Robert Smith: “I stand here as an Eagle Scout. I stand here as an Oregon Senator. I stand here as one who believes that gays and…”

“I stand here as an Eagle Scout. I stand here as an Oregon Senator. I stand here as one who believes that gays and lesbians are due equal rights. I have tried to demonstrate that in the way I have conducted my service in the Senate, by supporting Jim Hormel's nomination to be an Ambassador for our country, by being the cosponsor, with Senator Kennedy, of hate crimes legislation, and by now endorsing a new version of ENDA that has a broader religious exemption. I believe I stand here with some credibility when I come to the issue of tolerance. One of my core values is that if we are to be true disciples, we should love one another. I try actively not to discriminate. But I believe I just heard the majority leader and the Senator from New York say that the Boy Scouts have a right to be in the schools but we can discriminate against them. This amendment of Senator Helms is not raised in a vacuum. It hurts me personally, as one of five sons of my parents to have the Eagle badge, and the father of another Eagle, and another son on the way to Eagle, to see the values of that organization held up to ridicule by some on the left who I believe are terribly intolerant and who do discriminate against people of faith whenever they can.”