mr speaker as we approach veterans day i rise to urge congress to support the filipino veterans equity act this important piece of legislation will restore u s veteran status to the surviving soldiers of the two hundred fifty thousand filipinos who are called into military service to the united states armed forces by president roosevelt on july twenty six nine hundred forty one of the only twenty two surviving twenty two thousand surviving filipino world war two veterans i want to highlight faustine hope that being back league who currently resides in los angeles california pipping was among the seventy five thousand filipino and u s soldiers subjected to the ninety mile trek from better known as the but on death march he survived the atrocities of japanese occupation and fought side by side with the americans only joe have his service as the u s national and a veteran denied by the one nine hundred forty six we now have a unique moment to undo the injustice of that act and give honor and respect to this brave group of veterans as pig tells us though they pay us to die but they cannot pay us to live for these men the filipino veterans equity act will fulfill a promise we denied them for over sixty years recognition of a grateful nation that their service to our country is just as equal as the soldiers with whom they stood shoulder to shoulder on the fiel days so far that our veterans have not had the use of the increased funding for their benefits and health care that's eighteen and a half million dollars a day able to be used in june this house passed the appropriation bill with a six billion dollars increase in a bipartisan manner on september sixth the senate completed their bill the president has agreed to sign this bill instead the democratic leadership has decided to use funding for our veterans and the smoke screen in an effort to pass billions in unrelated domestic spending our veterans are not pawns in a political game they are heroes these funding issues should have been considered separately and on their own merits please join me in calling upon the democratic leadership to put our veterans first and send a clean that trans appropriation bill to the president now thank right objection generally being recognized thank you mr speaker filipino veterans of those who answered the call of president franklin delano roosevelt and served alongside our armed forces during world war two they fought shoulder to shoulder with american servicemen and we promise to provide full veterans benefits to them while we have made some progress toward that goal we have not yet achieved the full equity that the filipino veterans deserve i am proud to be an original c r seven sixty the filipino veterans equity act which in essence makes good on the promise that our government made to these brave band over sixty years ago our filipino veterans are in the twilight of their lives of the two hundred  fifty thousand soldiers that fought with us only eighteen thousand survive today and of that number two thousand reside in my state of hawaii as we honor our veterans all across the country this veterans day let us include those filipino veterans who still awa propaganda extravaganza labeled the beijing olympics somewhere chairman mao is looking up at us and laughing according to the catholic news agency bibles and all of the religious symbols are among communist china's list of athletes for hit objects due to security concerns since the leader of the free world president bush has articulated his eagerness to attend communist china's olympics i'm compelled asked three questions mr president how many bibles will be you be taking to beijing we visit the and fifteen priests imprisoned for imposing the communist regimes official church and will you tell china's communist tyrants this fundamental truth no good government denies god's presence thank you mr speaker i write today to thank our nation's veterans and their families for their dedication and their service and their sacrifice as we approach veterans day i commend the democratic leadership for working with the senate colleagues to pass a veterans appropriations bill last night this bill is the largest increase in veterans funding ever three point seven billion dollars over what the president asked this  veterans with desperately needed health care services including fun specifically allocated to treat the rising number of veterans with traumatic brain injury and p t s d today we have lost more than four thousand troops and thirty thousand troops have been wounded in afghan dan and iraq and we must do everything we can to take care of our servicemembers when they come home to their families and their communities and we will bring them home but until that day this congress will do everything we can to take care of our veterans and their families i cliche sadly we don't see genuine examples of bipartisan cooperation in this chamber enough and this no doubt disappoints the american people over one hundred forty days ago democrats republicans work together to pass one of the largest necessary spending increases in the seventy seven year history of the department of veterans affairs to ensure the health and well being of our veterans this bill needed investment is a needed investment veterans care about and the care they need to go receive eight weeks ago a similar version passed the senate on a bipartisan basis instead of allowing the house and senate to iron out minor differences yesterday house leadership insisted that veterans funding be held hostage for a wasteful pork barrel spending bill that would increase the deficit by ten billion dollars no doubt this shameful game further disappointed the already jaded public perception of congress let's get back to bipartisanship and swiftly pass this important legislation in its original form so together on behalf of veterans we can all join celebrate what it when it becomes law thank you mr speaker our proposition of north carolina right afghanistan i'm proud the north carolina is home to many of these soldiers and also has one of the highest veterans population in the country unfortunately v a health care is still not adequately prepared to care for those who are that is three point seven billion dollars over president bush's request for veterans medical care claims processing personnel and facility improvements the conference report includes the largest increase in funding in the seventy seven year history of the these health care needs as well as funds for eighteen hundred new processors to alleviate the claims backlog despite the beatles prep from this president who is spending millions of dollars all roads schools and health care in iraq and thirty months in the south pacific after which he was signed to be a drill instructor at the recruit depot in san diego in honor of our veterans who have served in our serve in this country now master  carolina is truly an american soldier through and through americans are in debt for his service in the marine corps and mr peterson will always be honored as an american soldier who fought to defend american freedom for what purpose gentleman from oregon right one minute gemma's recognized dollars dropping like a rock we're borrowing two billion dollars a day from overseas to buy things we don't make anymore lost four million manufacturing jobs millions of middle class americans are seeing their pay stagnant or declining our current trade policy is a dismal failure it's a failed engine for our economy now comes the peru free trade agreement the advocates tell you the burgeoning middle class  peru all three of them are going to go out and be a huge market for the goods we don't make in america anymore they tout the breakthroughs on modest labor and environmental provisions while the destructive multinational written chapter eleven code or remains at the center of this trade agreement if trade is the engine that drives our economy and needs an overhaul instead with this bill we're getting a new head ornament some side view mirrors and  today to welcome french president nicholas so a cozy and thank him for addressing the joint session of congress this morning as a person of french