Rep. John Conyers is soon expected to introduce hate-crimes legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The Michigan Democrat chairs the Judiciary Committee, the first stop for the legislation.
While other hate-crimes bills have been introduced this year, Conyers’ legislation is expected to be the primary one to be considered and voted on.
Conyers told House members last week that his bill will be identical to legislation passed by the House in 2005. The legislation creates a special class of people identified only by the undefined terms “sexual orientation” and “gender identity,” and offers protections on par with race, color, religion and national origin.
TAKE ACTION:
Members of the House Judiciary Committee need to hear from concerned Americans this week. A party-line committee vote is anticipated, with Democrats voting for the hate-crimes legislation and Republicans voting against. Look through the list below and see whether your representative is on the Judiciary Committee. Please make a special point to contact committee Democrats and ask that they oppose hate-crimes legislation. And thank Republicans for their opposition to the legislation and encourage them to vote against it again. You can contact your lawmakers through the CitizenLink Action Center. If you are a CitizenLink Daily Update subscriber, click on the blue "Take Action" button in the e-mail to be automatically logged in to our Action Center. Otherwise, click on this link.
House Judiciary Committee Members:
Chairman Rep. John Conyers Jr., D-Mich, 14th
Rep. Howard Berman, D-Calif., 28th
Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Va., 9th
Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., 8th
Rep. Robert Scott, D-Va., 3rd
Rep. Melvin Watt, D-N.C., 12th
Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., 16th
Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, 18th
Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., 35th
Rep. Martin Meehan, D-Mass., 5th
Rep. William Delahunt, D-Mass., 10th
Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Fla., 19th
Rep. Linda Sánchez, D-Calif., 39th
Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., 9th
Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., 4th
Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., 4th
Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif., 27th
Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y., 9th
Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., 29th
Rep. Artur Davis, D-Ala., 7th
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., 20th
Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., 5th
Ranking Member Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, 21st
Rep. James Sensenbrenner Jr., R-Wisc., 5th
Rep. Howard Coble, R-N.C., 6th
Rep. Elton Gallegly, R-Calif., 24th
Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., 6th
Rep. Steve Chabot, R-Ohio, 1st
Rep. Daniel Lungren, R-Calif., 3rd
Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah, 3rd
Rep. Ric Keller, R-Fla., 8th
Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., 49th
Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., 6th
Rep. Randy Forbes, R-Va., 4th
Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, 5th
Rep. Tom Feeney, R-Fla., 24th
Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., 2nd
Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, 1st
Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, 4th
(Paid for by Focus on the Family Action)
