WASHINGTON - January 15, 2009 - A federal "hate crimes" bill that officially is to enhance punishments for "violence motivated by bias that is a relic of slavery" but is feared by Christians as a potential bludgeon against basic biblical teachings has been returned to the congressional agenda by Democratic Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee of Texas.

The proposal had been stymied during the Bush regime by the president's threat of a veto but President-elect Barack Obama's own website has promised an expansion of federal "hate crimes" laws.

The bill, the "David Ray Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009," has been pending in Congress in one form or another since at least 2007, but never was advanced into law because of stated opposition from President Bush, who found it unneeded and probably unconstitutional.

However, the plan by Jackson-Lee, who has advocated for special protections for those with issues involving "gender identity," already has been referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary for the 2009 Congress.

On her website, Jackson-Lee states "hate crimes" are so much worse than ordinary crimes because of their impact.

"A random act of violence resulting in injury or even death is a tragic event that devastates the lives of the victim and their family, but the intentional selection and beating or murder of an individual because of who they are terrorizes an entire community and sometimes the nation," she warns.

Many states already have "hate crimes" legislation. A couple running a photography studio in New Mexico has faced thousands of dollars in fines for their decision not to provide photography services to a pair of lesbians because of the Christian beliefs of the studio owners. In Pennsylvania, a 75-year-old grandmother was threatened with prison for advocating a biblical perspective of homosexuality.