Written by DCist Contributor Fredo Alvarez In a 60-39 cloture vote, the U.S. Senate barely passed the Matthew Shepard Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007 (S 1105) today as an amendment to the FY 2008 Defense Authorization Bill (HR 1585). The measure would expand protection against hate crimes to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community, and would enable the Federal government to provide assistance in the investigation or prosecution of…

And so it was — the U.S. Senate voted today 57-42 in favor of closing debate on legislation that would grant the District a voting seat in the House of Representatives, three short of what was needed to prevent a Republican-led filibuster. The measure, which passed the House in April, is now likely dead, and another attempt to correct a 200-year injustice has been thwarted. Of course, the legislation could be re-introduced, but it won’t…

As the Senate prepares to vote today over whether to close debate on legislation granting the District a voting seat in the House of Representatives, no one can safely say whether the votes will be there to head off a threatened filibuster. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) made his opposition to the bill painfully clear in a floor speech yesterday, and voting rights activists have been scrambling to gain enough Republican allies to reach…