House Democrats urge action on ENDA discharge petition
Congressional Democrats challenged Republican supporters of an LGBT nondiscrimination bill to take action Wednesday and sign a discharge petition to force a vote on the bill.
During a press conference announcing a legislative maneuver that would allow supporters of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act to bypass Republican leadership in the House of Representatives and force a vote on the bill, Rep. Jared Polis said it was time for ENDA’s Republican supporters to step up.
“For a discharge petition to succeed we certainly need signatures from members on both sides of the aisle and I think it’s time we throw down the gauntlet and say, Supporting ENDA is not enough. You need to take a proactive action to bring it to the floor to vote on it,” Polis said. “Supporting ENDA is not enough if you never get a vote on it, so take that pen and sign the discharge petition and allow our colleagues — Democratic and Republican — to vote yes or no for equality.”
Currently, eight House Republicans are cosponsors of the version of ENDA approved by the Senate last November.
The out Colorado Democrat was joined by Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.), Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer (M.D.), Assistant Democratic Leader James Clyburn (S.C.), and Reps. Susan Davis (Calif.) and Joe Garcia (Fl.), many of whom used the filing of the discharge petition as an opportunity to draw attention to a bill that House Speaker John Boehner has blocked.
“Working LGBT Americans and their families cannot wait,” said Pelosi, who accused Republicans of “squandering” time and resources on fighting equality.
“It’s shameful that Americans can still be legally discriminated against in the workplace because they are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender,” added Hoyer. “We cannot choose who we love or who we are, but we can choose to treat one another with kindness, compassion and respect.”
ENDA supporters will need to garner 218 signatures in order to bypass Republican leadership and bring a vote on the bill. According to Polis, more than 75 signatures have been secured since the discharge petition was filed this morning.
However, House Democrats are likely to encounter resistance from Republicans who have backed the bill, which would prohibit most employers from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.
The filing by Polis would amend the version of ENDA approved by the Senate in November by narrowing the bill’s religious exemption, which has been key to securing Republican support. Although House Democrats were quick to note ENDA achieved 10 Republican votes when it was approved by the Senate in November, that was with a broader religious exemption. While chances of the discharge petition garnering enough signatures were already slim just two months before the midterm elections, Republican support could collapse with an altered religious exemption. Instead, the move appears to be an attempt to refocus attention on ENDA and set the stage for a broader LGBT nondiscrimination bill to be introduced next year.
According to Polis, the version of ENDA passed by the Senate was in the “pre-Hobby Lobby era,” before the Supreme Court’s ruling in a case concerning religious liberty and contraception coverage under the Affordable Care Act.
“This discharge petition also includes an amendment to prevent a Hobby Lobby-style exemption for employers who claim their discrimination is religious in nature,” Polis said. “This bill respects the rights of religious organizations and their freedom to hire whoever they choose for positions that are religious in nature, like a minister or missionary, and also ensures Americans have the same protection against LGBT-based discrimination that they have against discrimination based on race and gender.”
When the religious exemption was adopted with a 402-25 vote in 2007 as an amendment in the House proposed by Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), it received the backing of not only Democrats like Nancy Pelosi, Barney Frank and Tammy Baldwin, but Republicans like John Boehner, Eric Cantor and Paul Ryan. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) specifically cited the religious exemption when he became one of three Republicans on the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee to vote in favor of ENDA last July.
Despite that record, Polis said he is confident the version of ENDA House Democrats are hoping to bring to the floor would pass the Senate.
“We have a country where we value religious freedom and we value individual freedom,” Polis said. “We’ve long had a balance, which by and large has worked successfully with regard to race and gender and we’re applying that same level of protection to sexual orientation and gender identity.”
Although it is unlikely the discharge petition on ENDA will succeed, it did receive the endorsement of President Barack Obama, who has supported similar efforts to use a discharge petition to bring a vote on immigration reform.
“The President has long supported inclusive federal legislation to address employment discrimination against LGBT Americans, and we continue to believe that Congress needs to act,” White House spokesperson Shin Inouye told Metro Weekly. “We welcome efforts to move this issue forward and will work with lawmakers and advocates to achieve this important goal.”
While Obama signed an executive order prohibiting federal contractors from LGBT workplace discrimination with no additional religious exemption earlier this summer, it is not yet clear if the White House backs the proposed amendment to ENDA’s religious exemption.
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