House Panel Adds ‘Sexual Orientation’ to Federal Workplace Policy     9/16/2005
By Robert Knight

GOP-Chaired Committee Hands Homosexual Activists Second Victory in Two Days.

A day after the full U.S. House of Representatives surprised observers by voting for a “hate crimes” amendment to a child safety bill, the House Committee on Government Reform passed a bill on Thursday creating a new civil rights category for federal employees based on “sexual orientation.”

The bill’s introduction states: “To affirm that Federal employees are protected from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and to repudiate any assertion to the contrary.”

The committee, chaired by Rep. Tom Davis (R-Virginia), approved the measure on a unanimous voice vote, according to the homosexual pressure group Human Rights Campaign. A call to the committee today by Concerned Women for America’s (CWA) Culture & Family Institute confirmed the measure’s passage.

The bill, the Clarification of Federal Employment Protections Act (HR 3128), sponsored by Henry Waxman (D-California) and Christopher Shays (R-Connecticut), is designed to put into the law Bill Clinton’s executive order, crafted by homosexual activist attorney Elaine Kaplan, who headed the U.S. Office of Special Counsel. The bill was introduced on June 30, 2005, by Waxman and Shays, along with Reps. Chris Van Hollen (D-Maryland); Barney Frank (D-Massachusetts); Mark Foley (R-Florida); Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisconsin); Eliot Engel (D-New York); Danny Davis (D-Illinois); Jim Kolbe (R-Arizona) and Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-District of Columbia).

Late last year, U.S. Special Counsel Scott Bloch wisely and courageously declined to treat “sexual orientation” as a preferred category in federal civil rights policy, saying that homosexual employees had the same rights as anyone else, and that Congress never authorized a special protection based on “sexual orientation.”

After failing to have Bloch publicly flogged by the White House, which mildly rebuked him but let the policy stand, the activists went for the legislative fix. For details, see the CWA report.

Apparently, homosexual activists and their allies are doing a full-court press in Congress while Hill watchers are distracted by the Supreme Court nomination hearings of Judge John Roberts and the unfolding aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

On Wednesday, the full House voted for a homosexual “hate crimes” amendment sponsored by Rep. John Conyers (D-Michigan) to the Child Safety Act (HR 3132), which increases penalties on sex offenders. See CWA’s press release.

Thirty Republicans joined 192 Democrats and one independent to pass the “Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2005.” Five Democrats voted against it. (See Appendix Two, at end of article, for a list.)

The full Child Safety Act, with the hate crimes provision, now goes to the Senate, which passed a similar measure last year. This time around, the Senate version leaves out “gender identity” in the list of new categories covered, but the House version includes it. This means, among other things, the House voted to give men who wear dresses special rights to sue employers who object to their form of expression in the workplace.

Anyone with access to GOP leaders or Democratic leaders needs to make his or her voice heard now. From its Web site, Here is the membership of the committee:

Appendix One:

COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT REFORM

2157 Rayburn House Office Building

(202) 225-5074

(202) 225-3974 FAX

Chairman Tom Davis (VA)

Republicans

Christopher Shays (CT), Vice-Chair

Dan Burton (IN)

Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (FL)

John M. McHugh (NY)

John L. Mica (FL)

Gil Gutknecht (MN)

Mark E. Souder (IN)

Steven C. LaTourette (OH)

Todd Russell Platts (PA)

Chris Cannon (UT)

John J. Duncan, Jr. (TN)

Candice S. Miller (MI)

Michael R. Turner (OH)

Darrell E. Issa (CA)

Ginny Brown-Waite (FL)

Jon C. Porter (NV)

Kenny Marchant (TX)

Lynn A. Westmoreland (GA)

Patrick T. McHenry (NC)

Charles W. Dent (PA)

Virginia Foxx (NC)

Vacancy

Democrats

Henry A. Waxman (CA)

Tom Lantos (CA)

Major R. Owens (NY)

Edolphus Towns (NY)

Paul E. Kanjorski (PA)

Carolyn B. Maloney (NY)

Elijah E. Cummings (MD)

Dennis J. Kucinich (OH)

Danny K. Davis (IL)

Wm. Lacy Clay (MO)

Diane E. Watson (CA)

Stephen F. Lynch (MA)

Chris Van Hollen (MD)

Linda T. Sanchez (CA)

C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger (MD)

Brian Higgins (NY)

Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC)

Independent

Bernard Sanders (VT)

Appendix Two: Crucial votes on “Hate Crimes"

House Republicans Who Voted Yes to the “Hate Crimes” Amendment with “Sexual Orientation” to The Child Safety Act (H.R. 3132)

Bass (R-NH, 2nd)

Biggert (R-IL, 13th)

Boehlert (R-NY, 24th)

Bono (R-CA, 45th)

Castle (R-DE, At Large)

Dent (R-PA, 15th)

Diaz-Balart, L. (R-FL, 21st)

Diaz-Balart, M. (R-FL, 25th)

Fitzpatrick (R-PA, 8th)

Foley (R-FL, 16th)

Gerlach (R-PA, 6th)

Johnson (R-CT, 5th)

Kelly (R-NY, 19th)

Kirk (R-IL, 10th)

Kolbe (R-AZ, 8th)

LaHood (R-IL, 18th)

Leach (R-IA, 2nd)

LoBiondo (R-NJ, 2nd)

McCotter (R-MI, 11th)

Platts (R-PA, 19th)

Reichert (R-WA, 8th)

Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL, 18th)

Saxton (R-NJ, 3rd)

Schwarz (R-MI, 7th)

Shays (R-CT, 4th)

Shimkus (R-IL, 19th)

Simmons (R-CT, 2nd)

Walden (R-OR, 2nd)

Weldon (R-PA, 7th)

Weller (R-IL, 11th)

Democrats in the House Who Voted No on the “Hate Crimes” Amendment to The Child Safety Act (H.R. 3132)

Berry (D-AZ, 1st)

Boren (D-OK, 2nd)

Davis (D-TN, 4th)

Tanner (D-TN, 8th)

Taylor (D-MS, 4th)

Republicans Who Did Not Vote

Barton (R-TX, 6th)

Beauprez (R-CO, 7th)

Gilchrest (R-MD, 1st)

Hoekstra (R-MD, 2nd)

Royce (R-CA, 40th)

Walsh (R-NY, 25th)

Democrats Who Did Not Vote

Clyburn (D-SC, 6th)

Harman (D-CA, 36th)

Melancon (D-LA, 3rd)

Payne (D-NJ, 10th)

Weiner (D-NY, 9th)

Robert Knight directs the Culture & Family Institute, an affiliate of Concerned Women for America.

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