(Washington) Congress adjourned on the
weekend without taking up a number of LGBT bills including one that would
provide partner benefits for partners of federal workers, another that would
include gays in hate crime laws, and a third that would have extended the Ryan
White AIDS care act.
The only thing positive about the session was the
defeat of the so-called federal marriage amendment.
The Republicans in the House failed to muster
enough votes in July to advance the amendment that would ban same-sex marriage
despite a last minute push from President Bush. (story)
"When activist judges insist on redefining
the fundamental institution of marriage for their states or potentially for the
entire country, the only alternative left to make the people's voice heard is an
amendment of the Constitution," said a statement issued by the
Administration.
Nevertheless, the measure fell 47 votes short of
the two-thirds majority needed.
An attempt by Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Massachusetts)
to get legislation passed including gays and lesbians in federal hate crime laws
failed. (story)
Kennedy has been trying to get the measure passed
since 1999. This session he tacked it onto a national sex offender bill.
He was forced to pulled it after Republicans threatened to block passage of the
sex offender legislation and pin the blame on "liberal Democrats" and gay
activists.
Kennedy vowed to keep up the fight.
"Congress can't ignore the problem," he said. "They send the
poisonous message that some Americans deserve to be victimized solely because of
who they are."
The bill would have allowed the Department of
Justice to assist local authorities in investigating and prosecuting cases in
which violence occurs.
Extending hate crimes law to include members of
the LGBT community is endorsed by more than 175 law enforcement, civil rights,
civic and religious organizations, including: the National Sheriffs'
Association, International Association of Chiefs of Police, U.S. Conference of
Mayors, and the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association.
A bipartisan attempt to repeal "Don't Ask,
Don't Tell", the ban on gays serving openly in the military, also failed to
gain traction with the GOP leadership.
The Republican leadership refused to schedule the
bill, authored by Rep. Marty Meehan (D-Massachusetts), and blocked attempts to
move the legislation forward.
Meehan has promised to re-introduce the measure
in the next session. Currently the repeal bill has 118 co-sponsors.
Since the passage of DADT a decade ago more than
11,000 men and women have been dismissed under "Don’t Ask, Don’t
Tell" according to the Government Accountability Office. More than 800 of
those service members were trained in skills deemed ‘mission-critical’ by
the Pentagon.
The GAO also said that it has cost taxpayers more
than $200 million to recruit replacements for LGBT enlisted service members who
were discharged. (story)
A study conducted last year for the
Servicemembers Legal Defense Network concluded that the U.S. military could
attract as many as 41,000 new recruits if gays and lesbians in the military were
able to be open about their sexual orientation.
Last month legislation was introduced in the
Senate that would extend family benefits to the same-sex partners of gay and
lesbian federal workers. (story)
The measure was sponsored by Senators Joe
Lieberman (D-Connecticut) and Gordon Smith (R-Oregon). Among the
co-sponsors were Senators Hillary Clinton and Chuck Schumer of New York, Barbara
Boxer of California, and Ted Kennedy and John Kerry of Massachusetts.
The Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations
Act would provide benefits to federal employees' same-sex partners on the same
basis as spousal benefits - including participation in retirement programs,
compensation for work injuries and life and health insurance. In addition, the
bill would subject federal employees with domestic partners to the same
obligations as federally recognized married couples.
The Ryan White CARE Act was the victim of
infighting over money. The reauthorization of the AIDS care bill peeled money
away from the major cities to fund the fight against HIV in rural America.
The House passed legislation renewing the law
325-98 a week ago (story)
but in the Senate Democratic Sens. Charles Schumer and Hillary Rodham Clinton of
New York and Robert Menendez and Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey opposed blocked
the bill.
New York and New Jersey stand to lose more than
$70 million each under the revisions.
As members of Congress were packing up to return
to their home districts Capitol Hill was rocked by a sex scandal involving Rep.
Mark Foley (R - Florida). Foley submitted a letter of resignation from
Congress on Friday in the wake of questions about e-mails he sent to a former
male page. (story)
On the weekend the House leadership said it would
encourage a criminal investigation of Foley, but questions persisted over how
much the GOP leadership knew about the affair, and whether they had protected
him.
©365Gay.com 2006
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