heritage i know we're all grateful for his tribute to american veterans prince was our first ally in the american revolution as symbolized by the portrait of marquis de lafayette here in the chamber prince remains in and partner in international affairs and a major investor in the american economy i am grateful that the midlands of south carolina is home to three michelin tire manufacturing plants this o c a press has recognized president sarkozy as a blunt an uncompromising pro american conservative with his leadership i am confident historic alliance will be strengthened as we pursue common goals of global economic development and face down a common enemy in the global war on terrorism i look forward to working with my colleagues and friends of friends in promoting a vibrant partnership bush has turned into president veto saying no to a bill that would provide ten million children access to health care and then saying no last week to a bill that would protect the lives and livelihoods of millions of americans from the devastating impact flooding after six years of signing any bill that came to his desk and disregarding the impact legislation would have on our nation's fiscal well being president bush is now trying to claim the mantle of fiscal responsibility who exactly is the president trying to fool he turned a five point six trillion dollar surplus that he inherited from president clinton in two or three trillion dollar deficit that's a reversal of fortune of eight trillion dollars when democrats took control of congress we vowed to restore fiscal sanity and we began by restoring sensible pay as you go rules every bill that we have brought to this floor has complied with these rules but the president continues to imply that he's more fiscally responsible than this new congress the american people should not and will not be fooled by this change in rhetoric thank you mr speaker i yield back the proper present gentleman from texas right quest mission to address how one man no one recognized mr speaker the french president addressed a joint session of congress today and he like general lafayette before him talked about the american soldier the warriors courage determination resilience and love of freedom more so than life itself and as we approach veterans day french president nicolas sarkozy's words are appropriate to show how world it has been a fit from the american g i view our military he said this morning the men and women of my generation heard their grandparents talk about how in one nine hundred seventeen america sa france at a time when it had reached its final limits of its strength the men and women of my generation heard their parents talk about how in one thousand nine hundred four america returned to free europe from a horrifying tyranny that threatened to enslave fathers took their sons to see the  under thousands of white crosses so far from home thousands of young american soldiers lay who had fallen not to defend their own freedom but the freedom of all others not to defend their own families their own homeland but to  defend humanity as a whole mr speaker the world's freedom fighter has always been the american soldier and that's just the way it is i yield back the purpose of gentleness more than right geminid recognize mr speaker last night big which tobacco companies killed health care in oregon for little poor kids now we in congress must and can do better for our entire nation but republican leaders refuse to allow bipartisan negotiators to reach a compromise that would give ten million american children the health care they need and deserve the republican leaders refusal to negotiate only highlights their continued opposition to health care for the children of low income working families unfortunately president bush also remains unmoved by the health care needs of our children the present it has read to routinely refused to meet with congressional leaders even to discuss the children's health care insurance program while president bush works against children's health care republicans and democrats will continue to work together to identify a compromise that will afford health care to ten million american children a bipartisan majority of us realize just how important it is to ensure that children have access to the health care of ten million of children across america and over one hundred thousand children oregon is thank you mr speaker every time the united states signs a free trade agreement with a developing country this time the bush peru agreement we end up outsourcing more wealth and more middle class jobs we're already in deficit with peru under existing conditions and just like mexico and we signed that agreement we went from a surplus to a gigantic deficit if labor provisions in the agreement are so good why are no trade unions in our country or peru supporting the agreement could it be because the agreement does not require the peruvians to comply with core labor rights but rather with vague and enforce unenforceable labor principles which are then cleverly placed in the preamble or declaration of the agreement and not in the enforceable and binding core standards as do the international labor organization conventions you know this week the proven miners are talking to us they are on strike six thousand three hundred miners who mine gold and silver and zinc and copper and molybdenum and their country they're on strike and their labor ministry has ordered them back to work or they lose their jobs in three days isn't a time for us to he hear the voices of the people of peru as well as the voices of the people of our own country who have lost so many jobs and to these unfair trade agreements peru doesn't intend to enforce international labor rights the purpose a gentleman from low rise which almost recognized yesterday i brought articles of impeachment before this house the articles have been referred to the judiciary committee and the people of the united states now have a chance to become engaged in a broad discussion about the importance of this action people ask why now well recently the administration asked for millions of dollars to be included in the defense budget to two bombers with thirty thousand pound bombs that can be used to bomb nuclear research labs in iran at natanz and bushehr think of the humanitarian and ecological disaster that would come from that kind of a bombing this administration which took license to go to war based on lies must be held accountable and a vice president must be held accountable for his role in bringing about the war against  and in trying to beat the drums for a war against iran as has been pointed out here we have so many needs here at home we have people who are losing their homes losing their pensions losing their jobs losing our health care and we must bring discipline in this house to hold this administration accountable on to the law so we can begin to focus on a domestic agenda and stop waging aggressive war impeach the vice president for what purpose john of tennessee ri jim and recognize thank you mr speaker on monday the president issued eight presidential medals of freedom to eight great americans it was a beautiful service and the president that our country proud at that program one of the recipients was the reverend benjamin hooks who is resident of memphis one of my constituents a great man who rose from a segregated south to the heights of the federal communications commission in the sepi in this country also honored were harper lee the author of to kill a mockingbird to francis collins who did the human genome project you know we're ninety nine point nine percent the same and that's what the human genome project told us president bush asked reverend hooks what can we do to move race relations followers i'll tell president bush some of the things we can do mr speaker we can care about children and pass the children's health care program many of which of those children are african americans and minorities and we can pass programs that allow for scholarships for young people of historically black colleges and universities there's much we can do mr president you did good on monday let's keep doing good thank