Date: Fri, 01 May 1998 20:17:17 -0500
From: ACTION ALERT Moderator <jjy@xnet.com>
Subject: ACTION ALERT: ENDA in Committee

[ submitted by Doug Case.

  Moderator Note: Also visit http://www.hrc.org to find your senator and
representative and ask them to SUPPORT ENDA. ]

ENDA tied in committee. Urgent action needed in Maine, New Hampshire, Ohio,
Tennessee and Virginia.  Please forward.

In 1996, the Senate came within one vote of passing the Employment
Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), 49-50. This was the first time any piece of
gay civil rights legislation has ever come up for a vote in the U.S.
Congress, which was a victory in itself. The bill was reintroduced last
summer and currently has 35 sponsors in the Senate and 157 in the House.

There was a hearing in the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee last
fall. The next step is to have a mark-up (a vote) in the committee before
the bill can move to the Senate floor for a full vote.

Right now, the vote count in committee is 9 to 9 with all the Democrats
supporting ENDA, along with the Republican chair of the committee, Senator
Jeffords (R-VT), who is a lead sponsor of the bill. We need one more vote
to get ENDA out of committee. We have identified five Senators who we think
could be yes votes. They are:

Susan Collins (R-ME)
Judd Gregg    (R-NH)
Mike DeWine   (R-OH)
Bill Frist    (R-TN)
John Warner   (R-VA)

It is crucial that this bill pass out of committee. Please contact your
Senator.

        SAMPLE LETTER

     The Honorable ________ ________
     United States Senate
     Washington, DC  20510

     Dear Senator _________:

        As your constituent, I am writing to ask you to support S.1858, the
     Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). Your support for this bill
     is critical as a member of the Senate Labor and Human Resources
     Committee.

        It is still legal in 40 states to fires someone simply for being
     gay. Discrimination does happen, and it is wrong. We need a federal
     bill to protect against workplace discrimination on the basis of
     sexual orientation. This legislation is supported by 68% of the
     American public according to a Tarrance Group/Lake Sosin Snell poll
     conducted in April 1997. Even in the South support is strong with 62%.

        Concerns have been expressed about the impact that ENDA might have
     if enacted. To date, the ENDA-like legislation passed in 10 states has
     been an effective deterrent to discrimination with no negative
     consequences. In fact, a General Accounting Office report that
     Chairman Jeffords unveiled at the ENDA hearing last October shows that
     in those states "relatively few complaints of such discrimination have
     been made" and that " the number of court cases brought under those
     laws has been small."

        Please let me know your position on ENDA and whether or not you
     will vote for it in committee and on the Senate floor. Thank you.

     Sincerely,


     <your name>
     <your address>


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