[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 88 (Thursday, June 27, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6262-S6263]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




SENATE RESOLUTION 294--TO AMEND RULE XLII OF THE STANDING RULES OF THE 
  SENATE TO PROHIBIT EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION IN THE SENATE BASED ON 
                           SEXUAL ORIENTATION

  Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself, Mr. Specter, Mr. Daschle, Mr. Dodd, Mr. 
Torricelli, Mr. Feingold, Mr. Dayton, Ms. Stabenow, Mr. Durbin, Mr. 
Jeffords, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Inouye, Ms. Cantwell, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Wyden, 
Mrs. Boxer, Mr. Reed, Mr. Akaka, Mr. Harkin, Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Reid, 
Mrs. Murray, Mr. Corzine, Mr. Bingaman, Ms. Mikulski, Mr. Bayh, Mr. 
Levin, Mr. Wellstone, Mr. Kerry, Ms. Collins, Mr. Lieberman, Ms. 
Landrieu, Mr. Edwards, Mr. Smith of Oregon, Mr. Biden, Mr. Schumer, Mr. 
Chafee, Mr. Sarbanes, Mr. Kohl, Mrs. Carnahan, Mr. Carper, Mr. Nelson 
of Florida, and Mr. Cleland) submitted the following resolution; which 
was referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration:

                              S. Res. 294

       Resolved,

     SECTION 1. AMENDMENT TO THE STANDING RULES OF THE SENATE.

       Paragraph 1 of rule XLII of the Standing Rules of the 
     Senate is amended by striking ``or state of physical 
     handicap'' and inserting ``state of physical handicap, or 
     sexual orientation''.

  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I rise today to submit a resolution to 
prohibit employment discrimination in the United States Senate based on 
sexual orientation.
  The resolution would amend the Standing Rules of the Senate by adding 
``sexual orientation'' to ``race, color, religion, sex, national 
origin, age, or state of physical handicap'' in the anti-discrimination 
provision of rule 42, which governs the Senate's employment practices.

[[Page S6263]]

  I am very pleased that 41 of my colleagues, Senators Specter, 
Daschle, Dodd, Torriceli, Feingold, Dayton, Stabenow, Durbin, Jeffords, 
Kennedy, Inouye, Cantwell, Leahy, Wyden, Boxer, Reed, Akaka, Harkin, 
Clinton, Reid, Murray, Corzine, Bingaman, Mikulski, Bayh, Levin, 
Wellstone, Kerry, Collins, Lieberman, Landrieu, Edwards, Smith of 
Oregon, Biden, Schumer, Chafee, Sarbanes, Kohl, Carnahan, Carper, and 
Nelson of Florida, have joined me in submitting this resolution today.
  By amending the current rule, it would forbid any Senate member, 
officer or employee from terminating, refusing to hire, or otherwise 
discriminating against an individual with respect to promotion, 
compensation, or any other privilege of employment, on the basis of 
that individual's sexual orientation.
  Senate employees currently have no recourse available to them should 
they become a victim of this type of employment discrimination.
  If the rules are amended, any Senate employee that encountered 
discrimination based on their sexual orientation would have the option 
of reporting it to the Senate Ethics Committee. The Ethics Committee 
could then investigate the claim and recommend discipline for any 
Senate member, officer or employee found to have violated the rule.
  Unfortuantely, the Senate is already well behind other establishments 
of the U.S. Government in this area of anti-discrimination.
  By 1996, at least 13 cabinet level agencies, including the 
Departments of Justice, Agriculture, Transportation, Health and Human 
Services, Interior, Housing and Urban Development, Labor, and Energy, 
in addition to the General Accounting Office, General Services 
Administration, Internal Revenue Service, the Federal Reserve System, 
Office of Personnel Management, and the White House had already issued 
policy statements forbidding sexual orientation discrimination.
  In 1998, Executive Order 13087 was issued to prohibit sexual 
orientation discrimination in the Federal executive branch, including 
civilian employees of the military departments and sundry other 
governmental entities.
  That Executive order now covers approximately 2 million Federal 
civilian workers, yet, four years later, there are still employees of 
the United States Senate that are unprotected.
  In taking this step toward addressing discrimination, the Senate 
would join not only the Executive Branch, but also 294 Fortune 500 
companies, 23 State governments and 252 local governments that have 
already prohibited workplace discrimination based on sexual 
orientation.
  Currently, at least 68 Senators have already adopted written policies 
for their congressional offices indicating that sexual orientation is 
not a factor in their employment decisions.
  Now, I urge my colleagues to join me by making this policy universal 
for the Senate, rather than relying on a patchwork of protection that 
only covers some of the Senate's employees.

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