WASHINGTON, Dec. 6 (UPI) -- The 2008 U.S. defense authorization bill could be voted on soon after a congressional panel pulled controversial language extending hate crimes law to gays.
House and Senate negotiators Thursday agreed to strip the language that would have extended federal hate crimes law to include violence against gays, The Hill reported. Republican members of the House Armed Services Committee said they would not sign the conference report if the provision remained.
"We are truly dismayed to find that Congress now will put aside its leadership on passage of federal hate crimes legislation that includes sexual orientation and gender identity," said Judy and Dennis Shepherd, founders of the Matthew Shepard Foundation in memory of their son who was murdered in an anti-gay hate crime in Wyoming.
President George Bush had threatened to veto the bill if it included the hate crimes language.
