Senate conferees have dropped their insistence on including a hate-crimes provision in the final fiscal 2008 Defense authorization bill, paving the way for the conference report to be signed Thursday.

The provision would have expanded race-based hate-crime laws to include crimes committed against people because of their gender, sexual orientation or disability.

The proposal was added as an amendment to the Senate version of the bill during floor action in September, overcoming a Republican filibuster with the minimum 60 votes needed. It had passed the House in May as a stand-alone bill. The White House threatened a veto of that bill at the time.

The defense authorization bill would authorize more than a half-trillion dollars in spending for the Defense and Energy departments during fiscal 2008, which began Oct. 1.

House leaders objected to including the hate-crimes provision in the conference report, after concluding that the language would leave the measure about 40 votes short of passage in their chamber.

Supporters of the provision said they were disappointed but acknowledged the votes simply weren’t there.

“I would like to have the hate crimes legislation passed,” said Ellen O. Tauscher , D-Calif., a member of the House Armed Services Committee. “But it’s vitally important that we have a national defense authorization bill.”

Andrea Lafferty, executive director of the conservative Traditional Values Coalition, which opposed the hate crimes language, said the decision was “a victory for our side” although she expects a free-standing hate crimes bill to appear in the Senate next year.