Tina Smith: “For 11 years, I have been working on this piece of legislation. For 11 years, it has often been put on the Defense…”

“For 11 years, I have been working on this piece of legislation. For 11 years, it has often been put on the Defense authorization bill-- passed several times by the Senate. You might wonder why is it appropriate to put on the Defense authorization bill. Let me put a human face on it. This photo depicts a Navy seaman who was a gay man serving lawfully under ``don't ask, don't tell.'' Somehow it was discovered that he was a gay man. He was beaten to death so brutally that his mother was only able to recognize his body because of a tattoo that she was able to recognize. The U.S. military is not immune from hate crimes. It is utterly and entirely appropriate that this be on the Defense authorization bill--if not for this man's reason, for the fact that we are engaged in a war on terrorism, utilizing our U.S. military. They are fighting terrorism abroad. Surely we have the stuff in the Senate to fight terrorism at home and within the military. If you need a human face for why this is entirely appropriate, look at Allen Schindler, whose mother was only able to identify him because of a tattoo she knew he had.”