[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 5]
[House]
[Pages 6316-6317]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        DISCRIMINATION IS WRONG

  (Mr. POLIS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, today I am proud to help bring forth the 
Equality Act, with 194 original cosponsors on both sides of the aisle. 
The principle behind the Equality Act is simple: discrimination is 
wrong, no matter what form it takes, no matter who it targets.
  This is a principle that Americans overwhelmingly choose to embrace 
and live by. We see it in the way we treat our LGBT employees, friends, 
neighbors, and family. It is apparent in the outpouring of joy and 
celebration we witnessed at the Supreme Court's historic marriage 
equality ruling 2 years ago.
  But sadly, our laws have not yet caught up with our values. It is 
still legal in a majority of States to fire somebody just because they 
are gay. That is not just a theoretical concern. It means real harm and 
real hardship for countless Americans.
  For LGBT Americans who are fired or turned away from a doctor's 
office or told they are not wanted in their neighborhood, many of them 
have nowhere to go for legal recourse. We are better than that as a 
nation. It is time we showed that.
  We are a nation that prides ourselves on our commitment to equality 
under the law. So I call upon this Congress to pass the Equality Act 
and put an end to legal discrimination against lesbian,

[[Page 6317]]

gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans once and for all.

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