the Federal employee who is in a same-sex partnership, whether they are married, in a marriage recognized at their State level or not, would have to file an affidavit of eligibility relating to their domestic partnership in order to…

This legislation is needed to offer gay and lesbian Federal workers true equality and benefits and ensure fairness in the workplace.

I regard this very much as an issue of equal compensation for equal work where we have identified a glaring discrepancy based merely on sexual orientation.

Congresswoman Baldwin has recommended it be filed with OPM.

this is a mechanism that allows people like myself who've been in a 13-plus-year relationship to be able to provide for my family.

the option is available for a heterosexual couple to marry, and then these employment benefits would flow automatically on the basis of that marriage and that spousal relationship.

Should they desire those benefits, they would have the option of marrying, and that is a choice open to them.

I represent a district with a world-class university, the University of Wisconsin-Madison...

He went on to say that, as Americans, we are all affected when our promises of equality go unfulfilled.

We lag behind in the fact that the Federal Government does not offer these employment benefits.

These provisions have been specifically added as strong fraud prevention language.

I would hope that the fact that literally thousands of private sector corporations and State and local units of government have seen fit to enact domestic partnership registries and offer employment benefits would give some comfort.