HAVE A 'HATE BILL' MEETING WITH YOUR SENATOR!
By Rev. Ted Pike
30 Jul 07
Sens. Kennedy and Smith had good reason for trying to attach
the hate bill to the military re-appropriations bill several weeks
ago: they have the votes to pass it.
A
vote on the hate crimes amendment is now postponed until September.
That delay can help defeat the bill -- only if concerned Americans
work hard during the summer recess of Congress. We must guarantee
overwhelming protest when Congress reconvenes on September 4.
Otherwise,
this delay will actually help the hate bill to pass! With the American
military anxiously in need of funding, President Bush will face intense
pressure in September to sign the arms bill. The President has indicated
he would veto the hate bill. Yet if the Senate attaches it
to the arms bill and won't back down, Bush may feel forced to pass
the arms bill and the hate bill together.
If
the hate crimes bill becomes law, America will become a virtual police
state, with united federal and local police powers. Anyone (including
pastors, publishers, talk show hosts, etc.) whose words might be
construed by the government as encouraging acts of physical threat
or intimidation against homosexuals will become a federal hate criminal.
(Title 18, U.S.C., Sec. 2) Indictments against those who criticize
the homosexual lifestyle will eventually be handed down all over
the country, repeating the shocking travesty of justice in Philadelphia
in 2004. (See, Philadelphia
pursues "Hate Crimes" Charges Against Christians) Liberal
judges will define hate crimes law with rulings against "verbal
violence," meaning Biblically oriented criticism of homosexuality.
If
indicted, there will be nothing you, your church, your broadcasting
or publishing ministry can do except hire the best lawyers you can
afford and expect bankruptcy in the years of litigation ahead.
Another Month to Stop the Hate Bill
Or
you can take action right now! If enough protest is generated, there
is a real chance this nightmare may be postponed.
Since
the House of Representatives has already passed the federal hate
bill overwhelmingly, we must defeat it in the Senate. Every U.S.
Senator will return home around August 6th. Senators may possibly,
sometime before August 31, meet with a delegation of their constituents
who request it. Make an appointment NOW to meet your Senator. The
pro-hate bills forces will take this window of opportunity to meet
their Senators and pressure them to vote for the hate bill. The Christian/conservative
community must do the same, urging a "no" vote. Delegations
of pastors and patriotic activists should prepare now.
To
prepare for your meeting, inform your church or organization of the
extreme danger the federal hate bill poses to Christianity and free
speech. Announce that a delegation will meet with your Senator to
express your views. Include as many church members and concerned
citizens as possible.
Hold a special meeting to educate your group concerning the dangers
of hate laws. Study copies of my flyer Anti-Hate
Laws Will Make You a Criminal. For further study, print
Harmony Grant's article Top
11 Reasons You Should Fight Hate Laws.
Watch
my 80-minute video Hate Laws: Making Criminals
of Christians, free,
at video.google.com. (Available
on DVD or VHS for $24.90 postpaid. Call 503-853-3688). Family Research
Council also has a 40-minute hate laws video, Censoring
the Church and Silencing Christians, at a cost of $20.
What to Say to Your Senator
When
meeting with your Senator it is important that you first refer to
the President's opposition; use his arguments against the hate bill. Study
his reasons for rejecting it. 1 Pres. Bush makes it clear that
existing law adequately deals with all kinds of crimes of violence
and there is no need for massive federal jurisdiction and intervention
on the local level. In addition, arguments from my flyer Anti-Hate
Laws Will Make You a Criminal are clear and hard-hitting.
Should
you meet with a Senator who is a die-hard liberal hate bill supporter? Yes!
Inform your Senator that a new electorate is on the move in America
- voters who already smashed four major left-wing bills in Congress
this year and intend to make this hate bill the fifth. While most
liberal Senators will continue to vote the Democratic Party line,
there is a very good chance that if Senators are heavily pressured
on their home turf in all 50 states perhaps three or four may decide
to vote the will of the people. That would probably spell the end
of the hate bill in the Senate and provide another year and a half
of free speech in America!
Endnotes:
1
* * * * *
EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT
AND BUDGET
WASHINGTON , D.C. 20503
May 3, 2007 (House)
STATEMENT OF ADMINISTRATION POLICY
H.R. 1592 – Local Law
Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007
(Rep. Conyers (D) Michigan and 171 cosponsors)
The Administration favors strong criminal penalties for violent
crime, including crime based on personal characteristics, such as
race, color, religion, or national origin. However, the Administration
believes that H.R. 1592 is unnecessary and constitutionally questionable.
If H.R. 1592 were presented to the President, his senior advisors
would recommend that he veto the bill.
State and local criminal laws already provide criminal penalties
for the violence addressed by the new Federal crime defined in section
7 of H.R. 1592, and many of these laws carry stricter penalties (including
mandatory minimums and the death penalty) than the proposed language
in H.R. 1592. State and local law enforcement agencies and courts
have the capability to enforce those penalties and are doing so effectively.
There has been no persuasive demonstration of any need to federalize
such a potentially large range of violent crime enforcement, and
doing so is inconsistent with the proper allocation of criminal enforcement
responsibilities between the different levels of government. In addition,
almost every State in the country can actively prosecute hate crimes
under the State’s own hate crimes law.
H.R. 1592 prohibits willfully causing or attempting to cause bodily
injury to any person based upon the victim’s race, color, religion,
or national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity,
or disability. The Administration notes that the bill would leave
other classes (such as the elderly, members of the military, police
officers, and victims of prior crimes) without similar special status.
The Administration believes that all violent crimes are unacceptable,
regardless of the victims, and should be punished firmly.
Moreover, the bill’s proposed section 249(a)(1) of title
18 of the U.S. Code raises constitutional concerns. Federalization
of criminal law concerning the violence prohibited by the bill would
be constitutional only if done in the implementation of a power granted
to the Federal government, such as the power to protect Federal personnel,
to regulate interstate commerce, or to enforce equal protection of
the laws. Section 249(a)(1) is not by its terms limited to the exercise
of such a power, and it is not at all clear that sufficient factual
or legal grounds exist to uphold this provision of H.R. 1592.
* * * * *
Located at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/legislative/sap/110-1/hr1592sap-h.pdf
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