22 Democrats who voted against The Matthew Shepard Act

The Stonewall Democrats have identified the following twenty-two Democratic Members of Congress voted to remove the Matthew Shepard Act from the Defense Authorization bill:

1. Robert Berry (AR-1)
2. Dan Boren (OK-2)
3. Bobby Bright (AL-2)
4. Travis Childers (MS-1)
5. Artur Davis (AL-7)
6. Lincoln Davis (TN-4)
7. Joe Donnelly (IN-2)
8. Chet Edwards (TX-17)
9. Brad Ellsworth (IN-8)
10. Bart Gordon (TN-6)
11. Parker Griffith (AL-5)
12. Frank Kratovil (MD-1)
13. Jim Marshall (GA-8)
14. Mike McIntyre (NC-7)
15. Scott Murphy (NY-20)*
16. Collin Peterson (MN-7)
17. Mike Ross (AR-4)
18. Bobby Scott (VA-3)*
19. Heath Shuler (NC-11)
20. John Tanner (TN-8)
21. Gene Taylor (MS-4)
22. Harry Teague (NM-2)

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1. Stonewall Democrats has been contacted by the office of Representative Scott Murphy, who wishes our members and supporters to know that he supports the expansion of hate crimes legislation based on sexual orientation and gender identity and is a co-sponsor of both the Employment Non-Discrimination Act and “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal legislation. His vote on this measure was strictly procedural.

2. Representative Bobby Scott, who is a co-sponsor of ENDA, “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal and DOMA repeal, released the following statement in explanation of his vote to strip the hate crimes bill from the Defense Authorization issued October 6, 2009:

Congressman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott, Chairman of Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security on the House Judiciary Committee, issued the following statement regarding his Yea vote on the Republican Motion to Instruct Conferees on H.R. 2647, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010:

“I am a supporter of the Hate Crimes Prevention Act. The House passed a version of the Act that I not only voted for, but spoke in favor of through committee and Floor proceedings. I also supported the similar version of the Hate Crimes Prevention Act that passed both the House and Senate last Congress, but was taken out of the military authorization bill during the Conference process.

“The version of the Hate Crimes Prevention Act that was the subject of the Motion to Instruct Conferees today is a version of the Hate Crimes Prevention Act passed by the Senate that I cannot support. Not only does that version contain a gratuitous death penalty, but also a superfluous mandatory minimum sentence, and what I believe to be unconstitutional infringements upon freedoms of expression and association.

More:
http://equalityacrossamerica.org/blog/?p=6042

That makes three serious objections I'd have to it. It certainly needs those two things removed before it becomes remotely palatable.

Maybe Harry Teague isn't as big an ass as I think he is.

but he's from the southern part of the state and probably the best those folks can do They're more like part of Dixie down there instead of NM. He replaced Pearce (R-dumbest man on the planet) so even with his bigotry and other prize conservative values, he's a step up for that part of the state.

Personally, I don't think the Matthew Shepard Act should have been part of the defense bill. I would really like to see it pass as part of crime legislation, preferably on its own merits. It certainly does merit passing.

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The worst Democrat is always better than the best Republican. We just need to try to weed the worst ones out where and when we can during the primaries.

was a long-term Republican incumbent and one of the absolutely worst members of Congress. I jumped up and down with joy when NC voters showed Chainsaw the door in November 2006

I don't think we'll do better in that district than Shuler, not anytime soon anyway

And the bill passed, didn't it?

I thought we'd weeded out all the Dixiecrats (morphed into the GOP) a long time ago. Guess not.