Kelly Ayotte: “First of all, I want to thank my colleagues, and I will start by thanking my colleague, the senior Senator from Maine…”

“First of all, I want to thank my colleagues, and I will start by thanking my colleague, the senior Senator from Maine, Senator Susan Collins, for the important work she has been doing on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. I also want to thank my colleagues for supporting an amendment that was brought forward recently and passed by this body, the Portman-Ayotte-Heller- Hatch-McCain amendment, to strengthen the protections within the Employment Non-Discrimination Act for religious institutions. I firmly believe people should be judged based upon the quality of their work. Discrimination has no place in the workplace. In my home State of New Hampshire, we have a long bipartisan tradition of working to advance commonsense policies, and New Hampshire already has in place a State law preventing discrimination based on sexual orientation. I appreciate that the Employment Non-Discrimination Act is legislation that is important in terms of who we are, our values, and making sure people are only judged based on the quality of their work in the workplace. I also appreciate the legislation on the floor right now includes important protections for religious institutions. I have long been a strong supporter of the rights of conscience, of the rights under the First Amendment of the Constitution to religious freedom, and so these protections are very important within this bill.…”