[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 138 (Thursday, October 2, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S12382-S12383]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. KENNEDY (for himself, Mr. Jeffords, Mr. Chafee, Mr. 
        Lieberman, Mr. Akaka, Mr. Baucus, Mr. Bayh, Mr. Biden, Mr. 
        Bingaman, Mrs. Boxer, Mr. Breaux, Ms. Cantwell, Mr. Carper, 
        Mrs. Clinton, Ms. Collins, Mr. Corzine, Mr. Daschle, Mr. 
        Dayton, Mr. Dodd, Mr. Dorgan, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Edwards, Mr. 
        Feingold, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. Graham of Florida, Mr. Harkin, 
        Mr. Inouye, Mr. Kerry, Mr. Kohl, Ms. Landrieu, Mr. Lautenberg, 
        Mr. Leahy, Mr. Levin, Ms. Mikulski, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Nelson of 
        Florida, Mr. Reed, Mr. Reid, Mr. Sarbanes, Mr. Schumer, Mr. 
        Smith, Mr. Specter, Ms. Stabenow, and Mr. Wyden):
  S. 1705. 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 join my colleagues in 
introducing the Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 2003.
  Civil rights is the unfinished business of our nation. Title VII of 
the Civil Rights Act of 1964 gives all Americans--without regard to 
race, ethnic background, gender, or religion--the opportunity to obtain 
and keep a job. The Employment Non-Discrimination Act is an essential 
additional step in preventing job discrimination.
  The act is straightforward and limited. It prohibits discrimination 
based on sexual orientation in making decisions about hiring, firing, 
promotion, and compensation. It makes clear that there is no right to 
preferential treatment, and that quotas are prohibited. It does not 
apply to employers with less than 15 employees. It does not apply to 
the armed forces, religious organizations, or such volunteer positions 
as troop leaders in the Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts.
  In fact, this fundamental additional protection for America's 
workforce is long overdue. Too many hardworking Americans are being 
judged on their sexual orientation, rather than their ability and 
qualifications.
  Consider the example of Kendall Hamilton in Oklahoma City. After 
working at Red Lobster for several years and receiving excellent 
reviews, he applied for promotion at the urging of the general manager, 
who knew he was gay. His application was rejected after a co-worker 
revealed his sexual orientation to the upper management team, and the 
promotion was given instead to another employee who had been on the job 
for only 9 months--and whom Mr. Hamilton had trained. He was told that 
his sexual orientation ``was not compatible with Red Lobster's belief 
in family values,'' and that being gay had destroyed any chance of 
becoming a manager. As a result, Hamilton left the company.
  Consider the example of Steve Morrison, a firefighter in Oregon. His 
co-workers saw him on the local news protesting an anti-gay initiative, 
and incorrectly assumed he was gay himself. He began to lose workplace 
responsibilities and was the victim of harassment, including hate mail. 
After a long administrative proceeding, the trumped-up charges were 
removed from his record, and he was transferred to another fire 
station.

[[Page S12383]]

  The overwhelming majority of Americans believe that this kind of 
discrimination is wrong. According to a 2003 Gallup study, 88 percent 
of Americans believe that gays and lesbians should have equal job 
opportunities. The Employment Non-Discrimination Act is strongly 
supported by labor unions and a broad religious coalition. They know 
that America will not reach its full potential or realize its promise 
of equal justice and equal opportunity for all until we end all forms 
of discrimination.
  Over 60 percent of Fortune 500 companies have implemented non-
discrimination policies that include sexual orientation. Our 
legislation has been endorsed by leading corporations such as AT&T, BP, 
Cisco Systems, Eastman Kodak, FleetBoston, General Mills, Hewlett-
Packard, IBM, JP Morgan Chase & Co., Microsoft, Nike, Oracle, Shell 
Oil, and Verizon.
  Small businesses support our legislation as well. At a hearing in 
2001, Lucy Billingsly, a Republican small business owner in Dallas, 
said, ``A uniform Federal law banning sexual orientation discrimination 
will give businesses the right focus. By paying attention to the 
quality of work being done and not to factors that have nothing to do 
with job performance, all of America's businesses will perform 
better.''
  Despite broad-based support in the business community and Congress's 
history of enacting anti-discrimination legislation, some argue that 
the solution to the problem of job discrimination on the basis of 
sexual orientation should be left to the States. I disagree. Only 14 
States and the District of Columbia have laws similar to the Employment 
Non-Discrimination Act. Too many American workers are left without 
redress. A Federal law is clearly needed to ensure that all Americans 
receive equal treatment in the workplace.
  Hard-working citizens in every State deserve the opportunity to feel 
secure in their jobs when they perform well, and they deserve the 
opportunity to compete in the workplace when they are qualified for a 
job. Job discrimination based on sexual orientation is unacceptable, 
and I urge my colleagues to support this bill.
  Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, I am delighted to join with Senators 
Kennedy, Chafee, Jeffords and many other colleagues as an original 
cosponsor of this important legislation, the Employment Non-
Discrimination Act of 2003. 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.
  More than 225 years ago, 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 unalienable 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 1 national survey and 20 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 227 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.
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