you mr speaker radio and television stations providing every american with access to commercial free educational and thought provoking programming for years parents in my home of st louis missouri of turn to katie see t v as your children's developing minds are brought  by programs like sesame street these same parents did and on k w n u radio for in depth news coverage of local national and global events with its mission to provide programs which inform enlighten enrich the public the corporation for public broadcasting has contributed to the development of our children the public's interest in the understanding of our world and the implementation of a new and better communications technology is the bill was signed into law on november seventh  president lyndon johnson so eloquently stated what we will work every day to produce new goods and create new wealth we want most of all to enrich man spirit thank you to the corporation for public broadcasting for doing just that surrounded by controversy on so many issues but the unique achievement that is our system of public broadcasting really does bring us together in those forty years we've evolved a powerful system with n p r and p b s through the hundreds of stations around the country one hundred million viewers of tell of a public television a week many cities around the country the number one radio station is its public radio station we have evolved a national voice that deals with issues of education of music in public affairs we've been able to prove empirically that the people who get their news from n p r actually have a identifiable measurable more accurate view of what's happening with the world sense of public broadcasting was established in one thousand nine hundred eighty seven the federal government has spent trillions of dollars but there is no investment during those last forty years that has paid greater dividends for the american people lady from the virgin islands by generally recognized the speaker what we're hearing about the ship negotiations sounds like this congress is getting ready to literally chill the baby out with the bathwater we started with a less than perfect bill to cover calls with six million children who are eligible we're now heading to just above three and the pros changes threaten to put put up barriers that would even lower that number removing outreach dollars will never get to the children we need to cover requiring proof of citizenship will scare natural naturalized citizens and the poor that we're trying to cover away taking away authority of states to have income disregards and cause children now covered to lose it not covering parents with threaten the health of their children if they're lucky  that the house republicans are trying to create too little money for the states will keep them from even reaching their most modest goals and trying so hard to get republican votes may cause the measure to lose key ones from democrats and beginning to think it would be better to just extend the current chip until we have more people here who are willing to do what is the theory to ensure that our children have access to good health and the better life that we owe them i yield back the balance of my time thirty six eighty five to prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation the first reading of the bill shall be dispensed with all points of order against consideration as a bill are way to separate those arising under across nine  e twenty one gentle debate shall be confined to the bill and shall not exceed one hour equally divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking minority member of the committee on education and labor after general debate bill shall be considered for amendment under the five minute rule the bill shall be considered as read all points of order against provisions of the bill our way notwithstanding clause eleven of rule eighteen no one minute to the bill shall be in order except those printed in the report as a committee on rules accompanying this resolution each such a minute may be offered only in the order printed in the report may be offered only by member designated in the report shall be considered as read shall be debatable for the time specified in the record equally divided in control by the proponent and opponent shall not be subject to amendment and shall not be subject to a demand for division as a question in the house when the committee of the whole all points of order against such immense always except those arising in a clause nine or ten of rule twenty one and then at number three and report as a committee young rules may be withdrawn by its proponent before the question is put there on at the conclusion of consideration of the bill for a moment the committee shall rise and report the bill to the house with such an immense as may have been adopted the previous question shall be considered as ordered on the bill and amendment there to the final passage without intervening motion except one motion to recommit with or without instruction section two during consideration and the health of h r thirty six eighty five pursuant to this resolution notwithstanding the operation as a previous question the chair may postpone further consideration of the bill to such time  may be designated by the speaker the gentle lady from florida is recognized for one hour thank you mr speaker for the purpose of debate only yield the customary thirty minutes to my colleague from the rules committee the gentleman from washington mr hastings alltime yielded are there in consideration of the rules for debate only i yield myself such time as i may consume i also ask unanimous consent that all members be given five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks on house resolution seven ninety three without objection sordid mr speaker house resolution seven ninety three provides for consideration of h r thirty six eighty five the employment nondiscrimination act of two thousand and seven under a structured rule the rule provides for one hour of general debate control by the committee on education and labor the rule waves all points of order against consideration of the bill except clauses nine and ten of the rule of rule twenty one the r makes an order three amendments that are included in the rules committee report the rule also provides one motion to recommit with or without instruction mr speaker i'm proud to rise today in support of the employment nondiscrimination act of two thousand and seven and passage of this rule by passing this bipartisan legislation today the house of representatives will take another step important step towards equality for all americans during the two hundred thirty year plus history of our great nation the march towards equality under the law for all of our citizens has sometimes been slow but it has been steady over time congress has outlawed discrimination in the workplace based upon a person's race gender age national origin religion and disability because when it comes to employment and hiring and firing and compensation and promotion these decisions are rightly based upon a person's qualifications and job performance sometimes the fight for equality has been slow in coming indeed this legislation that outlaws job discrimination based upon sexual orientation that the congress will pass today was filed and introduced over thirty years ago it is long past time to ensure that no one in our country can be discriminated against and fired from their job based upon who they are whether it's their race their color or whether they are man or woman or whether they are gay or private companies across america know this and are way ahead of the politicians here in washington many of our neighbors back home would be shocked to learn that millions of americans can be fired from their jobs or refused work or paid l and otherwise subjected to employment discrimination without regard for the quality of their work and without any recourse under federal law while many states cities and counties across the country h outlawed job discrimination on their own many states and localities have not i'm proud that the cities of tampa and st petersburg that i