Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 2007
EMPLOYMENT NON-DISCRIMINATION ACT OF 2007 -- (House of Representatives - November 07, 2007)
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Mr. JORDAN of Ohio. I thank the ranking member.
Madam Chair, I rise today to express my opposition to the so-called Employment Non-Discrimination Act.
Far from actually protecting new workers, this legislation will add confusion and contradictions to title VII's existing protections. We have already heard from speakers who talked about the ``perceived'' sexual orientation language in this bill. And it would violate the traditional bases used to determine protected status, those being an immutable characteristic, a history of economic disenfranchisement and political powerlessness. All of the protected classes that currently exist in title VII meet these standards, while those individuals this legislation seeks to protect do not. The current title VII protections are sufficient to protect our Nation's citizens. Expansion would only lead to confusion and more litigation. The previous Republican speaker talked about this. He talked about the contradiction that exists between sexual rights and religious rights. If this legislation is approved, it will certainly be challenged in court and produce a clash with religious freedom and expression.
And then, finally, two other things I would like to address. ENDA, I believe, has the potential to severely hurt business. Not only will the religious exemption fail to cover nondenominational religious elementary schools, high schools and colleges, but it may, in fact, force employers to violate their personal convictions and hire individuals that they determine may not be in the best interests of their business. Business owners with religious convictions should be free to apply those convictions to their hiring practices.
And I guess I would just close by saying, most importantly in my mind, this legislation, I believe, would undermine the institution of marriage and thereby undermine that key institution in our culture, which I believe in the end ultimately determines the strength of our entire society, and that being the family institution. You think about one of the reasons America is so great is because moms and dads and families sacrifice for the next generation. I believe this legislation has the real potential to undermine the importance of families in our culture and in our society and in our country.
For those reasons, Madam Chair, I would oppose the legislation. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
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