Obama signs defense bill with anti-hate crime amendment
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President Obama today signed a $680-billion defense bill that includes an anti-hate crime amendment that adds violence based on gender or sexual orientation to the list of offenses.
During a ceremony televised from the White House East Room, Obama said the defense appropriation bill was proof that waste could be cut from federal spending despite efforts from lobbyists and special interests pushing unneeded weapons systems.
“This bill isn’t perfect,” Obama cautioned. “There is more waste we need to cut.’
Among the projects eliminated is the F-22 fighter jet, which opponents had argued was ill-suited to modern warfare such as that the U.S. faces in Iraq and Afghanistan. Obama also noted that plans for a new presidential helicopter would be dropped.
By signing the bill, Obama also approved an anti-hate crime amendment named for James Byrd Jr. and Matthew Shepard, legislation that has languished for more than decade.
Byrd, a black man, was brutally slain by white supremacists in Texas in 1998. That same year, Shepard was tortured and killed in Wyoming because he was gay.
-- Michael Muskal