represent have outlawed job discrimination against gays and lesbians but our counties have not unfortunately the employment nondiscrimination act protect all americans no matter where they live by making it illegal to fire refuse to hire and refuse to promote employees based upon a person's sexual orientation i see in america no person should have to worry about the security of their job because of their sexual orientation our country bases employment evaluation on hard work and on a job well done making employment decisions on anything else is unacceptable in fact ninety percent of fortune five hundred companies in the united states have adopted a policy similar to the legislation that the congress will pass today and a broad coalition of businesses and community organizations strongly support this landmark civil rights legislation including the human rights campaign the anti defamation league central conference of american rabbis the national education association the leadership conference on civil rights and i'm proud to say p i'm proud that this congress will stand up for equality for all americans and stand behind our values an understanding that we do not discriminate against our neighbors for any reason and we should be able to live comfortably with the knowledge that our neighbors will not discriminate against us the passage of this legislation will remove that remove a legitimate fear that exist among us that we may lose our job and be unable to provide for our families when someone decides to exercise intolerance and prejudices against us and our neighbors in the workplace thanks to extraordinary leaders in congressm barney frank congresswoman tammy baldwin chairman george miller congressman rob andrews congressman chris shays and congresswoman deborah pryce and so many others that will stand up for americans here in this body today and pass this law i thank them for their leadership and their commitment to equality for all of americans and i agree with them that passing this historic nondiscrimination act will bring our nation closer to our goal in our promise of equality for all americans this time i reserve the balance of my time and lady reserves amounts of time the gentleman from washington thank you mr speaker mr speaker i want to thank the general eighty from florida mrs castor for you let me the customary thirty minutes and i yield myself as much time as i may consume and ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks about objection thank you mr speaker mr speaker the federal law bans job discrimination based on race color or national origin or gender in addition to federal law eleven states have passed laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in general gender identity while another eight states barred discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation the unemployment non discriminating the unemployment or the employment nondiscrimination not to let me start over again here mr speaker with that the employment nondiscrimination act would extend federal employment discrimination protections to employees on the basis of their actual or perceived sexual orientation mr st cyr i strongly oppose discrimination in the workplace and i believe that skills and job performance are essential for determining whether employees are hired promoted or dismissed however i do not think it is a place of the federal government to legislate how each and every workplace operates as a for former small business owner i know what that would bring success to one company does not necessary bring success to another as i mentioned a number of states have enacted state laws in this area that is their right as states many small businesses and large corporations have chosen to adopt their own policies that is appropriate as well mr speaker this bill as written bill raises a number of concerns including that it would expand federal law into a where elm or perception where perception mr speaker would be a major under discrimination law on monday my colleagues on the rules committee and members testifying before the committee pointed out that the debate on the bill at least in committee had been productive and a respectful one the speaker i am truly disappointed that moments later the democrat control rules committee chose to report a rule that denies the house and the american people the opportunity for a full and fair debate by prohibiting ninety nine percent of the members of the u s house the opportunity to come to the floor and offer amendments for the last two weeks democrat leaders have had the opportunity to amend alter in changes bill this added in a rewriting has been done behind closed doors and is contained within the miller stupak amendment democrat leaders have acted to deny a public debate and to deny republicans the opportunity to offer an amendment similar in scope to the miller stupak amendment this is  is not an open and honest way to run the house and it is not what the democrat leaders promise the american people only a year ago this rule only makes three amendments in order mr speaker but buried in this rule there is a special provision a special provision that allows amendment number three in the report of the committee on rules to be withdrawn by its proponent before the question of adoption peter what what does this mean it means that the rules committee decided to make three amendments in order but denies the house the vote on one of those amendments i just have to wonder why the democrat rules com i and this a vote on the men and i would my friend from florida was up there and i would you to the gentle lady from florida she can tell me why this provision is in the bill to allow to deny the house a vote on a member number three and i'd yield to my friend if you'd explain to spring mr speaker i'm happy to answer right i do wish miss baldwin would allow a vote on the amendment i strongly support the amendment as many of those in the congress do but this was her request and this is the way the role is been structured thank you ma'am mr speaker i thank the generally for giving me that option i can't remember how many times i've been in a rules committee talking about and asking members who come forward with rules or potential amendments i should say what their choice would be with or they could have an open rule like they have a close rule and every time i hear at least from the members the rules committee that the rules committee will decide now it sounds in this particular case that one a member one member decided that she didn't want to vote on it and so we deny everybody in the house an opportunity the general lady said that she would like to be able to vote on this i will give her the opportunity to do so this is speaker i have to say i've served on this rule committee for a decade and i can not recall one instance when we bought republicans were in cruise control that rule was a was passed through the house to bypass the rules and for it to allow a member to withdraw amendment i believe it is wrong for substance legislative issue to be raised on the floor only to deny americans to their representatives voice on that amendment let's be clear about what's happening here and that is that the rules of the house are being altered to block the house and voting on this amendment is clear and simple we were elected to represent our constituents by casting a vote and votes and today democrat leaders are denying us a vote i am extremely current with this unprecedented rule and i have a minute to the rule and i hope the gentle lady will support me my image would in section one of the mended to reflect the changes offered in my  to have the amendment that i described be considered now if i have to engage the gentle lady for that determination be happy to do so but i'm asking unanimous consent that that be done so i am just asking for  order and i would like to move the proper procedures i don't hear any objection it dipshit the objection came from the gentle lady from florida saying that she did not yield to you for the purpose of making an amendment so so there is so there has been an objection number three so mr speaker i have no other choice but to ask my