June 12, 2019 - Issue: Vol. 165, No. 98 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 1st Session

[Pages S3333-S3335]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                              Equality Act

  Mr. JONES. Mr. President, today I rise to talk about a matter that is 
very close to my heart and rooted in my faith and belief that we are 
all God's children created in God's image. It is an issue of 
fundamental equality, of basic human dignity, and it is consistent with 
the values we strive to embody as American citizens.
  I stand today to honor the contributions of LGBTQ Americans--the 
contributions they have given so selflessly to our Nation--and to 
remind all of my colleagues of the great risks these Americans still 
face simply because of who they love and who they are.
  It was 50 years ago this month that the gay community finally rose 
up. The Stonewall riots were a product of a brutal police force 
cracking down on the gay community. They found a voice that others had 
in the previous years. This Pride Month, June, we celebrate that 50 
years of a rise in the voice of people to be treated just basically as 
everyone else. It is an important issue for me. It is an important 
issue for a number of reasons--first and foremost, because I am a 
father, but also, I am a product of the Deep South in which I was 
raised. As a kid, I came of age during a very tumultuous time in our 
Nation's history, a very tumultuous time in Alabama.

[[Page S3334]]

  When I was a kid, our schools remained segregated for years after the 
Brown v. Board of Education decision, and my Black peers faced very 
difficult and different prospects for their future in life, which was a 
direct result of the Jim Crow laws that were still on the books in my 
childhood.
  Men, women, and children were regularly targeted for violent attacks 
simply because of the color of their skin, the way they were born, and 
their audacity--their audacity to yearn for freedom and love and 
acceptance and respect.
  The wounds of those years left scars that are still visible in many 
places today--many places not just in Alabama but across the country. 
The inequality and divisive rhetoric of the time and the tensions it 
fomented fueled the violence and tragedy that were wrought upon so many 
innocent people, especially in the 1950s and in the 1960s in Alabama, 
in the Deep South, and so many other places across this land.
  I raise this because history has shown us time and again that when 
our government sanctions discrimination or merely turns a blind eye to 
it, we cause irreparable harm to those people. In doing so, we also 
turn our backs on the fundamental promise of this great country--that 
we are all endowed with certain unalienable rights, ``all'' being the 
key word in that phrase. We are all endowed with certain unalienable 
rights.
  Without exception, policies of legalized discrimination that are 
fueled by fear always become a black mark on our Nation's history. 
Today, we can reflect on those incidents from the civil rights movement 
with more clarity and take pride in the significant progress we have 
made over time, but what we cannot do is delude ourselves into thinking 
this work is nearly concluded. There is still work to be done with 
regard to gay rights. There is still work to be done when you consider 
that LGBTQ people in this country are still not guaranteed permanent 
Federal protection against discrimination--they are still not. There is 
still work to be done when we see that the LGBTQ community youth are 
five times more likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual 
peers--five times more likely to commit suicide. And we know there is 
still work to be done when LGBTQ youth are more likely to become 
homeless and to face physical and sexual exploitation.
  Our former colleague in this body who was here for such a long time--
he was here when I worked in the Senate in 1979 and 1980--Republican 
Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah spoke passionately on this floor last year, 
making an important point about the scope of the challenge we still 
face. He said:

       Ensuring that our LGBT friends feel loved and accepted is 
     not a political issue; we all have a stake in this. We all 
     have family or loved ones who have felt marginalized in one 
     way or another because of gender identity or sexual 
     orientation, and we need to be there for them.

