[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 67 (Tuesday, May 5, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E658]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      DISAPPROVAL OF DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH NON-
                  DISCRIMINATION AMENDMENT ACT OF 2014

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                         HON. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 30, 2015

  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Madam Speaker, I rise to express my opposition to 
H.J. Res. 43, a bill that aims to overturn the Reproductive Health Non-
discrimination Amendment Act (RHNDA) which was recently passed by the 
DC City Council.
  The purpose of the RHNDA is to prevent DC employers from 
discriminating against workers for making personal reproductive health 
decisions that conflict with the expressed values of their employer. 
For example, the law prevents the firing of an employee for getting 
pregnant outside of marriage.
  Supporters of H.J. Res. 43 say the bill's intent is to protect the 
rights of employers who do not want to be forced to support the 
reproductive decisions of their employees. However, the RHNDA imposes 
no new requirements on employers to provide health insurance and does 
not change the insurance policies of current workers in any way. 
RHNDA's aim is simply to ensure that workers are judged based on their 
work decision-making, rather than on their personal health decision-
making.
  This Republican bill is not only an assault on workers' rights; it is 
also an assault on the rights of self-determination of the people of 
Washington D.C. Why should an Idaho congressman be able to overturn the 
unanimous decision of an elected body which is simply expressing the 
will of the DC voters that elected it?
  For these reasons, I oppose this bill and I encourage my colleagues 
to do the same.

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