colleagues in later on today to defeat the previous question so that i can amend the rule by striking the language that i therefore be allowed to show their support or opposition on amendment number three which would expand the bill's protections to persons persons discriminated against based on gender identity this is defined in the minute as gender related identity appearance mannerisms or other characteristics of an individual with or without regard to the individual's designated birth sex at birth now members that choose to say yes then on the previous question would therefore be showing their support for denying for denying members of this house an opportunity to vote on that issue so mr yield two minutes to a member of congress that consists continuously and forcefully speaks out for equality for all american congresswoman barbara lee from california and lady from california is recognized for two minutes bringing this bill to the floor today first let me say that i was on the floor the other night two nights ago and members of congress so eloquently reminded us that this is national bible week so as one who believes in the scriptures as a christian and as one who embraces what everything democrats and republicans were talking about the other night as it relates to love thy neighbor as thyself we are responsible for the least of these i know for a fact like all of you know for a fact that discrimination against anyone and i mean anyone is morally and ethically wrong and it goes against the teachings of all of our great religions this amendment that recognizes the baldwin amendment which recognizes that transgendered americans should have all of the protections and the rights of any person in america should be included in this bill it should include the baldwin amendment because if we believe in who we are as a country and if we believe that discrimination is wrong against anyone that how in the world could we leave out a significant number of americans generally that you know with a general idea that become law transgendered americans will still face and i mean still face discrimination in the workplace and we must not let up until we say i just want to say in closing that gender identity should not be allowed in terms of our discriminant nation in terms of the law that we passed we should not allow discrimination against anyone based on gender identity based on sexual orientation based on race religion age this is america this is america and i think that the baldwin amendment you i'd be happy you have the generator is my time now you are speaking if i if i heard you correctly on the ball when amendment now the way the rule is structured there is potential for not a vote on that amendment i'm going to offer a motion on the previous question to allow that to be voted now if i understood what the general lady was was saying in her remarks that she would like the opportunity to debate that and presumably vote on that so i would hope that the gen lady would win would join me in voting no on the previous question i yield what i am saying is i think that the baldwin amendment should be part of the bill that we are debating today i believe that discrimination against anyone in our country is wrong based on any well reclaiming my time reclaiming my time mr speaker i hope the gentle lady then will join with me in defeating the previous question so in fact that we can have a vote on that a minute as i said earlier i was on that discrimination the gentleman from massachusetts it is recognized for three minutes mr speaker i am impressed by the sincerity of the gentleman washington's advocacy on behalf of people who are transgender and i hope as we contemplate this strategy today people will fully examine that i regret the fact that they do not appear to be the votes in this house to include people who are transgender and i am struck by the eagerness frankly of some people to use that group as a weapon with which to defeat the whole bill because these are people who are opposed not only to the inclusion of people who are transgender but who have historically been opposed to including any protection for people at all you know to the gentleman this i think the gentleman for yielding it's a gentleman were was listening to my remarks i know he came in and forced after i had started making my remarks but my my whole point was suggesting that we have a process here where we can dispose of the major either prole you know for or against that's all i'm saying i take back my time no that's not all that's all the gentleman said but the effect be to try to undermine the bill when people who are opposed to the basic bill and opposed to the amendment lament the chance not to vote on an amendment which would undermine undermine the bill people should understand where we are i filed the bill that included people transgender he's a risk in earlier this year i was very proud when this house passed a hate crimes bill which explicitly included people transgender my recollection is young watching voted against that we are in the following situation in this country we have had prejudices of various sorts said the prejudice increases as difference increases we have made progress in i believe disputing the prejudice against people like myself who are gay we have not a met debris maybe as much progress and people are transgender i agree that the argument is there for including everyone i agree that there was an argument for including legal immigrants in the s chip bell the question we have is this if we do not have the votes to go forward with as much as we would like to do do we then abandon any effort and do we allow those who are opposed to any progress at all in the any discrimination fight in this area to use a particular group as a way to prevent progress speaker i've been voting on any discrimination measures the thirty five years since i first joined alleged here and i have voted repeatedly to extend the protection to groups of which i am not a member based on ethnicity based on race based on disability eat more not gain weight i would try to think but i will not act on my wishes irresponsibly i hope we will go forward today and do as much as we can i believe that if we are able to muster the votes to tell millions of americans who are gay and lesbian that they are not bad people that it is not a good image to fire them simply because of who they are the message we send to their people the message we sent  high school students who go to school each day fearing the kind of torment that they will confront that that will be the most significant advance we have made in fighting prejudice since the american disabilities act and i wish we could do more and if we are able to do this i will continue my efforts to do more i am glad to see a lot of recruits now to the effort to protect people transgender i wish they were there when many of us time i met many years ago i asked for fifteen more seconds a young fifty four and i will make this prediction that if we go forward today and adopt legislation that bans discrimination based on sex your intention but does not ban discrimination based on gender identity some of us will continue to fight to protect people based on gender identity and many of those seeking to use that if you today will be our opponents as we go forward trying to do it time expired the gentleman from washington you myself thirty seconds mr speaker i'm on the record that thirty seconds i appreciate my friend from massachusetts yielding to me and at least entering in a brief exchange where i was trying to explain my position based was on the procedure in the rule he took back his time in a while i think he may have conceded that that's what i was that dish proposal that we be allowed to vote on this issue comes from people who are opposed to within all regards and i understand that the effect of that procedure would be to undermine our ability to make any progress at all reclaim reclaiming my time this is the i have a great deal of respect for the gentleman from from from massachusetts and he is one chairman there regularly i give myself another thirty seconds he regularly comes the rules committee and wants to have