[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 109 (Tuesday, July 31, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8480-S8481]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. KENNEDY (for himself, Mr. Specter, Mr. Jeffords, Mr. 
        Lieberman, Mr. Daschle, Mr. Akaka, Mr. Baucus, Mr. Bayh, Mr. 
        Biden, Mr. Bingaman, Mrs. Boxer, Ms. Cantwell, Mr. Carper, Mr. 
        Chafee, Mr. Cleland, Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Corzine, Mr. Dayton, Mr. 
        Dodd, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Edwards, Mr. Feingold, Mrs. Feinstein, 
        Mr. Harkin, Mr. Inouye, Mr. Kerry, Mr. Kohl, Ms. Landrieu, Mr. 
        Leahy, Mr. Levin, Ms. Mikulski, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Nelson of 
        Florida, Mr. Reed, Mr. Reid, Mr. Sarbanes, Mr. Schumer, Mr. 
        Smith of Oregon, Ms. Stabenow, Mr. Torricelli, Mr. Wellstone, 
        and Mr. Wyden):
  S. 1284. A bill to prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of 
sexual orientation; to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and 
Pensions.
  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, it's a privilege to introduce the 
Employment Non-Discrimination Act.
  Civil rights is the unfinished business of the Nation. The Civil 
Rights Act of 1964 has long prohibited job discrimination based on 
race, ethnic background, gender, or religion. It is long past time to 
prohibit such discrimination based on sexual orientation, and that is 
what the Employment Non-Discrimination Act will do.
  Its provisions are straight-forward and limited. It prohibits 
employers from discriminating against individuals because of their 
sexual orientation when making decisions about hiring, firing, 
promotion and compensation. It does not require employers to provide 
domestic partnership benefits, and it does not apply to the armed 
forces or to religious organizations. It also prohibits the use of 
quotas and preferential treatment.
  Too many hard-working Americans are being judged today on their 
sexual orientation, rather than their ability and qualifications. For 
example, after working at Red Lobster for several years and receiving 
excellent reviews, Kendall Hamilton applied for a promotion at the 
urging of the general manager who knew he was gay. The application was 
rejected after a co-worker disclosed Kendall's sexual orientation to 
the management team, and the promotion went instead to an employee of 
nine months whom Kendall had trained. Kendall was told that his sexual 
orientation ``was not compatible with Red Lobster's belief in family 
values,'' and that being gay had destroyed his chances of becoming a 
manager. Feeling he had no choice, Kendall left the company.
  Fireman Steve Morrison suffered similar discrimination. His co-
workers saw him on the local news protesting an anti-gay initiative, 
and incorrectly assumed he was gay. He soon lost workplace 
responsibilities and was the victim of harassment, including hate mail. 
After lengthy administrative proceedings, he was finally able to have 
the false charges removed from his record, but he was transferred to 
another station.
  The overwhelming majority of Americans oppose this kind of flagrant 
discrimination. Businesses of all sizes, labor unions, and a broad 
religious coalition all strongly support the Employment Non-
Discrimination Act. America will not achieve its promise of true 
justice and equal opportunity for all until we end all forms of 
discrimination.
  Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, I am delighted to join with Senators 
Kennedy, Specter, Jeffords and many other colleagues as an original 
cosponsor of this important legislation, the Employment Non-
Discrimination Act of 2001. By guaranteeing that American workers 
cannot lose their jobs simply because of their sexual orientation, this 
bill would extend the bedrock American values of fairness and equality 
to a group of our fellow citizens who too often have been denied the 
benefit of those most basic values.
  Two hundred and twenty-five years ago this month, Thomas Jefferson 
laid out a vision of America as dedicated to the simple idea that all 
of us are created equal, endowed by our Creator with the inalienable 
rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. As Jefferson 
knew, our society did not in his time live up to that ideal, but since 
his time, we have been trying to. In succeeding generations, we have 
worked ever harder to ensure that our society removes unjustified 
barriers to individual achievement and that we judge each other solely 
on our merits and not on characteristics that are irrelevant to the 
task at hand. We are still far from perfect, but we have made much 
progress, especially over the past few decades, guaranteeing equality 
and fairness to an increasing number of groups that traditionally have 
not had the benefits of those values and of those protections. To 
African- Americans, to women, to disabled Americans, to religious 
minorities and to others we have extended a legally enforceable 
guarantee that, with respect to their ability to earn a living at 
least, they will be treated on their merits and not on characteristics 
unrelated to their ability to do their jobs.
  It is time to extend that guarantee to gay men and lesbians, who too 
often have been denied the most basic of rights: the right to obtain 
and maintain a job. A collection of one national survey and twenty city 
and State surveys found that as many as 44 percent of gay, lesbian and 
bisexual workers faced job discrimination in the workplace at some time 
in their careers. Other studies have reported even greater 
discrimination, as much as 68 percent of gay men and lesbians reporting 
employment discrimination. The fear in which these workers live was 
clear from a survey of gay men and lesbians in Philadelphia. Over 
three-quarters told those conducting the survey that they sometimes or 
always hide their orientation at work out of fear of discrimination.
  The toll this discrimination takes extends far beyond its effect on 
the individuals who live without full employment opportunities. It also 
takes an unacceptable toll on America's definition of itself as a land 
of equality and opportunity, as a place where we judge each other on 
our merits, and as a country that teaches its children that anyone can 
succeed here as long as they are willing to do their job and work hard.
  This bill provides for equality and fairness, that and no more. It 
says only what we already have said for women, for people of color and 
for others: that you are entitled to have your ability to earn a living 
depend only on your ability to do the job and nothing else.
  This bill would bring our Nation one large step closer to realizing 
the vision that Thomas Jefferson so eloquently expressed 225 years ago 
when he wrote that all of us have a right to life, liberty and the 
pursuit of happiness. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting 
this important legislation.
  Mr. SMITH of Oregon. Mr. President, I rise today to give my support 
for the Employment Non Discrimination Act of 2001 or ENDA. I believe 
that every American should have the opportunity to work and should not 
be denied that opportunity for jobs they are qualified to fill. In both 
my private and public life I have hired without regard to sexual 
orientation and have found both areas to be enriched by this decision.
  ENDA would provide basic protection against job discrimination based 
on sexual orientation. Civil Rights progress over the years has slowly 
extended protection against discrimination in the workplace based on 
race, gender, national origin, age, religion and disability. It is time 
now to extend these protections to cover sexual orientation, the next 
logical step to achieve equality of opportunity in the workplace.
  As a Republican, I do not believe that this discrimination in the 
workplace can be categorized as a conservative/liberal issue. Barry 
Goldwater once wrote:

