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RECENT VOTES

National Defense Authorization for 2010

On Friday, October 9, the House considered the conference report on H.R. 2647: National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010. The House passed its version of the bill in June, though the Senate considered the legislation later this summer. The conference committee convened this week to work out the differences between the two bills, and I had the privilege of serving as a conferee. H.R. 2647 contains the authorization for a number of ongoing military and defense programs but does not actually provide funds for their operation. It includes military pay raises, new battle gear for the National Guard and reserves, and training programs for Afghan and Pakistani security forces. Both the House and Senate removed provisions authorizing acquisition of additional F-22 fighter jets that the Obama Administration and the Pentagon opposed in the bill as originally drafted.

One of my priorities as a conferee was to protect the addition of the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act as an amendment to the Senate version of the legislation. The House voted in favor of hate crimes prevention earlier this year, but the Senate had been unable to move that bill until now when Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) successfully offered it as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization. Republicans have, by and large, sought to strip this language from the bill in an effort that would have blocked this groundbreaking achievement that has been years in the making. I am proud that we were able to retain the Senate amendment and finally send GLBT-inclusive hate crimes legislation to the President for his signature.

I voted YES. The conference report on H.R. 2647 passed in the House and the entire vote is recorded below:

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