Rep. Lynn Jenkins, R-Kan.
The House and Senate have approved the $680 billion Defense Department policy bill by comfortable margins – but not without controversy.
A controversial bill that would add crimes motivated by sexual orientation to the list of hate crimes was inserted in the bill. While Rep. Dennis Moore sided with fellow Democrats, 2nd district Rep. Lynn Jenkins was the only Republican from Kansas to vote for the bill.
Jenkins released a statement that she did not support the hate crime legislation but ultimately decided to vote for the overall policy bill to provide proper funding for American soldiers.
Conservative Rep. Todd Tiahrt and Sen. Sam Brownback both voiced strong opposition to the hate crime provision. While Brownback said the provision could violate citizens’ Constitutional rights to free speech from the First Amendment., Tiahrt called it a radical left-wing ploy.
"I am very disappointed I had to vote against the Defense Authorization conference report today because of this cowardly move by far left Democrats to use this bill as a vehicle for their radical views,” Tiahrt said in a release.
The hate-crime provision, called the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, was championed by the late Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass. Shepard, a homosexual Wyoming student, and Byrd, a 49-year-old black man, were targets of hate crimes in 1998.
President Barack Obama is expected to sign the bill into law.
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