[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 157 (Wednesday, November 6, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7867-S7869]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   EMPLOYMENT NON-DISCRIMINATION ACT

  Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I rise today to urge my colleagues to vote 
for ENDA, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. This bill is about 
basic fairness, and it is really about the Golden Rule--treating others 
as you would like to be treated. Every single American should have the 
right to earn a living and provide for his or her family without 
fearing discrimination in the workplace because of who they are and 
whom they love. Americans like Marty Edwards, an assistant vice 
president of First National Bank of Granbury, Texas, whose story was 
recently featured in The Advocate. Marty was passed over for promotions 
at work despite a very strong 11-year history at the bank. When he 
asked for an explanation from his vice president and human resources 
department, he was told that the workers who had received the promotion 
were ``a better fit for the image we are looking for.'' Marty Edwards 
was hired by the bank right out of college. He formed his professional 
identity there. He was moving up the ladder until he came out as a gay 
man. When Edwards asked whether his sexual orientation was the main 
reason he had been denied promotion, the bank's executive vice 
president demanded his resignation. Edwards refused, and then he was 
fired.
  Sadly, Marty Edwards' story is not unique. Between 15 and 43 percent 
of LGBT people have experienced discrimination in the workplace or 
harassment in the workplace as a result of their sexual orientation. 
Twenty-six percent of transgender people report having been fired from 
their jobs because of their gender identity, and 90 percent reported 
experiencing harassment, mistreatment, or discrimination.
  Our fellow citizens need ENDA. I was here when ENDA was voted on so 
many years ago when it was a Ted Kennedy bill. We did not make it then, 
but I think we are going to make it now because Americans know that 
ENDA is the right thing to do. As a matter of fact, 80 percent of 
Americans assume there already is a law prohibiting discrimination 
against this community. But more than half of Americans still live in 
States where it is perfectly legal to fire a lesbian, gay, bisexual, or 
transgender American just because of their sexual orientation or gender 
identity. So that is why we need this bill. There are many States where 
there is no protection. This bill would make sure the protections are 
nationwide.
  Seventy percent of the American public supports ENDA. According to 
the Washington Post, public support ranges from a high of 81 percent in 
Massachusetts to a low of 63 percent in Mississippi. So it is clear 
that the support cuts across party affiliation and generational gaps. 
Whether they are a Democrat, a Republican, an Independent, whether they 
are a libertarian, whether they are young or old, Americans 
overwhelming support this bill. The American people are basically 
giving us a message: This is a no-brainer. We should not have to fight 
about it. We should just vote for it.
  That is why I was so dismayed to read that House Speaker Boehner said 
he would not support ENDA. His reason was that it will increase 
litigation. Does the Speaker really think that LGBT Americans, who have 
families to support and bills to pay, would rather pursue frivolous 
lawsuits than earn their pay in a workplace free of harassment and 
discrimination?
  Here is what I think is really disingenuous about that. Republicans 
do not suggest that all the other groups covered by the Civil Rights 
Act are filing frivolous lawsuits. In other words, all the rest of 
Americans who are protected because of their religion, because of their 
color, because of their creed, Speaker Boehner says they are not filing 
frivolous lawsuits and he does not want to repeal the civil rights of 
those people. Good. Why does he think that the LGBT community is going 
to file frivolous lawsuits?
  I have to say that evidence shows what he is saying is false. The 
Speaker ignores the fact that the Government Accountability Office 
issued a recent report showing that in the 22 States that banned sexual 
orientation discrimination in the workplace, ``there were relatively 
few employment discrimination complaints based on sexual orientation 
and gender identity

[[Page S7868]]

filed.'' In other words, there is not a problem with frivolous lawsuits 
being filed by the LGBT community in the States that have protective 
laws. That is because LGBT Americans are woven into the fabric of our 
workplaces, our communities, and every other facet of our American 
life. This bill is about granting them the just and fair protections 
they deserve so that they can live their lives and contribute to our 
economy without fear of losing their jobs because of who they are or 
whom they love. It is the moral thing to do. It makes good business 
sense. A majority of Fortune 500 companies have sexual orientation and 
gender identity nondiscrimination policies in place. Recent polling 
shows that a majority of small businesses do too.
  I have to say that in the States where we have these laws, people are 
happy with it. People are so happy with it that they think the whole 
country has already passed a law. So how could the Speaker get up and 
announce that he is opposed to it because there will be the filing of 
frivolous lawsuits? It is a made-up straw man, if I might say.
  The State of California and many of our cities enforce these policies 
as well. The economy benefits.
  Apple CEO Tim Cook wrote in the Wall Street Journal:

       Those who have suffered discrimination have paid the 
     greatest price for this lack of legal protection. But 
     ultimately we all pay a price. If our coworkers cannot be 
     themselves in the workplace, they certainly cannot be their 
     best selves. When that happens, we undermine people's 
     potential and deny ourselves and our society the full 
     benefits of those individuals' talents.

