This week, the Senate continued its on-again-off-again consideration of the FY2001 defense authorization bill (S. 2549). Senators have been wading through over 200 amendments pending on the bill.
In a victory for advocates of hate crimes prevention legislation, the Senate adopted two amendments dealing with the issue. One, offered by Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA), would expand the definition of federal hate crimes to include sexual orientation, disability, and gender. The language is based on the Hate Crimes Prevention Act (S. 622), also sponsored by Sen. Kennedy. The amendment was accepted, 57-42. Thirteen Republicans crossed party lines to vote in support of the amendment, while Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV) was the only Democrat to oppose the amendment. In a floor statement, Sen. Byrd stated his opposition was due to concerns about the amendment’s constitutionality.
Citing several well-publicized, egregious cases of hate-motivated violence, supporters of the Kennedy amendment argued that federal law should be expanded. “I understand that we cannot legislate racism and hatred out of existence, but we can empower our local law enforcement officials to prosecute hate crimes,” stated Sen. John Kerry (D-MA).
The other amendment, offered by Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), would require a study on whether states and localities were prosecuting hate crimes and would authorize $5 million for the Department of Justice to prosecute hate crimes. The language is similar to a bill (S. 1406) sponsored by Sen. Hatch. The amendment was adopted, 50-49.
While expressing his support for hate crimes legislation, Sen. Hatch disagreed with the approach of the Kennedy amendment, saying, “Supporters of the Kennedy amendment…argue that we should make a federal case out of every hate-motivated crime because some states and locales are unwilling to engage in the fight against hate crimes.” However, he added that the Justice Department had identified only eight cases in which states or localities were unwilling to investigate and prosecute hate-motivated crimes.
Since the House-passed bill (H.R. 4205) does not include language pertaining to hate crimes, supporters of the Senate language will have to work during conference to ensure its inclusion in the final measure.
Senators defeated an amendment that would have repealed the prohibition on privately funded abortions in military facilities overseas. Offered by Sens. Patty Murray (D-WA) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME), the amendment was narrowly defeated when the Senate voted, 50-49, to table the amendment. A similar amendment was defeated by the House during its consideration of the measure (see The Source, 5/19/00).
Arguing that the amendment was about fairness, Sen. Murray stated, “We ask these women to serve their country and defend our government, but we deny them basic rights that are afforded all women in this country.” Sen. Bob Smith (R-NH) responded, saying, “The ban is not intended to, and does not, block female military personnel from receiving an abortion….Any woman can fly on a military aircraft for $10 on a space-available basis to have an abortion somewhere else, unfortunately.”
Under current law, the Department of Defense (DoD) covers abortions in domestic and international facilities only in cases of rape, incest, or if the life of the pregnant woman is endangered. In 1996, the abortion restriction was written into permanent law, with an exception to save the life of the pregnant woman only. During last year’s reauthorization process, rape and incest were added to the list of exceptions, but were not codified. From 1973 to 1988 and from 1993 to 1995, DoD allowed privately funded abortions at overseas military hospitals, but that policy was negated with the passage of the FY1996 defense authorization bill, which codified the restriction.
As approved by the Senate Armed Services Committee, the bill also would make women-owned or controlled businesses eligible for assistance under DoD’s Mentor-Protégé Program.
During the week of June 5, the Senate tabled a motion to attach the House-passed patients’ bill of rights (H.R. 2990) to the defense authorization bill (see The Source, 6/9/00). Additionally, during the week of June 12, the Senate adopted an amendment dealing with military personnel and their eligibility for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (see The Source, 6/16/00).
