Domestic Partner Health Benefits Equity Act

Mr. President, the USA PATRIOT Act, the counterterrorism bill that the Bush administration pushed through Congress after the September 11 terrorist attacks, has been the focus of much controversy in recent months. I voted for the PATRIOT Act, as did the vast majority of my colleagues in the Congress. I believed then, and I still believe, that the PATRIOT Act made many reasonable and necessary changes in the law.

For example, the PATRIOT Act tripled the number of Federal agents at the Northern border, an area that had been greatly understaffed. It allocated $100 million to upgrade technology for monitoring the Northern border. It expedited the hiring of FBI translators, who were desperately needed to translate intelligence after 9/11.

Most importantly, the PATRIOT Act updated information technology and enhanced information sharing between Federal agencies, especially the FBI and the CIA. As we learned after 9/11, the failure of these agencies to communicate with each other may have prevented law enforcement from uncovering the 9/11 plot before that terrible day.

However, the PATRIOT Act contains several controversial provisions that I and many of my colleagues believe went too far. The Bush administration placed Congress in a very difficult situation by insisting on including these provisions in the bill. We were able to amend or sunset some of the most troubling components of the bill. However, many remained in the final version. As a result, the PATRIOT Act makes it much easier for the FBI to monitor the innocent activities of American citizens with minimal or no judicial oversight. For example:

The FBI can now seize records on the books you check out of the library or the videos you rent, simply by certifying that the records are sought for a terrorism or intelligence investigation, a very low standard. A court no longer has authority to question the FBI's certification. The FBI no longer must show that the documents relate to a suspected terrorist or spy.

The FBI can conduct a ``sneak and peek'' search of your home, not notifying you of the search until after a ``reasonable period,'' a term which is not defined in the PATRIOT Act. A court is now authorized to issue a ``sneak and peek'' warrant where a court finds ``reasonable cause'' that providing immediate notice of the warrant would have an ``adverse result,'' a very broad standard. The use of ``sneak and peek'' warrants is not limited to terrorism cases.

The FBI can obtain a ``John Doe'' roving wiretap, which does not specify the target of the wiretap or the place to be wiretapped. This increases the likelihood that the conversations of innocent people wholly unrelated to an investigation will be intercepted.

Many in Congress did not want to deny law enforcement some of the reasonable reforms contained in the PATRIOT Act that they needed to combat terrorism. So, we reluctantly decided to support the administration's version of the bill, but not until we secured a commitment that they would be responsive to Congressional oversight and consult extensively with us before seeking any further changes in the law.

Unfortunately, the Justice Department has reneged on their commitment to Congress, frustrating oversight on the PATRIOT Act at every turn. Attorney General Ashcroft only rarely appears on Capitol Hill. In fact, he has only testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee, of which I am a member, once this year. He appeared, along with two other administration officials, for just half a day. The Justice Department regularly fails to answer congressional inquiries, either arguing that requested information is classified, or simply not responding at all.

At the same time, the administration's allies in Congress have argued that the PATRIOT Act's sunset clauses should be repealed before we have had an opportunity to review their effectiveness. Earlier this year, we learned that the administration had secretly drafted another sweeping counterterrorism bill, ``PATRIOT Act II,'' without consulting with Congress. This bill would grant the Justice Department even broader authority, such as the right to strip Americans of their citizenship.

That proposal generated widespread opposition, but, unchastened, the administration went on the offensive again recently. On the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, President Bush proposed new legislation that would give the Justice Department the authority to issue so-called administrative subpoenas, without judicial review, create 15 new federal death penalty crimes, and mandate pretrial detention for defendants accused of a laundry list of crimes, many of them unrelated to terrorism. These proposals continue the Administration's pattern of seeking to limit judicial oversight and grant broad, unchecked authority to law enforcement.

While they are pushing radical changes in the law, the Bush administration has failed to take commonsense steps to prevent terrorism, like developing fully interoperable information systems and creating a consolidated terrorist watch list. Most of the information systems now within the Department of Homeland Security's jurisdiction were acquired and developed independently within the former agencies in a parochial ``stovepipe'' fashion, and may be incompatible with other DHS systems. The Bush administration indicated that an initial inventory of these systems would be completed by this spring. I understand that inventory is still not completed.