a full and open debate in and i think that the gentleman would have to concede that this is a very unusual step where we are a bit self billing into the rule an  and the whole point of a body like the united states congress is to debate a debate in dispose of issues we are being denied that under the rule i yield two minutes to the gentle lady from florida this brownlee and lady from florida  matter two minutes thank you very much mr speaker i rise today in opposition to h r thirty six eighty five the employment nondiscrimination act and the rules that we have before us today primarily i am opposed to the measures are unclear wording that could easily lead to wide ranging and serious consequences this bill would prohibit discrimination which is a good thing and extremely hard to define measures such as an individual's perceived characteristics i think it's the perception and the perceived language in here that is very true bowing to me as a former small business owner with up to fifteen employees will be impossible for employers to operate a business while having to worry about being accused of mistreating someone based on the employee's perceived characteristics this ill conceived vague language is nothing more than a golden ticket for america's trial lawyers this loose wording is also an invitation for accusations by disgruntled employees who want to take advantage of a poorly constructed law like all of my colleagues i believe congressional policies should strive to promote a tolerant society i believe many members including myself would vote for it without the perception language in it the gentleman from massachusetts spoke before very eloquently as he always does and he said our laws should not say that gay people are bad people that's not what this bill says nor has any bil before us ever said that when people in that i come in contact begin to disparage individuals who may be gay i point out to them that you know you don't know whether your aunt janet and your son bill your grandson paul or your granddaughter may be gay so if it's inappropriate militarily additional thirty seconds thirty seconds i think the gentleman you know it's inappropriate to make disparaging comments about anyone who is gay cause people really don't know the people around them whether they are or whether they're not it's really none of their business however when that quest for intolerance in this bill leads us to costly and irresponsible ends i think we must rethink the legislation at a time when america faces so many challenges the last thing congress needs to be doing is finding a way to hand trial lawyers an avalanche of litigation a cash game and i urge my colleagues to oppose this poorly drafted legislation let's go back to the draft drafting board with this and with that a young the parents of m yield three minutes to the gentleman from new york mr knapp the gentleman from new york and recognize the three minutes i thank you general a feeling mr speaker i am committed to the passage of an end that protects lesbian gay bisexual and transgender employees i have been a lead sponsor proposed like and every year since i became a member of the new york state assembly thirty years ago and i am a proud original co sponsor of the original and a bill that would protect the entire l g b t community i believe that civil rights are best advance by bringing forward a bill that adequately protect all members of the l g b the community while this may be risky it is not reason to accept the seat before the fact and to leave behind members of the community who desperately need protection against employment discrimination have as we have seen in many states the failure to include transgender people and civil rights legislation from the beginning makes it more difficult to extend protections later my own state of new york which  acted employment protections for lesbians and gays has yet to extend these protections to the jazz gender community the senate has yet even to introduce is version of enda indeed even if congress were to adopt a non inclusive and the president has already pledged to veto this legislation so it is not a question as the gentleman from massachusetts said of now choosing to protect a great number of people and leaving behind a small number of people as the price of so doing because we cannot pass this legislation into law and protect anyone this year unfortunately we must look to the future when we have a president who will support equality i believe it is important we take a principled stand now and speak with a straw in united voice recorder rights for all americans whether they are lesbian gay bisexual or transgender in order to maximize the chance that when we can enact it in the bill into law it will be an inclusive bill that protects everyone's rights and we must better educate lawmakers in the public about the issues of gender identity and expression americans because of a lack of familiarity and understanding more likely to face employment discrimination and therefore more in need of protection from irrational discrimination that inclusive and that would afford and removing gender identity from enda may also leave lesbian and gay employees vulnerable to discrimination for failing to conform to gender stereotypes in other words some employers in courts may take an overly restrictive view that an exclusive and fails to protect lesbians who appear quote to masculine or quote two  mischief that is undermined other civil rights laws the fundamental issue is this there are still too many places where it is entirely legal to discriminate against lesbian gay bisexual or transgender employees with bring an end to this unfair unacceptable  american situation and have an additional thirty seconds i'm sorry we're limited for time when the house considers and the today i will support the amendment introduced by congress with a board to restore the protections from discrimination based on gender identity to that amendment fail i will not be able to vote for the underlying bill because it fails to uphold adequately the american values of fairness equality and inclusion that i will continue to fight for a proper and a bill so that includes all the people who need from washington rather than comment generally on the bill here i'm going to focus on the rule talk later on the bill itself as a senior member of the education committee we went through this debate in committee and i find it reprehensible that the process we've been following increasing in this house to shut off debate that the ironically in a bill that supposedly expanding rights we have a nother narrowly drawn rule that deprive me of offering several months i offered in committee has a jury mander rule for another amendment that is unique in history has several others put in in the rules committee that are very unclear and let me go through a number of these different amendments i offered an amendment in committee that was unanimously opposed by the democrats and committee to eliminate the word perceived this is a legal nightmare there is no other law there's talk about how eighty a has something vaguely familiar but does not say proce that how in the world are you going to define perceived that as anybody who has any friends whose work within and been appointed to people who have a homosexual lifestyle they're all types that this is an open ended there's no  there's no list here of what's perceived to be homosexual how is an employer supposed to figure out whether it's perceived does that mean if he's a christian is made statement somebody can file suit because they perceive they were discriminated not based on any kind of actions that occurred but something that was perceived this is a legal nightmare in a precedent that is absolutely terrible and we can't even vote we can't even have a vote to strike the word sieved and have a full debate on the word proceed what kind of an open process is that in the house i also had an amendment that would provide some protection for our christians who have strong views in the workplace and will insert into the record at this point a number of cases an eighteen to employee was fired because they wouldn't find sign