  Senator Hatch. I miss him, even though I am glad my friend from Utah 
is here.
  Instead of love and acceptance, however, too often the LGBTQ 
community still faces hate, violence, and discrimination in the 
workplace, in the classroom, in the housing market, and, more and more, 
in our society.
  In fact, today we remember the lives of 49 innocent people who were 
senselessly murdered in Orlando, FL, 3 years ago at Pulse, an LGBTQ 
nightclub.
  Just last week, a Detroit man was charged with first-degree murder 
for killing three LGBTQ people in an apparent hate crime.
  In my home State of Alabama, a local mayor recently made headlines 
around the country for advocating the killing of LGBTQ people, claiming 
it was the only way to ``fix'' the problem.
  In Washington, DC, over the weekend, a panic ensued and thousands 
fled for their lives when it was believed there was an active shooter 
targeting the city's annual Pride parade.
  In Alabama, young Nigel Shelby, a high school freshman from 
Huntsville, ended his life this past spring after enduring bullying 
from his peers and struggling through bouts of depression. Mourning her 
son, his heartbroken mother called him the ``sweetest child.'' She said 
Nigel was ``always full of joy, full of light.'' As a father, I cannot 
begin to imagine the pain she and her family have experienced at this 
sudden loss. But I will tell you, as the father of a gay son, I have 
had to imagine the pain and uncertainty her child must have felt in a 
world in which he didn't feel fully accepted.
  These incidents are just a few of the most recent examples I could 
share. Quite frankly, I have hesitated to even mention incidents in 
Alabama because we sometimes have the stigma of discrimination in my 
State.
  Most recently in Alabama, the Alabama Legislature passed a most 
restrictive law dealing with abortion and women's rights. It was a 
callous law, and once again people are looking at Alabama and saying: 
What is going on? They look at this smalltown mayor and say: What is 
going on? But let me tell you, folks, for anybody who is listening to 
this, that is not Alabama. That is not the people of Alabama. That may 
be a gerrymandered legislature that represents only a small segment, 
but that is not the good people I know across the State of Alabama. 
Regardless of their political persuasion, regardless of their age, 
regardless of their religion, those instances do not represent the 
great State of Alabama.
  Those are the most recent examples, but it is clear that the fear 
LGBTQ people can feel is by no means unfounded.
  In this Pride Month, while we celebrate the LGBT community and the 
right for everyone to live and love as they choose, we cannot forget 
that for this community, there is still much work to be done. That is 
why I have cosponsored and I am so proud to cosponsor the Equality Act, 
and I urge my colleagues to do the same. Our colleagues in the House of 
Representatives have already passed this legislation, which fills a gap 
in our Nation's Federal civil rights laws by providing permanent 
protections for the LGBTQ community regardless of where they live.
  This act is an important step. It is not a silver bullet, but it is 
an incredible, important step forward in what we can do to recognize 
the dignity of all people in this country.
  Right now, these protections are simply a patchwork of State laws and 
other regulations. In 30 States, including Alabama, LGBTQ people are at 
risk of being fired, evicted, or denied other services because of their 
sexual orientation or gender.
  I urge my colleagues to look at who is supporting the Equality Act. 
This is not a bipartisan issue; this is a nonpartisan issue. If you 
look at the over 500 organizations, a couple of hundred major 
corporations--the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has endorsed this bill and 
is urging its passage because so many across the country recognize the 
importance of these protections.
  How many times have you seen businesses and how many times have you 
seen the chamber--and I mean no disrespect to them--endorse a law that 
bans discrimination when they know it puts certain burdens on their 
members? This is a historic opportunity that we have here--a historic 
opportunity--and we need to take advantage of it.
  According to the Public Religion Research Institute, a majority of 
people in every State support a law like this, including a majority of 
the folks in Alabama. Those majorities extend across party lines, 
religion, and demographics, but despite most Americans being on the 
same page about this, the minority in opposition to this bill and in 
opposition to the LGBTQ community in general seems to be firm. It seems 
to be solid. It seems to be vocal. Opposition to such expansions of 
civil rights protections usually is.
  From where I sit, this is not a zero-sum game. My view on this is 
informed by my experience. Most of what we do here is informed by 
experience, and my view on this issue is informed by my own experience 
as a father, as someone who loves his son very much--as any parent 
loves their son. It is informed by my experience as a lawyer, having 
spent my career working for justice. No matter where the downtrodden 
might be, I have spent my career working to make sure people are 
treated the same under the law, knowing that if you can change those 
laws and you can get treated the same under the law, hearts and minds 
will follow. We have seen it happen time and again.
  My view is informed by my religion, my religion as a Christian and my 
belief that we are called upon to love one

[[Page S3335]]

another. It is the same and similar view expressed by our colleague 
Orrin Hatch in his floor speech last year.
  We are called to stand up and fight for equal treatment and dignity 
of our fellow human beings--dignity and respect--to fight for people 
like my talented and compassionate son Carson and for all other sons, 
daughters, nieces, nephews, grandsons, granddaughters, friends, and 
neighbors, all out there who deserve to pursue a full, free, joyous, 
and loving life.
  Today the Senate has an opportunity to stand up and make a very clear 
statement that we will not allow State government-sanctioned 
discrimination of LGBTQ people. We will not continue to allow that 
discrimination to continue, but we have to make that stand, and that 
stand can start right here. It has already started in the House.
  The time is now to send a message. The time is now to send a message 
to all people--to all people across this country--that we in the U.S 
Senate believe that all people deserve to live with dignity, free from 
the fear of discrimination.
  As I prepared these remarks and I read through them and made changes, 
I thought about my old boss whose seat I now fill, Howell Heflin. It 
was in the 1990s that Howell Heflin from Alabama, a son of the South 
whose relatives fought in the Civil War, stood before this body and 
said that it was time to remove the Confederate battle flag from all 
Federal Government-sanctioned emblems. It was a bold statement. Now we 
have a son of the South standing up for what in the Bible Belt is that 
love and respect, a son of the South who is now talking about his 
family, talking about discrimination, and reaching out to people across 
the aisle and within my own party to say that it is time; it is time to 
make that move.
  So I ask my colleagues to take this step with me, to do the right 
thing by calling on Leader McConnell to bring this legislation to a 
vote in the U.S. Senate. Let all 100 Senators stand up and be counted 
one way or another. Every voice counts. Let every U.S. Senator say 
where they are by a vote on the Equality Act and to do it sooner rather 
than later.
  This is a matter of civil rights, this is a matter of human rights, 
and this is a matter of being on the right side of history. We have an 
important opportunity right now to get it right. It is right now. It is 
the right time.
  Thank you.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maine.
  (The remarks of Ms. Collins pertaining to the introduction of S. 1803 
are printed in today's Record under ``Statements on Introduced Bills 
and Joint Resolutions.'')
  Ms. COLLINS. I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from South Dakota.