[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 162 (Thursday, November 14, 2013)]
[House]
[Page H7062]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     SEXUAL ORIENTATION AND GENDER IDENTITY EMPLOYMENT PROTECTIONS

  (Mr. KILMER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. KILMER. Madam Speaker, today I rise to call on the House to pass 
the Employment Nondiscrimination Act, which passed the Senate with 
bipartisan support. It is a bill with a simple premise: that people 
should be hired, fired, and assessed based on their capabilities and 
job performance, not on prejudice. It would take the commonsense step 
of extending Federal employment nondiscrimination protections to 
include sexual orientation and gender identity.
  I spent a decade working in economic development, and the research by 
Richard Florida and others is pretty clear. One of the prime drivers of 
economic growth is tolerance, and yet, in 29 States, it is legal to 
fire an employee because of sexual orientation. The rights granted in 
my State shouldn't end at our borders.
  Failure to act on this doesn't make economic sense; it doesn't make 
legislative sense; and it doesn't make moral sense.
  But I am not here just as an economic developer. I am here as someone 
whose faith dictates that I love and respect all people and live by the 
Golden Rule, and I am here as a dad of two little girls. I want my 
daughters to grow up in a country where discrimination is a thing of 
the past, where folks can't be treated differently because of their 
gender or who they love. It is time to pass ENDA.

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