a statement that contradicted his religious beliefs on accepting homosexual behavior a man was fired for red red cross for not participating in and lesbian pride month and forcing him to observe and that others have been fired for other reasons the question is is that not whether you can harass them in the workplace that's already illegal if you mock somebody that's already illegal if you commit a hate crime that's already illegal the question is can you as a christian express your views and not be persecuted that yes in a sense it's at least a plurality of americans profess christianity a smaller percent conservative christianity but we are moving so far as to restrict the rights in the workplace of christians even ability to hold or say anything about their views people can even have bible studies in some places it's been ruled because that would be offensive to homosexuals in the workplace based on this law in some cities and have been upheld in a court now moving past the two amendments that were unanimously defeated in committee and then we weren't allowed to debate as a whole house we have a memo that was added in response to another  committee that would have exempted christian colleges it was unanimously defeated by the democrats and committee then suddenly in the rules committee we have it added with the religious exemption the problem with the religious exemption and here i would like to point put into record a number of cases that show the problem with this lol university was deprive the religious exemption because even though it was founded by just what's its charter requires its present to be a just what and more than one third of the trustees they were denied because they didn't meet one of those criteria a a friend school the quaker school was denied a religious exemption because it was had to have multiple proof that everybody there was quaker and was following every rule of private religious school was denied for similar type things a business that wanted to run as a religious worldview was clearly denied the religious exemption orphanage by the united methodist church was denied the ability because he had gone secular they wanted to come back and be methodist church again and they were denied because they they followed the these are all court decisions denied because of they they would no longer purely methodists and they didn't have a right to go back and be methodist this is in addition to the twenty five hundred christian bookstores in america only fourteen percent are run by a church eighty six percent are either for profit or not probably i'm only religious organizations under this bill they will be forced to hire homosexuals regardless of the personal views of christian bookstores this is going to happen in in various  independent organizations that are quite a part of the church sometimes the church allow for operated for profit entity that runs a for profit entity that would not be predominantly a religious purpose but the proceeds go to to the church therefore they will implement their church belief in it even though it's a for profit entity none of that is exempted under this we didn't even get a chance to debate this amendment it just came in in the world i'd ask for two additional minutes bill gentlemen two additional minutes that jim and now we move to another amendment that suddenly appeared or i guess will be debating here on on marriage somehow in response to a debate in committee that they're saying that this won't affect the defense of marriage act this is another lawsuit amendment because that's directly contrary to the fundamental part of the bill my is not whether you favor or against it i heard my friend from new york say he was going to vote for it he can't vote for it we're not allowed to vote for it that we have been banned from having a debate what happened in the day when we have a debate you win or lose religious underpinnings in the religious stuff not debate proceed not debate protections for people who are individual not have a vote on transgender and it's five minutes on each side to even debate it this is an a mr speaker the employment nondiscrimination act is sensitive to religious organizations and our fundamental religious beliefs and tenets and it includes a very broad religious exemption in fact we are going to debate later on the miller amendment that if adopted would make clear that enda exempt the same group of religious organizations that are currently exempt from the prohibition on religious discrimination discrimination under title seven of the civil rights act of  four now we know not everyone not every employer will agree that gay people should be protected from employment discrimination but for the betterment and advancement of our society as a whole and i would overrule that judgment so that americans are treated fairly and equally but nothing in the end or in any civil rights law that has been that has come before us in the history of this country affects the ability that god given right of a person to hold contrary beliefs based on religion or otherwise and at this time i yield two minutes to the gentleman from ohio mr kissinger and over miers recognize two minutes speaker this is one of those moments where the house gets to demonstrate the degree to which we are truly committed to the unfolding of fourteenth amendment rights to due process and equal protection of the law we get a chance to determine it today and i believe that people who happen to be gay lesbian bisexual or transgendered are entitled to the full and equal protection of employment laws the principles behind the original draft of and  embrace the fullness of a community which has experienced significant undermining of rights in the workplace none of us can know unless we've walked in somebody's shoes for let's imagine for a moment that someone who presents himself or herself as being of another sex or gender imagine what they must go through in their daily lives and imagine we who take an oath to defend the constitution would somehow separate those people from the claims of justice from the claims of constitutional protection we all love this country we all love being americans but to be an american means really standing for those constitutional principles and really understanding that life liberty and pursuit of happiness are something that everyone should have access to and that everyone should have equal protection of the law and to process i'm very concerned as my republican colleagues are that the bobbin amendment can be offered and pulled back without a vote because if it was given a vote i would vote for the baldwin amendment and i'm very scared me my time's expired myself thirty seconds jim and you so i was saying that i share the concern that my republican colleagues have that we won't have a chance to vote on a bottom to many people because i believe that it is that this is not a republican or democrat issue the time to hopefully respond to what i am going to suggest and that is that he would vote no on the previous question then i that would be to amend the rules to allow a vote under normal rules normal normal roller so if you would join me in voting no on the previous question then you'll have an opportunity to fire on that a know from washington i thank you to speak at this time i'd like to yield two minutes to the newest member from georgia mr brown i'm george is recognized for two minutes i thank the gentleman for yielding the speaker today ross to speak against h r thirty six eighty five the employment nondiscrimination act and the restrictive undemocratic and authoritarian rule that the majority party has put before us today now mr speaker i realize that i'm one of the newest members of the house of representatives i've been sworn in just three months ago but i recognize it totalitarian regime when i see one in my short tenure here the democratic majority has made a mockery of the democratic process and today's rule is a perfect example of you good folks at home this is what's happening in a nutshell the democrats from this bill and us that will grant special employment privileges in a protected minority status to anyone who defines themselves