Barbara Boxer: “It is very good to see the Presiding Officer in the chair. Since the Senator has arrived, we have cast some landmark…”

“It is very good to see the Presiding Officer in the chair. Since the Senator has arrived, we have cast some landmark votes for laws that are so critical and for candidates who are so critical. We are about to have a moment in history where we are going to expand opportunities for the LGBT community, expand protection for them so no longer will they face fear in the workplace. If we have an overwhelming vote--which I hope we will have--it will send a message to Speaker Boehner that he should join with us. After all, what is the purpose that we should serve here? It is really making life better for people. It certainly is protecting our people. This leads me to the reason I am here at the request of Senator Murray. It is because we need to speak out against the bill that will shortly be introduced. It is ironic, because as we are about to end discrimination on a whole group of worthy people, this bill attacks another group of people, the majority of this country, women. We are here to say that the extreme and dangerous 20-week abortion ban is not going anywhere in the Senate--not on our watch. Anyone who knows this knows we mean what we say and say what we mean. The American people continue in election after election to reject the war on women. They did it in race after race in the 2012 cycle, and they did it in these local and State-wide races only a couple of days ago.…”