WASHINGTON
LEGISLATIVE OFFICE
June 17, 2016
ACLU Urges YES Vote on Wyden Amendment #4688 to H.R. 2578, the
Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act
for Fiscal Year 2017
Dear Senator:
AMERICAN CIVIL
LIBERTIES UNION
WASHINGTON
LEGISLATIVE OFFICE
915 15th STREET, NW, 6 T H FL
WASHINGTON, DC 20005
T/202.544.1681
F/202.546.0738
WWW.ACLU.ORG
KARIN JOHANSON
DIRECTOR
NATIONAL OFFICE
125 BROAD STREET, 18 T H FL.
NEW YORK, NY 10004 -2400
T/212.549.2500
OFFICERS AND DIRECTORS
SUSAN N. HERMAN
PRESIDENT
ANTHONY D. ROMERO
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
ROBERT REMAR
TREASURER
The ACLU strongly urges you to vote YES on amendment #4688 offered by
Senator Wyden to the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies
Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2017 (H.R. 2578). The Wyden
amendment has a very simple, straightforward purpose: to prevent federal
funds made available under this legislation from being used to discriminate
on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. The Wyden
amendment would help to ensure that taxpayer funds cannot be used to
engage in discrimination against members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and
transgender (LGBT) community.
The Wyden amendment builds on other recent efforts to prohibit taxpayer
dollars from being used to discriminate against LGBT people. Signed by
President Obama on July 21, 2014, Executive Order 13672 prohibits federal
contractors and subcontractors – who collectively employ a quarter of the
total workforce – from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation or
gender identity.
This LGBT nondiscrimination executive order and the Wyden amendment
build on a bipartisan tradition, dating back nearly 75 years, of prohibiting the
federal government from engaging in taxpayer-funded discrimination. On
June 25, 1941, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 8802, which
prohibited discrimination based on race, creed, color, and national origin in
the national defense industry.
The ACLU urges a YES vote on Wyden amendment #4688 because the
federal government should never fund discrimination; and no one should
ever be disqualified from a taxpayer-funded job because of their sexual
orientation or gender identity.
Please contact Ian Thompson at (202) 715-0837 or [email protected] with any questions.
Sincerely,
Karin Johanson
Director, Washington Legislative Office
Ian Thompson
Legislative Representative