Amy Klobuchar: “today I wish to express my opposition to recent nominees who have come before the Senate. First, I would like to express…”

“today I wish to express my opposition to recent nominees who have come before the Senate. First, I would like to express my opposition to the nomination of Janet Dhillon, who was confirmed to serve as Chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, EEOC, by a party line vote yesterday. The EEOC has a critical mission to enforce the Federal laws that make it illegal to discriminate against workers on the basis of their race, religion, national origin, or disability, and it was the first Federal agency to take the position that title VII of the Civil Rights Act protects employees from workplace discrimination based on their sexual orientation. Like many of my colleagues, I am concerned that Ms. Dhillon has refused to commit to uphold the EEOC's current interpretation of title VII as covering LGBTQ workers. I am also concerned by arguments that were made in legal briefs by the Retail Litigation Center under Ms. Dhillon's leadership, including arguments in support of policies to make it more difficult for employers to be held liable for harassment. It is for these reasons that I would not have voted in support of Ms. Dhillon' s nomination. I also want to comment on my opposition to Cheryl Stanton's nomination to serve as Administrator of the Wage and Hour Division at the Department of Labor. Before Ms.…”