by their sexual orientation but that's not all they gave us less than twenty four hours just want less than twenty four hours notice that this bill would be on the floor because when the schedule for this week was set last friday it may no michonne of this discriminatory bill and for good reason that don't want the american people to realize that they are undermining america's religious liberties in the house of representatives but they didn't stop there then the democratic majority decided to rig the process to rip to block republican amendments to even slightly improve this terrible and of fortunate bill an authoritarian regime right here in the house of representatives otherwise known as the democratic majority of the will vote against this rule and i urge my colleagues to do so are you  underlying bill and the baldwin amendment enda will offer real protections to tens of millions of americans now right now far too many workers go to work every day fearing that they could be fired on the spot no questions asked if their employer discovered their sexual orientation this year it is illegal in third states to fire someone simply because he or she is gay lesbian or trend of our bi sexual hardworking taxpaying americans shouldn't be forced into the shadows and they should not have to live with the constant legitimate fear that they could lose their jobs why i strongly support providing protection from discrimination to transgender americans and i will not rest until their right to live their lives free of fear discrimination and intolerance is the law of this land but i know from my years in the city council where we work to pass similar legislation in my years in the women's movement that we need to make history now and pass the underlying bill and protect people here in america now gentleman from washington i reserve my time the speaker known reserves gently from florida please feel two minutes from the to the gentleman from new jersey another outspoken advocate of equality for all americans mr hall the dome of the jersey is recognized for two minutes mr speaker is a strong supporter of inclusive and that provides employment protections for sexual orientation as well as gender identity i'm an original co sponsor of the original and that was introduced earlier this year the legislation we should be taking up today in my home state of new jersey we're proud to have a fully inclusive employment nondiscrimination law we're proud of the new jersey based businesses that have corporate policies against discrimination based on gender identity in addition to sexual orientation companies such as johnson and johnson merck and prudential financial prohibit employment discrimination based on gender identity not only because they believe it's the right thing to do morally and ethically but also they know it's a matter of corporate competitiveness and good for their companies our distinguished colleague john lewis often reminds us of the words of dr king the time is always right to do the right thing and dr king warned us against the tranquilizing drug of gradualism i'm concerned that when we break apart legislation some pieces fall on the floor to get swept into the dustbin of history dustbin of history or to be considered only years later we should not do this to members of our society who need and deserve the same protections as all other americans i want to say thank the members of garden state equality new jersey stonewall democrats the new jersey lesbian and gay coalition for their hard work and tireless efforts for inclusive protections and i ask unanimous consent mr speaker to include in the record a letter from johnson and johnson company supporting an inclusive and a bill and a copy of a statement of dissent by representatives clerk  from florida mr speaker this time i yield one minute to mr winner from new york chairman from new york's recognized for one minute i thank you generally you know i'm waiting for some conservatives to come to the floor i'm waiting for some true intellectually consistent conservative members of the other party who understand that in their mantra of government staying out of people's private lives in a montreaux of allowing the marketplace to work allowing people to be judged by their hard work by their tenacity by their skill i'm waiting for those people to come to the floor and say that we believe in and we believe in the idea of not government selecting who's going to win but letting the marketplace do it we believes in our friends in the private sector three hundred fifty or so fortune five hundred companies that already practice and that we're going to be voting on today where all day where are those members of my colleagues party that are shamed by their record on civil rights throughout the years and want to make it right now where are the members of that party who are going to come forward and say i don't want to explain to my grandkids why i was on the wrong side of another civil rights movement where all those members of that party who claim to be conservative speak up now this is your mom washington the speaker i continue to reserve my time in the reserves donated from florida mr speaker i yield two and a half minutes to the gentleman from new jersey our distinguished chairman of the education labor sub committee on health employment labor and pensions a member who has been outspoken in his fight against discrimination for it for all americans mr andres gem of new jersey is recognized for two and a half minutes without objection or to i thank my friend for yielding i rise in support of the rule i i want to emphasize a point of agreement in a point of disagreement there is a broad and growing agreement that members of the transgender community should receive the full protection of the federal law and many of us are committed to work to achieve that day as soon as we possibly can but there's a strong point of disagreement that i've heard from in a minorit side about the procedure on which we are taking up this bill you know we had a vigorous debate in the full committee about this bill and three concerns were raised one was the issue of the transgender community and miss baldwin has an order or an amendment which she will decide the disposition of so that issue can be raised the second is the scope of the religious exemption which my friends vigorously debated and mr miller and mr stu packs manager amendment races that very same issue and there will be a debate and there will be a disposition and finally there was some discussion as to the impact of this bill on the question of the definition of marriage and the a memo to mr miller mr will make in order a debate and a disposition of that issue as well the purpose of the house with all due respect to my friends on the other side the purpose of the house is not to debate every issue for as long as it takes to lever one's done talking the purpose of the house is to have a fair and reasonable proceeding and to decide and that is what we're going to do here and i'll just say one final thing to my friend and i know he's going to ask me to yield  i will do so if he agrees to yield to me when my time is expired but my friend speaks with great enthusiasm for bringing to a vote on the floor the question of transgendered people i would ask my friend why for the previous twelve years that his group has had the majority here that they never brought the issue to the floor during those twelve years if they have such intense feelings in favor i'd be happy healed my friend i thank the gentleman freely and probably respond to your direct question for the same reason that for the twenty years prior to that your party didn't bring it up either but what i what i would want to say and i do want to thank the gentleman for yielding the gentleman said that the purpose of the house is not to debate every issue i would tend to agree majority decision and he will either win or lose i think is there within the really really high yield back reclaiming my time i'm glad the gentleman that would do that hope he would join the i'm just worried that this is so on precedent for this to happen that's the point i made from the outset that's the point i