Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-Homophobistan), on the House floor earlier today:
UPDATED: The Matthew Shepherd Bill, Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act (H. R. 1913), was passed in the House of Representative this afternoon (despite the actions of people like Rep. Foxx) 249 to 175. If approved by the Senate, the bill will add sexual orientation, gender identity, gender and disability to the categories included in existing federal hate crimes law and would allow local governments who are unable or unwilling to address hate crimes to receive assistance from the federal government.
The Senate version of the bill is S.909, sponsored by Sen. Edward Kennedy. Rep. John Conyers sponsored the House bill.