Barney Frank: “I note with dismay but unfortunately not with surprise that the hate crimes bill which got a majority vote in both…”

“I note with dismay but unfortunately not with surprise that the hate crimes bill which got a majority vote in both houses is absent from this bill. Let me say we have seen this scenario before, Mr. Speaker. A majority vote, according to the rules, for a certain result and the people in power blatantly ignore the wishes of the majority. Now, that describes two recent situations: the Serbian presidential election and the conference committee on the defense bill. In the case of the Serbian election, when the Milosevic regime refused to pay attention to majority rule, the people found a way to remedy it. Here, a majority in both houses voted, a significant majority, for the hate crimes bill. Yet the people in power, emulating Milosevic, have decided to repudiate the results of the election. I hope a similar result will ensue.”