[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 91 (Friday, July 1, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1437]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         THE CLARIFICATION OF FEDERAL EMPLOYMENT PROTECTION ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. HENRY A. WAXMAN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 30, 2005

  Mr. WAXMAN. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to introduce legislation today 
to reaffirm that Federal employees are protected from discrimination on 
the basis of sexual orientation and to repudiate any assertion to the 
contrary.
  At a time when our Federal employees are working tirelessly on behalf 
of the Nation, we should be doing our utmost to ensure that all are 
protected against discrimination. Unfortunately, the Bush 
administration appears to have abandoned a long-standing, bipartisan 
interpretation of the law which protects Federal employees from 
discrimination based on sexual orientation. I hope that Congress will 
act quickly to pass this legislation.
  Until recently, the Bush administration followed a long-standing 
policy prohibiting job discrimination against gay Federal employees. 
However, Special Counsel Scott Bloch, head of the Office of Special 
Counsel, responsible for investigating workplace discrimination, 
testified that Federal workers are not protected against discrimination 
based on sexual orientation. This statement diverges from years of 
Federal policy that safeguards gay and lesbian employees.
  The legislation being introduced today, the Clarification of Federal 
Employment Protection Act, would make clear the protection afforded by 
the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978, by explicitly making 
discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation a prohibited 
personnel practice under the act.
  I commend my colleagues--Representatives Chris Shays, Danny Davis, 
Mark Foley, Barney Frank, Jim Kolbe, Steny Hoyer, Eliot Engel, Tammy 
Baldwin, Chris Van Hollen, and Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton--for 
their leadership on this issue and look forward to working with them to 
obtain rapid approval of this bill in the House.

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