WASHINGTON, DC - Attacks on people based on their sexual orientation will join the list of federal hate crimes in an expansion of the law Congress approved Thursday and sent to President Barack Obama.

At the urging of Republicans, the bill was changed to assure that a religious leader or any other person cannot be prosecuted on the basis of his or her speech, beliefs, or association. But South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint worried that it would still "serve as a warning to people not to speak out too loudly about their religious views"...