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 (No Ratings Yet) Big news! The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee has just announced its witness list. It’s an interesting list that raises hope and questions, and I’ve uncovered some facts about the witnesses that you can see by clicking on the link at the bottom of this post. But meanwhile, down in West Virginia, longtime Senator Jay Rockefeller IV has been a quiet friend to the LGBT community. Perhaps too quiet. He has cosponsored a bill with sexual orientation and gender identity language, and he voted for the hate crimes bill. He also voted for the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) in the Senate in 1996, when it failed of passage by a single vote. He’s one of 6 Senators who are quite likely to vote in favor, but who have resisted calls to declare public support. The problem with this closet support is that the leadership will not bring ENDA to a vote unless they know they have the 60 votes necessary to defeat the Republican filibuster. Please call Senator Rockefeller and ask him to speak up. Remind him there’s a hearing on Thursday in the Senate on ENDA. Contact info and more on the ENDA Senate Witness list, just announced, by clicking here. (Reminder to all: We’re liveblogging the hearing at The Bilerico Project Thursday at 10am. You can enter your email in the box at http://bilerico.com for a reminder to tune in.)
(No Ratings Yet) Senator Robert Byrd is the oldest and longest-serving member of the Senate. While some feel that his recent fragile health means that he cannot be counted on for a vote, he has been quite active in the past few weeks after recovering from a fall, and he plans to be active in the health care reform debate. I believe that Senator Byrd, like the junior Senator from West Virginia, Jay Rockefeller, could very well support ENDA if he knew that people in his state supported the bill. Please call Senator Byrd and ask for his support for S.1584. Send this to your friends and LGBT organizations in West Virginia. Contact info and more after the jump.
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