This April, the GAO concluded that nine different agencies still develop and maintain a dozen terrorist watch lists, including overlapping and different data, and inconsistent procedures and policies on information sharing. The law creating the Department of Homeland Security requires the Department to consolidate watch lists. The Bush Administration promised that these lists would be consolidated by the first day of Homeland Security's operations. Seven months later, the lists are still not consolidated.

The Bush administration has devoted too many resources to counterterrorism measures that threaten our civil liberties and do little to improve our security. For example, John Ashcroft's Justice Department has launched a number of high-profile initiatives that explicitly target immigrants, especially Arabs and Muslims, for heightened scrutiny. These efforts squander precious law enforcement resources and alienate communities whose cooperation we desperately need. They run counter to basic principles of community policing, which reject the use of racial and ethnic profiles and focus on building trust and respect by working cooperatively with community members.

The Justice Department's own Inspector General has found that the Justice Department has not adequately distinguished between terrorism suspects and other immigration detainees. The IG found that the Justice Department detained 762 aliens as a result of the September 11 investigation, exactly zero of whom were charged with terrorist-related offenses. No one is suggesting that the Department should never use immigration charges to detain a suspected terrorist, but the broad brush of terrorism should not be applied to large numbers of every out- of-status immigrants who happen to be Arab or Muslim.

Many of us in Congress have raised concerns with the Justice Department about implementation of the PATRIOT Act and other civil liberties issues, and, rather than respond to legitimate concerns, they have gone on the offensive. In testimony before the Judiciary Committee, Attorney General John Ashcroft warned his critics:

To those who scare peace-loving people with phantoms of

lost liberty; my message is this: Your tactics only aid

terrorists--for they erode our national unity and diminish

our resolve. They give ammunition to America's enemies, and

pause to America's friends. They encourage people of good

will to remain silent in the face of evil.

It is unacceptable to dismiss those who raise legitimate concerns about civil liberties as terrorist sympathizers.

For the American people, the PATRIOT Act has become a potent symbol of the Justice Department's poor record on civil liberties. In fact, three states, Alaska, Hawaii, and Vermont, and over 180 cities and counties across the country, including Chicago in my home State of Illinois, have passed resolutions opposing provisions of the PATRIOT Act.

Almost 2 years after its passage, I believe that it is time to revisit the debate about the PATRIOT Act. Let me be clear: I do not believe that we should repeal the PATRIOT Act. However, I do believe that we should amend several of its most troubling provisions. Law enforcement must have all the necessary tools to combat terrorism, but we must also be careful to protect the civil liberties of Americans. I believe we can be both safe and free.

Today, I, Senator Craig, and several of our Republican and Democratic colleagues in the Senate introduced the Security and Freedom Ensured Act of 2003. The SAFE Act is a narrowly-tailored bipartisan bill that would amend the most problematic provisions of the PATRIOT Act, those that grant broad powers to the FBI to monitor Americans with inadequate judicial oversight. The bill would impose reasonable limits on law enforcement's authority without impeding their ability to investigate and prevent terrorism. It would not amend pre-PATRIOT Act law in anyway. The SAFE Act is supported by a broad coalition from across the political spectrum, including the American Civil Liberties Union and the American Conservative Union.

The SAFE Act would:

Reinstate the pre-PATRIOT Act standard for seizing business records. In order to obtain a subpoena, the FBI would have to demonstrate that it has reason to believe that the person to whom the records relate is a suspected terrorist or spy. The SAFE Act retains the expansion of the business record provision to include all business records, including library records, rather than just the four types of records--hotel, car rental, storage facility and common carrier--covered before the PATRIOT Act.

Authorize a court to issue a delayed notification warrant where notice of the warrant would endanger the life or physical safety of an individual, result in flight from prosecution, or result in the destruction of or tampering with the evidence sought under the warrant. It would require notification of a covert search within seven days, rather than an undefined ``reasonable period.'' It would authorize unlimited additional 7-day delays if the court found that notice of the warrant would continue to endanger the life or physical safety of an individual, result in flight from prosecution, or result in the destruction of or tampering with the evidence sought under the warrant.

