Tucked within a large spending bill is a measure to expand federal civil rights law to cover homosexuals, but Congressional Republicans want the measure out while Democrats say they'll fight to keep it in.
Senate Democrats added the measure in July to a spending bill which covers the departments of Justice, Commerce, and State, while the House version of the bill does not include the measure. And Senate Republicans are now angling to take it out of the Senate bill.
Opponents of the measure say it discriminates by creating special classes of victims, usurps states' rights, and would even have a "chilling effect" on free speech, the Associated Press says.
The measure would add acts of hatred motivated by sexual orientation, gender and disability to the list of hate crimes already covered by federal law - acts sparked by prejudice based on race, religion, color or national origin, says the AP. It would raise penalties and let federal prosecutors step in if local authorities don't prosecute.
Massachussetts Senator Edward M. Kennedy calls hate crimes "modern-day lynchings." President Clinton wants the full bill passed with the measure.
"It's been a year since the murder of Matthew Shepard and two years since I first proposed to strengthen the nation's hate crime law," Clinton said Wednesday. "The nation cannot afford to wait."
