Senate takes up hate crimes bill covering gays

Steve Rothaus reports: Legislation to extend federal hate crimes protections to gays and the disabled reached the Senate floor Wednesday with the best prospects in years to become law.

The measure, which also makes it easier for federal prosecutors to get involved in hate crimes cases, passed the House in a similar version in April and enjoys solid support in the Senate. And for the first time since Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., first introduced the bill in 1997, pro-bill Democrats control both chambers of Congress and the White House.

President Barack Obama, unlike his predecessor, George W. Bush, backs the legislation. Attorney General Eric Holder has urged Congress to act so the government can prosecute cases of violence based on gender and sexual orientation.

"Hate crimes are a sad and tragic reality in America," Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said in urging approval of the measure.

Passage was not a certainty. The bill was offered as an amendment to a $680 billion bill approving defense programs, a move that Sen. John McCain of Arizona, top Republican on the Armed Services Committee, said was "highly inappropriate."

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has called for a vote, requiring 60 supporters, to move forward on the hate crimes measure. That vote could come as early as Thursday, but timing for a final vote on the amendment was uncertain.

Most Republicans oppose the legislation, saying it infringes on states' rights or could lead to the criminalization of religious expressions of opposition to homosexuality.

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