Limit ``John Doe'' roving wiretaps by requiring the warrant to identify either the target of the wiretap or the place to be wiretapped. To protect innocent people from Government surveillance, it would also require that surveillance be conducted only when the suspect is present at the place to be wiretapped.

Sunset several of the PATRIOT Act's most controversial surveillance provisions on December 31, 2005. Many of PATRIOT's surveillance provisions already sunset on December 31, 2005. The SAFE Act would simply give Congress an opportunity to assess the effectiveness of several additional controversial provisions before deciding whether to reauthorize them.

Under the SAFE Act, the FBI would still have broad authority to combat terrorism. For example, consider the following hypotheticals:

The FBI would like to search the travel records of a suspected terrorist to help determine if he attended a meeting with other extremists. The FBI has reason to believe the records are related to a suspected terrorist, so the SAFE Act would authorize the issuance of a subpoena.

The FBI suspects that an individual affiliated with an extremist organization is planning a terrorist attack. The FBI would like to search the suspect's computer drive to learn more about the plot without tipping off the suspect and his co-conspirators. The SAFE Act would permit the issuance of a ``sneak and peek'' warrant, and permit the FBI to delay notice of the warrant for as long as it would continue to endanger the life or physical safety of an individual, result in flight from prosecution, or result in the destruction of or tampering with the evidence sought under the warrant.

At the same time, the SAFE Act would protect innocent Americans from unchecked Government surveillance. For example:

The FBI is investigating suspected members of a terrorist cell and would like to subpoena the records of a library and a bookstore that they frequent. Currently, the FBI could subpoena all of the records of the library and bookstore, including the records of countless innocent Americans, by certifying they are sought for a terrorism investigation, the exceedingly low standard created by the PATRIOT Act. The SAFE Act would permit the FBI to obtain the records related to the suspected terrorists, but not records related to innocent Americans who are not suspected terrorists.

The FBI is tracking a suspected terrorist who is using public phones at local restaurants to do business. The PATRIOT Act would permit the issuance of a roving wiretap that would apply to any phone the suspect uses. Under the PATRIOT Act, the FBI could monitor the conversations not just of the suspect, but of innocent patrons of these restaurants. The SAFE Act would also permit the issuance of a roving wiretap that would apply to any phone the suspect uses, but would only permit the FBI to gather intelligence when they ascertain that the suspect is using a phone.

The Justice Department has argued that amending the PATRIOT Act would handcuff law enforcement and make it very difficult to combat terrorism. Nothing could be further from the truth. It is possible to combat terrorism and protect our liberties. The SAFE Act demonstrates that. I urge my colleagues to support it.

Mr. President, I am pleased to join my colleagues Senators Pryor, Coleman and Bingaman in introducing the ``Keeping Families Together Act.'' Among other provisions, our bill authorizes a new, competitive State grant program to support statewide systems for care for children with serious mental illness so that parents are no longer forced to give up custody of their children solely for the purpose of securing mental health treatment.

Serious mental illness afflicts millions of our Nation's children and adolescents. It is estimated that as many as 20 percent of American children under the age of 17 suffer from a mental, emotional or behavioral illness. Of these, nearly half have a condition that produces a serious disability that impairs the child's ability to function in day-to-day activities. What is even more disturbing is the fact that two-thirds of all young people who need mental health treatment are not getting it.

Behind each of these statistics is a family that is struggling to do the best it can to help a son or daughter with a serious mental illness to be just like every other kid--to develop friendships, to do well in school, and to get along with their siblings and other family members. These children are almost always involved with more than one social service agency, including the mental health, special education, child welfare, and juvenile justice systems. Yet no one agency, at either the State or the Federal level, is clearly responsible or accountable for helping these children.

Recent news reports in more than 30 States have highlighted the difficulties that parents of children with serious mental illness have in getting the coordinated mental health services that their children need. My interest in this issue was triggered by a compelling series of stories by Barbara Walsh in the Portland Press Herald last summer which detailed the obstacles that many Maine families have faced in getting care for their children.

