Speaker Pelosi meets with LGBT community leaders in San Francisco.

On Thursday, Oct. 8, the House passed H.R. 2647, the Department of Defense Authorization Act conference report, which included the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, by a vote of 281 to 146.

Ending discrimination against gays and lesbians has been a top priority for me throughout my 22 years in Congress. Congress has been debating federal hate crimes legislation for more than a decade, and we have fought long and hard against the forces of hate and discrimination. The time for debate is finally over, and we will soon send this federal hate crimes legislation to President Obama’s desk to become the law of the land.

This legislation will help protect Americans against violence based on sexual orientation, race, religion, gender, national origin, disability, or gender identity by extending the federal hate crimes statute. This legislation also gives state and local law enforcement the tools they need to prevent and prosecute hate crimes nationwide, helping protect Americans against bias-motivated violence and securing our fundamental right to feel safe in our communities.

This nation was founded on the promise of pluralism; a commitment to equality and opportunity; and the belief that ‘liberty and justice for all’ is not simply an empty pledge – it rests at the core of our identity as a people. No American should ever have to suffer persecution or violence because of who they are, how they look, or what they believe.

We are standing with the families of Matthew Shepard, James Byrd Jr., and countless other victims of hate crimes. Their voices are our inspiration. Their cries for justice are our motive for action. I applaud my colleagues on both sides of the aisle who supported this measure and stated in a clear voice that the forces of hate have no place in the United States of America.

New San Francisco Office
My San Francisco Congressional Office has moved. We are now located in the new Federal Building at 90 7th Street, Suite 2-800, San Francisco, California 94103. The phone number will remain the same, 415-556-4862.

Please feel free to forward this information to your family and friends. To learn more about these efforts, to express your views, or to sign up for email updates, please visit my Web site.

Sincerely,

Member of Congress

Sprry

Cathy

I think the “increasing number” are the people who tune in to see the dumb stuff people on Fox say. They watch for the comedy of it, not for news or opinions. It’s not news, it’s crazy spinned stuff and is so unbelievable that it is funny.

Go White House! You are part of this country and have freedom of speech just like the rest of us. If Fox doesn’t like, oh well. They will whine about it just like they do everything else. Is Glenn Beck going to cry over the White House calling out the lies? Tune in to Fox to find out!

At first we only knew about two other inhabited planets. One we could visit one we could not. Now we know about 14 others. There are 31 planets and 17 are inhabited. The aliens have given us the ability to travel to all of them.

At first it was exciting. Now, we hate it. Some of the beings are so hideous that I had nightmare for years after only seeing one of them for a few minutes.

Roy