Today in Washington D. C. - April 29, 2009

Update: House passes hate-crimes bill, 249-175 Added gender, sexual orientation and disability to the category of hate crimes. Christians may be facing future prosecution for opposing homosexual activities. Pedophilia (abuse of children by adults) added as a protected class. The bill goes to the Senate where it is expected to be passed. President Obama supports bill. Republican Study Committee Chairman Tom Price (R-GA) said: “This bill undermines our fundamental constitutional principle of equal justice under the law. Every American life deserves equal justice, regardless of race, gender, or sexual preference. Yet this legislation says violent crime against one person is more deserving of justice than a crime against another. Apparently Democrats agree with Orwell on this matter: all are equal, but some are more equal than others.”
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Senate will begin consideration of the conference report on the $3.5 trillion fiscal 2010 budget resolution, S. Con. Res. 13. A vote on adoption of the conference report is expected late this afternoon or this evening.

Yesterday, the Senate voted 65-31 to confirm Gov. Kathleen Sebelius as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. Also yesterday, the Senate passed S. 386, a bill to crack down on financial fraud.

The House will be voting today on the H.R. 1913, the so-called hate crimes bill.

Attorney General Eric Holder is in Germany today where he is attempting to get European leaders to agree to take some terrorist detainees from the Guantanamo Bay facility, according to the AP. Holder is also scheduled to give a speech in Berlin today about Guantanamo.

Americans remain skeptical of the administration’s hasty decision to close Guantanamo without a plan for what to do with the dangerous detainees housed there. This was confirmed by a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll (see question 20a), which shows that 50% of respondents disapproved of this decision.

Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell says Americans deserve answers; what exactly is to happen to these detainees when the deadline for closing the facility arrives next January. Other of questions remain about proposals to release terrorist-trained detainees into American neighborhoods. Sen. McConnell listed others:

• What is the legal basis for bringing these terrorist-trained detainees to the United States, given that Federal law specifically forbids the entry of anyone who endorses or espouses terrorism, has received terrorist training, or belongs to a terrorist group?
• Can the Administration guarantee the safety of the American people, particularly in the neighborhoods where these terror-trained detainees will live?
• What will their status be? Will they be allowed to stay here permanently? Will they be eligible for citizenship?
• Will they receive or be eligible to receive taxpayer funding?
• What threat do these men pose of returning to terrorist activities and what threat assessments have been conducted to evaluate whether these men will attack U.S. troops on the battlefield or Americans at Embassies abroad?

Sen. McConnell added today, “The American people don’t want trained terrorists released into their neighborhoods. They want answers. Unfortunately, the administration has only offered silence.”

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