Too many families in Maine and elsewhere have been forced to make wrenching decisions when they have been advised that the only way to get the care that their children so desperately need is to relinquish custody and place them in either the child welfare or juvenile justice system.

Yet neither system is intended to serve children with serious mental illness. Child welfare systems are designed to protect children who have been abused or neglected. Juvenile justice systems are designed to rehabilitate children who have committed criminal or delinquent acts and to prevent such acts from occurring. While neither of these systems is equipped to care for a child with a serious mental illness, in far too may cases, there is nowhere else for the family to turn.

Earlier this year, the General Accounting Office (GAO) completed a report that I requested with Representatives Pete Stark and Patrick Kennedy titled ``Child Welfare and Juvenile Justice: Federal Agencies Could Play a Stronger Role in Helping States Reduce the Number of Children Placed solely to Obtain Mental Health Services.''

The GAO surveyed child welfare directors in all States and the District of Columbia, as well as juvenile justice officials in the 33 counties with the largest number of young people in their juvenile justice systems. According to the GAO survey, in 2001, parents placed more than 12,700 children into the child welfare or juvenile justice systems so that these children could receive mental health services.

Moreover, the GAO estimate is likely just the tip of the iceberg, since 32 States--including the five States with the largest populations of children--did not provide the GAO with any data.

There have been other studies indicating that the custody relinquishment problem is pervasive. In 1999, the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill released a survey which found that 23 percent--or one in four of the parents surveyed--had been told by public officials that they needed to relinquish custody of their children to get care, and that one in five of these families had done so.

While some States have passed laws to limit or prohibit custody relinquishment, simply banning the practice is not a solution, since it can leave mentally ill children and their families without services and care. Custody relinquishment is merely a symptom of the much larger problem, which is the lack of available, affordable and appropriate mental health services and support systems for these children and their families.

In July, I chaired a series of hearings in the Committee on Governmental Affairs to examine the difficult challenges faced by families of children with mental illnesses. We heard compelling testimony from families who told the Committee about their personal struggles to get mental health services for their severely ill children. The mothers who testified told us they were advised that the only way to get the intensive care and services that their children needed was to relinquish custody and place them in the child welfare system. This is a wrenching decision that no family should be forced to make. No parent should have to give up custody of his or her child just to get the services that the child needs.

The legislation that we are introducing today was developed in response to concerns raised by both the GAO report and in the Governmental Affairs Committee hearings.

First, the legislation authorizes $55 million for competitive grants to States that would be payable over six years to create an infrastructure to support and sustain statewide systems of care to serve children who are in custody or at risk of entering custody of the State for the purpose of receiving mental health services. These grants are intended to help states serve these children more effectively and efficiently, while keeping them at home with their families.

States would use funds from these Family Support Grants to foster interagency cooperation and cross-system financing among the various State agencies with responsibilities for serving children with mental health needs. The funds would also support the purchase and delivery of a comprehensive array of community-based mental health and family support services for children who are in custody, or at risk of entering into the custody of the State for the purpose of receiving mental health services. This will allow States, which already dedicate significant dollars to serving children in state custody, to use those resources more efficiently by delivering care to children while allowing them to remain with their families.

In response to recommendation made by the GAO report, the Keeping Families Together Act will also establish a Federal interagency task force to examine mental health issues in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems and the role of their agencies in promoting access by children and youth to mental health services.

And finally, the legislation will remove a current statutory barrier that prevents more states from using the Medicaid home and community- based services waiver to serve children with serious mental health conditions. The Medicaid home and community-based services waiver is a promising way for States to reduce the incidence of custody relinquishment and address the underlying lack of mental health services for children. While a number of States have requested these waivers to serve children with developmental disabilities, to date very few have done so for children with serious mental health conditions. That is because, under current law, States can only offer home- and community-based services under these waivers as an alternative to care in hospitals, nursing facilities, or intermediate care facilities for the mentally retarded. Our legislation will correct this omission and provide parity to children with mental illness by including inpatient psychiatric hospitals and residential treatment facilities on the list of institutions for which alternative care through the Medicaid home- and community-based services waivers may be available.

