White House spokesman Tony Fratto yesterday said that President Bush plans to veto any bill to which the Matthew Shepard Act (MSA) is attached. Fratto: “The qualifications [in the bill] are so broad that virtually any crime involving a homosexual individual has potential to have hate crimes elements. The proposals they’re talking about are not sufficiently narrow.”
Last month Sen. Ted Kennedy attached the MSA to a Department of Defense appropriations bill which also contained a provision calling for the withdrawal of troops from Iraq. After a threatened Republican filibuster, the bill was withdrawn. Bush has never had a veto overridden.
The Christianist sites are already celebrating.