Mark Pocan: “As Representative Lowenthal mentioned, one of the things we need to get done yet is a bill called the Employment Non…”

“As Representative Lowenthal mentioned, one of the things we need to get done yet is a bill called the Employment Non- Discrimination Act, or ENDA. In 29 States in this country, you can still be fired simply because of your sexual orientation, and in 33 States based on your gender identity. This is 2014. Our country has moved far beyond the fact that you can be fired simply because of who you love. In fact, most people assume this is already the law of the land, yet it is not the law of the land, and depending upon what States you live in depends on whether or not you can have discrimination against you. That is simply wrong. The ENDA bill has the support of virtually every Democrat in the House. Eight Republican Members have officially signed on as sponsors. And if that bill were to come to this floor, Mr. Speaker, there would be the votes to pass this bill. The problem is getting it to the floor of Congress. Right now we are not able to do that. The Republican majority has not allowed that bill to come to the floor, but we know and we feel confident that there are the votes to pass that in this House if we can only get it on the floor. We can join the 90 percent of Fortune 500 companies that provide for equal treatment for their employees. And the fact that 82 percent of the U.S. public supports this, it is far past due to make sure that we protect each and every person with these protections.…”