[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 96 (Thursday, June 16, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Page S4321]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 4762. Mr. MERKLEY (for himself, Mr. Kirk, Ms. Baldwin, Mr. Booker, 
Ms. Mikulski, Mrs. Shaheen, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Coons, and Mr. Durbin) 
submitted an amendment intended to be proposed to amendment SA 4685 
proposed by Mr. Shelby (for himself and Ms. Mikulski) to the bill H.R. 
2578, making appropriations for the Departments of Commerce and 
Justice, Science, and Related Agencies for the fiscal year ending 
September 30, 2016, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on 
the table; as follows:

       At the appropriate place, insert the following:
       Sec. ___. (a) Congress finds the following:
       (1) Equal treatment and protection under the law is one of 
     the most cherished constitutional principles of the United 
     States.
       (2) Laws in many parts of the country still fail to 
     explicitly prohibit discrimination against lesbian, gay, 
     bisexual, and transgender (hereafter in this section referred 
     to as ``LGBT'') individuals.
       (3) The failure to actively oppose and prohibit 
     discrimination leaves LGBT individuals vulnerable, based on 
     who the LGBT individuals are or whom LGBT individuals love, 
     to being--
       (A) evicted from their homes;
       (B) denied credit or other financial services;
       (C) refused basic services in public places such as 
     restaurants or shops; or
       (D) terminated from employment, or otherwise discriminated 
     against in employment.
       (4) To allow discrimination to persist is incompatible with 
     the founding principles of this country.
       (5) Failure to ensure that all people of the United States 
     are treated equally allows a culture of hate against some 
     people in the United States to fester.
       (6) This hate culture includes continuing physical assaults 
     and murders committed against LGBT individuals, and 
     particularly against transgender individuals, in the United 
     States.
       (7) The events that transpired on June 12, 2016, in 
     Orlando, Florida, were a horrifying and tragic act of hate 
     and terror that took the lives of 49 innocent individuals and 
     injured 53 more. The victims were targeted because of who 
     they were, whom they loved, or whom they associated with.
       (b) It is the sense of Congress that--
       (1) it is time to end discrimination against LGBT 
     individuals and stand against the culture of hatred and 
     prejudice that such discrimination allows;
       (2) it is incumbent on policymakers to ensure that LGBT 
     individuals benefit from the full protection of the civil 
     rights laws of the Nation; and
       (3) Congress commits to take every action necessary to make 
     certain that all people of the United States are treated and 
     protected equally under the law.
                                 ______