On the House Floor
This week, the House passed H.R. 1867, the National Science Foundation (NSF) Authorization Act, by a margin of 399 to 17. It authorizes appropriations to the NSF for FY2008 to FY2010 for research, education, and major research equipment and facilities construction. H.R.1582 passed 237 to 180, providing federal assistance to states, local jurisdictions, and Indian tribes to prosecute hate crimes. Also approved by a vote of 365 to 48 was H.R. 1429, the Improving Head Start Act, which reauthorizes and makes changes to the Head Start program.
Thought Crimes Bill
The so-called hate crimes legislation passed by the House this week is replete with constitutional and practical problems. First, the bill itself is unnecessary because the underlying offense of “willfully causing bodily injury” is already aggressively prosecuted in all 50 states. Therefore, anyone who assaults another, for whatever motivation, already faces legal sanctions. Second, the legislation creates two levels of justice. Inexplicably, a senseless act of violence will be punished less than if an assault involved a protected category of victim. As an example, the random Virginia Tech shootings would be punished less than if the killing purposely targeted a homosexual victim. Under the bill, criminals who kill Americans in a protected group or class will be punished more harshly than criminals who kill a police officer or any other random person. So much for “equal justice under the law.” Third, this actually legislates against “thought crimes” – criminalizing the thoughts that may have led to a crime against a protected class. Under these rules, religious teachers who speak their own personal convictions about morality issues could be prosecuted under hate crimes statutes. In opposing this bill, I voted to protect the right of Americans to think and speak freely.
All Mixed Up
Two days after Virginia Tech student Cho Shueng-hui slaughtered 32 students and faculty members before shooting himself, Sen. Barbara Boxer listed the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold a ban on partial birth abortions along with the Virginia Tech murders in describing what she called a hard and emotional week. She said, “I know this is a very hard and emotional week given everything that’s happened... the Virginia Tech tragedy ... and today a Supreme Court decision that I believe endangers women’s health.” Her juxtaposition of these two matters is profoundly mixed up thinking. On the one hand, everyone greatly laments the evil perpetrated by one individual in taking dozens of innocent lives. Whatever the mistakes they had made in their lives, the victims were just that – victims. They obviously did not merit such a fate. No one does. Yet, it is simply unfathomable for someone to lament in the same breath the Supreme Court’s protection of many thousands of completely pure, innocent children from the gruesome fate of being partially delivered from their mothers’ womb only to then be butchered. Fortunately, most Americans agree with the democratically-derived prohibition on partial birth abortion which the court upheld. While we mourn a tragedy inflicted on undeserving targets, we should at the same time celebrate a civilized nation’s stand to protect the most defenseless among us. The Supreme Court’s ruling should be viewed as an encouraging counterpoint to the saddening experience at Virginia Tech last month.
Quote of the Week
“Precipitous withdrawal from Iraq is not a plan to bring peace to the region or to make our people safer here at home. The mandated withdrawal in this bill could embolden our enemies -- and confirm their belief that America will not stand behind its commitments. It could lead to a safe haven in Iraq for terrorism that could be used to attack America and freedom-loving people around the world, and is likely to unleash chaos in Iraq that could spread across the region. Ultimately, a precipitous withdrawal could increase the probability that American troops would have to one day return to Iraq – to confront an even more dangerous enemy.”–President George W. Bush, in his message to Congress vetoing legislation with artificial timetables for U.S. withdrawal from Iraq, May 1, 2007.
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