       I am proud that the Republican Party has always stood for 
     individual rights and liberties. The positive role of limited 
     government has always been the defense of these fundamental 
     principles. Our Party has led the way in the fight for 
     freedom and a free market economy, a society where 
     competition and the Constitution matter, and sexual 
     orientation should not . . .

  Indeed my Republican predecessor in this seat, Mark Hatfield was also 
a strong supporter of ENDA and viewed discrimination as a serious 
societal injustice, in both human and economic terms:

       As this Nation turns the corner toward the 21st century, 
     the global nature of our economy is becoming more and more 
     apparent. If

[[Page S8481]]

     we are to compete in this marketplace, we must break down the 
     barriers to hiring the most qualified and talented person for 
     the job. Prejudice is such a barrier. It is intolerable and 
     irrational for it to color decisions in the workplace.

  I believe that ENDA is a well thought-out approach to rectifying 
discrimination in the workplace. ENDA contains broad exemptions for 
religious organizations, the military and small businesses. It 
specifically rules out preferential treatment or ``quotas'' and does 
not affect our nation's armed services. I am confident that this bill 
will pass this Senate by a bipartisan majority.
  ENDA is a simple, narrowly-crafted solution to a significant omission 
in our civil rights law. I strongly believe that no one should be 
denied employment on the basis of sexual orientation or any other 
factor not related to ability to do a particular job. I look forward to 
working with my colleagues to pass ENDA and strengthen fundamental 
fairness in our society.
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