This week with Congressman James Clyburn

The House Majority Whip has been doing a lot of talking head TV this week, what with health care and all. He put up three releases this past week: one on the Democrats' health care plan (House version); one on efforts to close the "donut hole" in the Medicare prescription drug benefit; and one on the passage of the defense authorization bill that included expansion of hate crimes legislation. Gotta give the man credit: he came up with a novel way to explain embedding one bill in the other made perfect sense (and bonus points for a local twist):

This legislation also extends provisions to protect American's against hate crimes based on gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability, which is the first major advance for the civil rights of the LGBT community at the federal level in our nation's history.

"It is appropriate that these two measures are joined together and enacted into law today. Not only do they both see to the safety and well-being of Americans at home and abroad, but the Armed Forces have historically been on the leading edge of civil rights in this country. It was after the decorated African American Army Sergeant, Isaac Woodward Jr was abused and blinded by a police officer while traveling in uniform in South Carolina, that President Harry Truman ordered the integration of our Armed Forces in 1948. I applaud today's enactment of both these measures.

"This bill reflects Congress' staunch commitment to a strong national defense and providing the men and women who keep us safe with the resources necessary to support their mission. Under this legislation members of our Armed Services and their families will benefit from pay increases, funding for state-of-the-art equipment and weapons and initiatives to help families cope with the burden of multiple deployments. It will also redouble our efforts against Al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups in Afghanistan and Pakistan and provide for the responsible redeployment of our troops out of Iraq.

"What's more, this measure will help keep many Americans here at home safe by strengthening federal hate crime provisions and extending those protections to Americans regardless of gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability. It provides state and local law enforcement agencies the resources necessary to prevent and prosecute hate crimes. The Attorney General will also be empowered to make grants to state and local law enforcement agencies that are facing extraordinary expenses stemming from hate crimes investigations and prosecutions."