Virginia Foxx: “It is a great disappointment to me that I will be voting against this legislation before us today. My Republican…”

“It is a great disappointment to me that I will be voting against this legislation before us today. My Republican colleagues and I have long been committed to policies and laws that empower all Americans to achieve success, and this includes protections in Federal law for pregnant workers. We agree that discrimination of any type should not be tolerated, and no one should ever be denied an opportunity because of unlawful discrimination. I will repeat that, Madam Speaker. We agree that discrimination of any type should not be tolerated, and no one should ever be denied an opportunity because of unlawful discrimination. After meaningful and necessary bipartisan improvements were made to H.R. 2694 during the committee markup, it is unfortunate today's legislation falls short in protecting one of our Nation's most treasured rights, freedom of religion, the first right mentioned in the Bill of Rights. Democrats' refusal to include a commonsense provision that protects religious organizations from being forced to make employment decisions that conflict with their faith is short-sighted, disappointing, and easy to fix. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time. {time} 1145”