Post by bot on May 1, 2016 19:31:05 GMT -5
Hoyer: It Is Time for House GOP to Hold a Hearing and Vote on the Equality Act
WASHINGTON, DC – House Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (MD) spoke at a press conference today with Rep. David Cicilline and House Democrats to call on the House Judiciary Committee to hold a hearing on the Equality Act. Below is a transcript of his remarks:
“Thank you very much Madam Leader, thank you very much Mr. Cicilline for your leadership on this issue, thank you to all my fellow cosponsors on this legislation.
“Let me start where Leader Pelosi ended – last night we had a vote 33-29, it was to install discrimination in the National Defense Authorization bill, so this is an extraordinarily timely issue. Last night, less than 24 hours ago, the majority of Members of the [House] Armed Services [Committee] – no Democrats – voted to perpetuate discrimination.
“I’m proud to be a cosponsor of the Equality Act. We introduced this bill last July, in the wake of the Supreme Court’s historic ruling on marriage equality – a ruling which the overwhelming majority of Americans support. It is still legal, however, for employers to fire a LGBT individual, solely because of their sexual orientation or gender expression, as has been mentioned.
“LGBT individuals can be expelled from school, or denied medical care, or housing. In 29 states it is legal to deny LGBT Americans service at a restaurant, a theater, a library, or other public space. Think of that. In America, in 28 states LGBT Americans can be denied housing. In recent weeks, we’ve seen North Carolina and Mississippi enact discriminatory laws, and under North Carolina’s law, transgender Americans can be forced to use bathrooms that do not correspond with their gender identity. Other states are considering similar laws as well. That is why this legislation is so timely and so needed.
“I want to thank [Congressmen] Cicilline and [John] Lewis and Senators [Jeff] Merkley, [Tammy] Baldwin, and [Cory] Booker for their leadership in introducing the Equality Act last year. It is time for House Republicans to hold a hearing and then bring it to the House Floor for a vote where it will pass. I urge them to do so.
“Let me close as [Congressman] Jerry Nadler referenced: endowed by their creator, with certain unalienable rights that among those are the pursuit of happiness, and life, and liberty. As [Congressman] Jerry Nadler pointed out, it didn’t mean African American citizens. It didn’t mean women. It didn’t mean others who were left out of that definition. America is better today than it was then. It needs to be better still. When we pass this legislation, it will be.”