  I thank Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, for those progressive thoughts.
  Employers know they will be the most competitive when they hire and 
retain the best people, and folks will apply for and strive to keep 
their jobs if they know a company only considers their qualifications 
for the job and the result of their hard work--nothing more, nothing 
less.
  I believe my colleagues will do the right thing and pass this bill. I 
want to say to my colleague Jeff Merkley, who is not on the floor right 
now--he has really pushed hard for this vote. I thank Senator Harry 
Reid, our leader. There are many other bills that compete for 
attention. I think it was very important because what could be more 
important than protecting our people, protecting our sons and 
daughters, protecting all God's children? That is what ENDA does. So I 
think we are going to see a very good vote on this bill tomorrow. 
Really, it ought to pass by 80, 90, 100 votes because it is a very 
simple idea: Everyone should be treated fairly. Everyone should be 
treated equally. This Nation is at its best when we do that.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Wisconsin.
  Ms. BALDWIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that following my 
remarks, the Senator from Rhode Island Mr. Whitehouse be recognized.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Ms. BALDWIN. Mr. President, I have come to the floor again to talk 
about the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, known as ENDA. This is a 
bipartisan effort to advance uniquely American values: freedom, 
fairness, and opportunity. It is about freedom--the freedom to realize 
our founding beliefs that all Americans are created equal under the 
law. It is about fairness, about whether lesbian, gay, bisexual, and 
transgender Americans deserve to be treated just like their families, 
their friends, their neighbors, and their fellow workers. It is about 
opportunity, about whether every American gets to dream the same dreams 
and chase the same ambitions and have the same shot at success.
  On Monday this week 61 Senators, including 7 Republicans, voted to 
support opportunity and fairness. Today we agreed to a Republican 
amendment that would strengthen the bill. Bipartisan support for the 
Employment Non-Discrimination Act is growing as we head toward a vote 
on passage tomorrow. I would urge all of my colleagues to join us and 
vote for this important legislation.
  I have seen firsthand the progress we have made in recognizing that 
fairness and opportunity are not partisan issues; they are core 
American values. When I served in the House of Representatives, I 
worked with Congressman Barney Frank on the Employment Non-
Discrimination Act. We had many conversations with Members with varying 
political, personal, and religious beliefs. At times it was a difficult 
debate. There were many disagreements. However, the tone of the debate 
here on the Senate floor has been remarkably dignified and cordial. 
This has been true throughout the Senate debate. In fact, I was 
pleasantly surprised as a member of the HELP Committee that the 
committee markup of this bill took only a little over 5 minutes. I had 
been prepared to be in our markup for hours. This dignified tone of 
today's debate in committee and here on the floor reflects the progress 
our Nation has made in recognition of fairness and equality.
  My home State of Wisconsin was the first State in the Nation to add 
sexual orientation to its antidiscrimination statute. At the time, back 
in 1982, only 41 municipalities and 8 counties in the entire United 
States offered limited protections against discrimination based on 
sexual orientation. Wisconsin's efforts pass the Nation's first sexual 
orientation antidiscrimination law was supported by a broad spectrum of 
supporters and advocates. It was a bipartisan coalition including 
members of the clergy, various religious denominations, medical groups, 
professional groups. The measure was signed into law in Wisconsin by a 
Republican Governor, Lee Sherman Dreyfus, who based his decision to 
support the measure on the success of municipal ordinances providing 
similar protections against discrimination.
  Since Wisconsin passed its statute back in 1982, 20 States and the 
District of Columbia, representing nearly 45 percent of the population 
of the United States of America, have passed similar antidiscrimination 
measures. Sixteen States and the District of Columbia also protect 
their citizens on the basis of gender identity.
  However, 76 million American workers have to contend with a very ugly 
reality. It is the reality that in more than two dozen States it is 
legal to discriminate against LGBT employees. That is simply wrong. 
This legislation seeks to right that wrong. We do not just want to live 
in a country where our rights are respected under the law; we want to 
live in a country where we are respected for who we are, where we enjoy 
freedom and opportunity because that is who we are as Americans.
  The change in law that we work for this week and today can add up to 
incredible progress in our lifetime. This generation can be the one in 
which we fulfill the promise of freedom and equality for all, in which 
America finally becomes a place where everyone's rights are respected 
at work and every family's love and commitment can be recognized and 
respected and rewarded under the law.
  Finally, I would like to recognize my Senate colleagues, the ones 
with whom I have worked to advance this bill, the Employment Non-
Discrimination Act.
  Senator Merkley, Senator Kirk, Chairman Harkin, and Senator Collins' 
tireless efforts have led us this close to the finish line with regard 
to this bill.
  Without naming all of them, I also would like to thank my colleagues 
who have taken the time to join in our effort to bring cloture and 
bring this debate before the body, the ones who have taken the time to 
sit down with me and my colleagues and talk through this issue so that 
we might answer their questions and move it ahead. It means a great 
deal. This is an important place we have reached.
  As we prepare for the final vote tomorrow, I wish every Senator would 
stand with us and vote for fairness and opportunity. While we might not 
meet that high mark, I do hope it is a very strong vote. Passing this 
bill with a strong majority will show America that the Senate believes 
in a future that is more equal, not less, for all Americans.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Rhode Island.
  Mr. WHITEHOUSE. While I was awaiting my turn to speak on the floor, I 
had the opportunity to hear both Senator Boxer and Senator Baldwin. I 
commend both of them for very excellent and eloquent remarks and thank 
Senator Baldwin for her courage and conviction.

[[Page S7869]]

  I also know that my dear colleague in the House, Representative David 
Cicilline, is watching this vote very carefully. We hope we will make 
him, Senator Baldwin, and so many people around this country proud when 
we take up this vote tomorrow.

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