Bob Filner: “we start business in this House every day by pledging allegiance to a nation with liberty and justice for all. Without…”

“we start business in this House every day by pledging allegiance to a nation with liberty and justice for all. Without qualification, without pre-requisite, without restriction, ``all'' means no one is excluded, and everyone is included--and that means gay and lesbian Americans too. Despite this good intention, however, our reality too often falls short of the ideal, and laws prohibiting discrimination in employment do not offer the same protections to lesbian and gay Americans in forty states. In Executive Order 13087, the Clinton Administration took an important and justified step to correct this inequity in the federal workforce. The Executive Order ensures liberty and justice for lesbian and gay federal employees by amending a Nixon Administration Executive Order to also prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation. By defeating the Hefley Amendment, we will affirm for lesbian and gay employees of the federal government the same liberty and justice enjoyed by their co-workers: the justice of equality; the justice of protection from discrimination; and the liberty to love and live without fear of job-loss or punishment.”