The legislation we are introducing today will help to reduce the barriers to care for children who suffer from mental illness and will assist States in eliminating the practice of parents relinquishing custody of their children to State agencies solely for the purpose of securing mental health services.

Our legislation has been endorsed by a number of mental health and children's groups including the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, the Federation of Families for Children's Mental Health, the National Child Welfare League, the Bazelon Center, the Children's Defense Fund, and the National Mental Health Association. I urge all of my colleagues to join us as cosponsors.

Mr. President, I rise today to speak about the need for consistent tax treatment of employer-provided health insurance for domestic partners. Today, Senator Bob Graham and I are introducing the Domestic Partner Health Benefits Equity Act, a bill that seeks to simplify the tax code and address the growing trend among both public and private employers who have decided to provide domestic partner benefits to their employees.

More than one-third of Fortune 500 companies, as well as numerous State and local governments, are providing health insurance benefits to the domestic partners of their employees. This is a clear trend in the American workplace. However, Federal tax law has not kept pace with corporate changes in this area and employers who offer such benefits and the employees who receive them are taxed inequitably. Our legislation would provide consistent tax treatment for employer- provided health insurance for domestic partners.

Currently, the tax code provides that the employer's contribution of the premium for health insurance for an employee's spouse is excluded from the employee's taxable income. An employer's contribution for the domestic partner's coverage, however, is included in an employee's taxable income as a fringe benefit. In addition, the employer's payroll tax liability is increased. This forces businesses to create a two- track payroll system for benefits provided to spouses and those provided to domestic partners, an administrative burden that this legislation would eliminate.

I believe that by passing this legislation and changing current law, we will increase the number of Americans covered by health insurance by providing employers with a tax incentive. The tax code should not penalize employers for offering these benefits to their employees.

I urge my colleagues to join me and support the Domestic Partner Health Benefits Equity Act. I ask unanimous consent that the text of this legislation be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I rise today with Senators Wyden, Brownback, Specter, and Burns to introduce the Local Railroad Rehabilitation and Investment Act. The bill provides a Federal tax credit for short line railroad rehabilitation and addresses a critical need in small town America.

There are some 500 short line railroads serving large areas of the country that are no longer served by the large Class I railroads. These railroads keep our farmers and our small businesses connected to the national main line railroad system and are the only alternative to increasing truck traffic on local roads.

Many of today's short lines were once the light density branch lines of the large Class I railroads. As Class I systems began to lose money, these branch lines received little investment and were gradually abandoned. As an alternative to abandonment, the Federal Government encouraged spinning off these lines to form new local railroads that would preserve service and jobs.

Today, this local service is threatened due to the introduction of the new, heavier 286,000-pound railcar that the Class I's are making the new industry standard. Because of the interconnectivity of our Nation's rail network, short lines are forced to use these heavier cars. This places an added strain on track structure and makes rehabilitation even more important and more urgent. Studies indicate that it will take $7 billion in new investment for our nation's short lines to accommodate these heavier rail cars.

My legislation is not intended to fund this entire rehabilitation. Rather, it is intended to help small railroads make the improvements required to grow traffic so they can earn the additional investment income needed to complete the $7 billion capital upgrade.

Short lines operate 50,000 miles of track in 49 states, employ over 23,000 workers at an average wage of $47,000, and earn $3 billion in annual revenue. Railroading is one of the most capital-intensive industries in the country. That capital effort is also labor intensive and my legislation will result in the immediate creation of jobs needed to undertake these rehabilitation projects.

The major provisions of the Local Railroad Rehabilitation and Investment Act include:

Authorization of a federal tax credit against qualified railroad track maintenance expenditures paid or incurred by a taxpayer during taxable years 2004 to 2008.

The qualified railroad track maintenance expenditures include expenditures, whether or not otherwise chargeable to capital account, for maintaining or upgrading railroad track, including roadbed, bridges and related structures, owned or leased by the taxpayer of a Class II or Class III railroad.

The total tax credit is capped at $10,000 for every mile of railroad track owned or leased by a Class II or Class III railroad, provided that the expenditure is certified by the State as part of an essential rail upgrade. For example, a 20-mile railroad qualifies for a $200,000 credit.

