S.Amdt. 4762

SA 4762. Mr. MERKLEY (for himself, Mr. Kirk, Ms. Baldwin, Mr. Booker,
Ms. Mikulski, Mrs. Shaheen, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Coons, and Mr. Durbin)
submitted an amendment intended to be proposed to amendment SA 4685
proposed by Mr. Shelby (for himself and Ms. Mikulski) to the bill H.R.
2578, making appropriations for the Departments of Commerce and
Justice, Science, and Related Agencies for the fiscal year ending
September 30, 2016, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on
the table; as follows:

At the appropriate place, insert the following:
Sec. ___. (a) Congress finds the following:
(1) Equal treatment and protection under the law is one of
the most cherished constitutional principles of the United
States.
(2) Laws in many parts of the country still fail to
explicitly prohibit discrimination against lesbian, gay,
bisexual, and transgender (hereafter in this section referred
to as ``LGBT'') individuals.
(3) The failure to actively oppose and prohibit
discrimination leaves LGBT individuals vulnerable, based on
who the LGBT individuals are or whom LGBT individuals love,
to being--
(A) evicted from their homes;
(B) denied credit or other financial services;
(C) refused basic services in public places such as
restaurants or shops; or
(D) terminated from employment, or otherwise discriminated
against in employment.
(4) To allow discrimination to persist is incompatible with
the founding principles of this country.
(5) Failure to ensure that all people of the United States
are treated equally allows a culture of hate against some
people in the United States to fester.
(6) This hate culture includes continuing physical assaults
and murders committed against LGBT individuals, and
particularly against transgender individuals, in the United
States.
(7) The events that transpired on June 12, 2016, in
Orlando, Florida, were a horrifying and tragic act of hate
and terror that took the lives of 49 innocent individuals and
injured 53 more. The victims were targeted because of who
they were, whom they loved, or whom they associated with.
(b) It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) it is time to end discrimination against LGBT
individuals and stand against the culture of hatred and
prejudice that such discrimination allows;
(2) it is incumbent on policymakers to ensure that LGBT
individuals benefit from the full protection of the civil
rights laws of the Nation; and
(3) Congress commits to take every action necessary to make
certain that all people of the United States are treated and
protected equally under the law.
______