[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 122 (Monday, September 9, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10064-S10065]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    EMPLOYMENT NONDISCRIMINATION ACT

  Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, tonight I rise to speak on the Employment 
Nondiscrimination Act and on the Defense of Marriage Act. The 
Employment Nondiscrimination Act, known as ENDA, is necessary, and I 
thank very much Senator Kennedy for being so tenacious to get it to the 
floor and Senator Lieberman for his help and Senator Jeffords. This is 
a bipartisan bill and it deserves broad bipartisan support.
  ENDA is necessary because gay men and lesbians face discrimination in 
hiring, promotions, and pay simply by virtue of their sexual 
orientation. Some

[[Page S10065]]

States do offer protection to all the people who are victims of 
employment discrimination. Unfortunately, 41 States do not. So it seems 
to me this is a bill we should be proud to support as Republicans and 
as Democrats.
  The reach of ENDA is modest. It exempts small business, religious 
institutions, and the military and explicitly prohibits the adoption of 
quotas. It places the burden of proof entirely on the person claiming 
to be the victim of discrimination.
  I think it is quite instructive to note that ENDA has been endorsed 
by such blue chip companies as Apple Computer, AT&T, Bankers Trust, 
Bethlehem Steel, Eastman Kodak, Genentech, Merrill Lynch, Microsoft, 
Nynex, Pacific Gas & Electric, Pacific Telesis, Polaroid, Prudential 
Insurance, Quaker Oats, RJR Nabisco, Silicon Graphics, and Xerox. Mr. 
President, among that list there are many, many endorsers from my home 
State. These excellent companies that understand fairness and justice 
in the workplace have endorsed ENDA. I hope it will pass.

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