And, to maximize private investment in this critical infrastructure, the bill allows railroads that are unable to fully utilize credits earned to transfer such credits to other railroads, railroad shippers, or railroad suppliers and contractors.

For rural America, the specter of losing rail access is a serious matter. As characterized in the American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials' (AASHTO) recent Freight-Rail Bottom Line Report, short lines ``often provide the first and last service miles in the door-to-door collection and distribution of railcars.'' The Association of American Railroads estimates that short lines originate or terminate one out of every four carloads moved by the domestic railroad industry. Preserving short line rail service is important to the national transportation system; it is absolutely critical to the rural transportation system. This legislation provides a modest and efficient way to help the short line industry help itself.

I urge my colleagues to join me and support this important legislation. I

ask unanimous consent that the text of the legislation be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, today I will introduce in the Senate the Reasonable Notice and Search Act. This bill addresses the provision of the USA PATRIOT Act that has caused perhaps the most concern among Members of Congress. Section 213 of the PATRIOT Act, sometimes referred to as the ``delayed notice search provision'' or the ``sneak and peek provision,'' authorizes the Government in limited circumstances to conduct a search without immediately serving a search warrant on the owner or occupant of the premises that have been searched.

Prior to the PATRIOT Act, secret searches for physical evidence were performed in some jurisdictions under the authority of Court of Appeals decisions, but the Supreme Court never definitively ruled whether they were constitutional. Section 213 of the Patriot Act authorized delayed notice warrants in any case in which an ``adverse result'' would occur if the warrant were served before the search was executed. Adverse result was defined as including: 1. Endangering the life or physical safety of an individual; 2. flight from prosecution; 3. destruction of or tampering with evidence; 4. intimidation of potential witnesses; or 5. otherwise seriously jeopardizing an investigation or unduly delaying a trial. These circumstances went beyond what court decisions had authorized before the PATRIOT Act. In addition, while some courts had required the service of the warrant within a specified period of time, the PATRIOT Act simply required that the warrant specify that it would be served within a ``reasonable'' period of time after the search.

It is interesting to note that this provision of the PATRIOT Act was not limited to terrorism cases. Nor was it made subject to the sunset provision that will cause most of the new surveillance provisions of the act to expire at the end of 2005 unless Congress reenacts them. So Section 213 was pretty clearly a provision that the Department of Justice wanted regardless of the terrorism threat after 9/11.

Perhaps that is why this provision has caused such controversy since it was passed. Just over 2 months ago, by a wide bipartisan margin, the House passed an amendment to the Commerce-Justice-State appropriations bill offered by Representative Otter from

Idaho, a Republican, to stop funding for delayed notice searches authorized under section 213. The size of the vote took the Department by surprise, and it immediately set out to defend the provision aggressively. Clearly, this is a power that DOJ does not want to lose.

I raised concern about the sneak and peek provision when it was included in the Patriot Act and even considered offering an amendment at that time to strip it out. I did not believe there had been adequate study and analysis of the justifications for these searches and the potential safeguards that might be included. I did not argue then, however, and I am not arguing now that there should be no delayed notice searches at all and that the provision should be repealed. I do believe, however, that it should be modified to protect against abuse. My bill will do four things to accomplish this.

First, my bill would narrow the circumstances in which a delayed notice warrant can be granted to the following: potential loss of life, flight from prosecution, or destruction or tampering with evidence. The ``catch-all provision'' in section 213, allowing a secret search when serving the warrant would ``seriously jeopardize an investigation or unduly delay a trial'' is too easily susceptible to abuse.

Second, I believe that any delayed notice warrant should provide for a specific and limited time period within which notice must be given--7 days. This is consistent with some of the pre-PATRIOT Act court decisions and will help to bring this provision in closer accord with the fourth amendment to the Constitution. Under my bill, prosecutors will be permitted to seek 7-day extensions if circumstances continue to warrant that the subject not be made aware of the search. But the default should be a week, unless a court is convinced that more time should be permitted.

