Contact: Joe Glover, 202-470-5095, extension 1

FOREST, Virginia, July 16 /Christian Newswire/ -- The leader of a national pro-family organization is accusing a U.S. Senator of jeopardizing the welfare of American soldiers in an underhanded attempt to have "sexual orientation" added to the list of federally-protected hate crimes categories.

Family Policy Network (FPN) President Joe Glover described Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy's decision to add a controversial hate crimes proposal to a military spending bill as "reckless" and "possibly treasonous" in an email to the group's supporters in all 50 states.

Kennedy's amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act is described by Glover as "a shockingly manipulative attempt to force the President to sign [hate crimes based on 'sexual orientation'] into federal law." He added, "It is a shameless attempt to push the homosexual agenda on the American people by exploiting American soldiers who are currently in harm's way around the world."

Glover concluded the message to his group's supporters by warning of the threat to religious free speech posed by the Kennedy hate crimes scheme. He wrote, "Ted Kennedy and his far-left allies will stop at nothing to stamp out the rights of Christians like you and me — even if he has to trample on U.S. soldiers to do it."