVE POLICIES!

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Good news on the Farm Bill, but don't stop pushing yet!

We have tentative good news about the Farm Bill. When the House Agriculture Committee began its meeting on Tuesday, the Chairman's Markup of the bill included section 11101, which would allow USDA to use mandatory animal ID to implement COOL. Representative Goodlatte offered an amendment that would have effectively gutted COOL, creating a major fight focused on that issue. Thursday night, the Committee agreed on an outline of the compromise COOL amendment. The specific language is still being drafted by the legislative staffers, and that language will be voted on by the Committee in the coming week.

The bullet points for the compromise COOL amendment state that the current prohibition on using mandatory animal ID would be retained. In other words, USDA wouldn't be able to use mandatory animal ID to implement COOL!

This is VERY good news. But until we see the actual language, we don't want to take the pressure off the legislators! Nothing is final until it is written down and voted on! If you haven't called your Representative, please go ahead and do so. To find who your Representative is, go to http://www.house.gov/writerep. And, as we've said before, call any member of the House Agriculture Committee is from your state. The members are listed below. The House version of the Farm Bill is NOT final yet, and we must keep pushing until it is!

MESSAGE: I am against the National Animal Identification System. I do not want any provision for NAIS or mandatory animal identification in the Farm Bill.

Remember that the Senate Agriculture Committee will be doing its own version of the Farm Bill very soon, so the fight is definitely not over. But as we keep fighting, we can be encouraged by the fact that the legislators are obviously hearing the message that the people are against NAIS!

For more information, go to wwww.libertyark.net or contact noah@libertyark.net CONTACT the House Agriculture Committee:

Members are listed in order of their states (alphabetically). Please contact any members who come from your state. If you want to use e-mail, then go to the Congressperson's website, which you can find at http://www.house.gov/

Terry Everett (AL), (p) 202-225-2901, (f) 202-225-8913

Michael Rogers (AL), (p) 202-225-3261, (f) 202-226-8485

Jo Bonner (AL), (p) 202-225-4931, (f) 202-225-0562

Joe Baca (CA), (p) 202-225-6161, (f) 202-225-8671

Dennis Cardoza (CA), (p) 202-225-6131, (f) 202-225-0819

Jim Costa (CA), (p) 202-225-3341, (f) 202-225-9308

Kevin McCarthy (CA), (p) 202-225-2915, (f) 202-225-2908

John T. Salazar (CO), (p) 202-225-4761, (f) 202-226-9669

Marilyn Musgrove (CO), (p) 202-225-4676, (f) 202-225-5870

Timothy Mahoney (FL), (p) 202-225-5792, (f) 202-225-3132

David Scott (GA), (p) 202-225-2939, (f) 202-225-4628

Jim Marshall (GA), (p) 202-225-6531, (f) 202-225-3013

John Barrow (GA), (p) 866-890-6236, (f) 202-225-3377

Leonard L. Boswell, (IA), (p) 202-225-3806, (f) 202-225-5608

Steve King (IA), (p) 202-225-4426, (f) 202-225-3193

Timothy Johnson (IL), (p) 202-225-2371, (f) 202-226-0791

Brad Ellsworth (IN), (p) 866-567-0227, (f) 202-225-3284

Joe Donnelly (IN), (p) 202-225-3915, (f) 202-225-6798

Nancy Boyda (KS), (p) 202-225-6601, (f) 202-225-7986

Jerry Moran (KS), (p) 202-225-2715, (f) 202-225-5124

Charles W. Boustany, Jr. (LA), (p) 202-225-2031, (f) 202-225-5724

Tim Walberg (MI), (p) 202-225-6276, (f) 202-225-6281

Collin Peterson (MN), (p) 202-225-2165, (f) 202-225-1593

Timothy J. Walz (MN), (p) 202-225-2472, (f) 202-225-3433

Sam Graves (MO), (p) 202-225-7041, (f) 202-225-8221

Earl Pomeroy, (ND), (p) 202-225-2611, (f) 202-226-0893

Mike McIntyre (NC), (p) 202-225-2731, (f) 202-225-5773

Bob Etheridge (NC), (p) 202-225-4531, (f) 202-225-5662

Robin Hayes, (NC), (p) 202-225-3715, (f) 202-225-4036

Virginia Foxx (NC), (p) 202-225-2071, (f) 202-225-2995

Jeff Fortenberry (NE), (p) 202-225-4806, (f) 202-225-5686

Adrian Smith (NE), (p) 202-225-6435, (f) 202-225-0207

Kirsten Gillibrand, (NY), (p) 202-225-5614, (f) 202-225-1168

John R. "Randy" Kuhl, Jr. (NY), (p) 202-225-3161, (f) 202-226-6599

Zachary T. Space (OH), (p) 202-225-6265, (f) 330-364-4330

Jean Schmidt (OH), (p) 202-225-3164, (f) 202-225-1992

Frank D. Lucas (OK), (p) 202-225-5565, (f) 202-225-8698

Tim Holden (PA), (p) 202-225-5546, (f) 202-226-0996

Stephanie Herseth Sandline,(SD), (p) 202-225-2801,
(f) 202-225-5823

Lincoln Davis, (TN), (p) 202-225-6831, (f) 202-226-5172

Henry Cuellar (TX), (p) 202-225-1640, (f) 202-225-1641

Mike Conaway (TX), (p) 202-225-3605, (f) 202-225-1783

Randy Neugebauer (TX), (p) 202-225-4005, (f) 202-225-9615

Nicholas Lampson (TX), (p) 202-225-5951, (f) 202-225-5241

Bob Goodlatte (VA), (p) 202-225-5431, (f) 202-225-9681

Steve Kagen (WI), (p) 202-225-5665, (f) 202-225-5729