Third, Section 213 should be brought into the group of PATRIOT Act provisions that will sunset at the end of 2005. This will allow Congress to reexamine this provision along with the other provisions of the act, which was passed within 6 weeks of the 9/11 attacks, to determine if the balance between civil liberties and law enforcement has been correctly struck.

Finally, the bill requires a public report on the number of times that section 213 is used and the number of times that extensions are sought beyond the 7-day notice period. This information will help the public and Congress evaluate the need for this authority and determine whether it should be retained or modified after the sunset.

These are reasonable and moderate changes to the law. They do not gut the provision. They do not make it worthless. They do recognize the growing and legitimate concern from across the political spectrum that this provision was passed in haste and presents the potential for abuse. They also send a message that fourth amendment rights have meaning and potential violations of those rights should be minimized if at all possible. I urge my colleagues to support this bill and I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, it's a privilege to join my colleagues in introducing the Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 2003.

Civil rights is the unfinished business of our nation. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 gives all Americans--without regard to race, ethnic background, gender, or religion--the opportunity to obtain and keep a job. The Employment Non-Discrimination Act is an essential additional step in preventing job discrimination.

The act is straightforward and limited. It prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation in making decisions about hiring, firing, promotion, and compensation. It makes clear that there is no right to preferential treatment, and that quotas are prohibited. It does not apply to employers with less than 15 employees. It does not apply to the armed forces, religious organizations, or such volunteer positions as troop leaders in the Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts.

In fact, this fundamental additional protection for America's workforce is long overdue. Too many hardworking Americans are being judged on their sexual orientation, rather than their ability and qualifications.

Consider the example of Kendall Hamilton in Oklahoma City. After working at Red Lobster for several years and receiving excellent reviews, he applied for promotion at the urging of the general manager, who knew he was gay. His application was rejected after a co-worker revealed his sexual orientation to the upper management team, and the promotion was given instead to another employee who had been on the job for only 9 months--and whom Mr. Hamilton had trained. He was told that his sexual orientation ``was not compatible with Red Lobster's belief in family values,'' and that being gay had destroyed any chance of becoming a manager. As a result, Hamilton left the company.

Consider the example of Steve Morrison, a firefighter in Oregon. His co-workers saw him on the local news protesting an anti-gay initiative, and incorrectly assumed he was gay himself. He began to lose workplace responsibilities and was the victim of harassment, including hate mail. After a long administrative proceeding, the trumped-up charges were removed from his record, and he was transferred to another fire station.

The overwhelming majority of Americans believe that this kind of discrimination is wrong. According to a 2003 Gallup study, 88 percent of Americans believe that gays and lesbians should have equal job opportunities. The Employment Non-Discrimination Act is strongly supported by labor unions and a broad religious coalition. They know that America will not reach its full potential or realize its promise of equal justice and equal opportunity for all until we end all forms of discrimination.

Over 60 percent of Fortune 500 companies have implemented non- discrimination policies that include sexual orientation. Our legislation has been endorsed by leading corporations such as AT&T, BP, Cisco Systems, Eastman Kodak, FleetBoston, General Mills, Hewlett- Packard, IBM, JP Morgan Chase & Co., Microsoft, Nike, Oracle, Shell Oil, and Verizon.

Small businesses support our legislation as well. At a hearing in 2001, Lucy Billingsly, a Republican small business owner in Dallas, said, ``A uniform Federal law banning sexual orientation discrimination will give businesses the right focus. By paying attention to the quality of work being done and not to factors that have nothing to do with job performance, all of America's businesses will perform better.''

Despite broad-based support in the business community and Congress's history of enacting anti-discrimination legislation, some argue that the solution to the problem of job discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation should be left to the States. I disagree. Only 14 States and the District of Columbia have laws similar to the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. Too many American workers are left without redress. A Federal law is clearly needed to ensure that all Americans receive equal treatment in the workplace.

Hard-working citizens in every State deserve the opportunity to feel secure in their jobs when they perform well, and they deserve the opportunity to compete in the workplace when they are qualified for a job. Job discrimination based on sexual orientation is unacceptable, and I urge my colleagues to support this bill.