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IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 8, 2009
FOR MORE INFORMATION
CONTACT: Adam Buckalew
PRINTABLE VERSION
HARPER VOTES AGAINST HATE CRIMES PROVISIONS ATTACHED TO CONFERENCE REPORT ON NATIONAL DEFENSE
“This reckless language that would criminalize thought should be removed from a bill that is intended to benefit our men and women in uniform,” said Congressman Gregg Harper. “It is unfortunate that the Democratic leadership would jeopardize our national security interests by combining two completely unrelated bills in order to promote their liberal social agenda.”
The House of Representatives passed its version of the defense authorization bill on June 25th by a vote of 389 – 22, which Harper supported. While the legislation was being debated in the Senate, Democratic leaders added hate crimes provisions that would among other things eliminate the concept of equal justice by injecting race and sexual orientation into the criminal justice system. The conference committee retained the amended language in the conference report when it returned to the House for final consideration.
For the past several years, the Senate attached similar hate crimes provisions to the Defense Authorization Act because of its “must pass” status. In prior years, the language was stripped from the bill while in conference committee. This year, the hate crimes language survived conference due to large Democratic majorities in both houses and a President that is likely to sign the legislation with this language.
“Congress should separate these two issues and properly fund our national defense,” added Harper. “Our soldiers deserve better.”
Harper, a member of the House Committee on the Judiciary, opposed the hate crimes bill (H.R. 1913) in committee and voted no on a floor vote on April 29th, although the bill passed by a vote of 249 – 175.
NOTE: A vote against the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010 Conference Report is not a vote against national defense; it is a vote to return the bill to conference committee so the non-related hate crimes provisions can be removed from the legislation.
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A conservative man of faith and integrity, Congressman Gregg Harper took the Oath of Office in January 2009 to serve the citizens of Mississippi’s Third Congressional District. Prior to being sworn-in, his peers elected him as the freshman on the Republican Steering Committee in the House of Representatives. Gregg is the only Republican freshman appointed by Republican Leader John Boehner to the Committee on House Administration and also sits on the Committee on the Judiciary, the Committee on the Budget, the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct and the Joint Committee on the Library. Gregg currently resides in Pearl with his wife of 30 years, Sidney, and their two children, Livingston and Maggie, where the Harpers are active members of Crossgates Baptist church.
