Tom Harkin: “in the course of our hearings on this bill, we heard from executives from Nike and General Mills, among others. Asked…”

“in the course of our hearings on this bill, we heard from executives from Nike and General Mills, among others. Asked why they had chosen to implement strong nondiscrimination policies themselves, the Nike executive testified: ENDA is good for business because teams thrive in an open and welcoming work environment, where individuals are bringing their full selves to work. The bill we are debating specifically protects religious liberty with a substantial exemption that allows specific religious organizations to continue to take sexual orientation and gender identity into account when making employment decisions in their religious organizations. I might point out this bill is supported by 60 faith-based organizations, including congregations and organizations ranging from the Presbyterian Church of America, the Episcopal Church, the Progressive National Baptist Convention, the Union of Reform Judaism, the Union Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, the Islamic Society of North America, and many others. Among other things, polls show that 67 percent of American Catholics support basic workplace protections for LGBT workers. Almost 70 percent in that poll of evangelical Christians supports LGBT employment protections. So there is overwhelming support for this bill, as I said, amongst people of faith and religious-based organizations.…”