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¡ENDA historic vote!

As the debate unfolded Wednesday on the House floor, suspense heightened over Baldwin’s planned amendment when Republicans opposing ENDA, led by Reps. Howard McKeon (R-Calif.) and Mark Souder (R-Ind.), attempted to use a parliamentary maneuver to prevent Baldwin from withdrawing her amendment. They were later ruled out of order.

Both argued that it was a highly unusual procedure to adopt a House rule, as Democratic leaders did, to allow the introduction of an amendment and its subsequent withdrawal while, at the same time, preventing Republicans from introducing amendments of their own choosing. Republicans had proposed a series of amendments in committee that ENDA supporters said were aimed at gutting the bill. The Democratic-controlled Committee on Education & Labor voted down all the proposed GOP amendments. The House Rules Committee, also controlled by Democrats, voted on Monday to allow three amendments to be considered, one proposed by GOP House member Souder.

Baldwin received applause from her fellow Democratic House members when she spoke on behalf of her amendment before withdrawing it. “Some people have asked why I insisted on bringing an amendment to the floor, only to withdraw it without a vote,” Baldwin said in a statement. “The reason is simple. Those left behind by this bill deserve to hear, on the floor of the House, that they are not forgotten, and our job will not be finished until they, too, share fully in the American dream.” “While ENDA’s victory will represent an important victory, I share the disappointment of Tammy Baldwin and Barney Frank and others who support including protections for transgender individuals in ENDA,” said Pelosi in a speech on the House floor.

“While I had hoped we could have included gender identity, I support final passage of ENDA because its passage will build momentum for further advances on gender identity rights and the rights of all Americans.”

The final ENDA vote came after a brief but emotional debate over a GOP-proposed motion to recommit the bill to committee. House procedures allow members of the minority party to introduce motions to recommit bills to committee, often with instructions to add new provisions to the bills.

Introduced by Souder, the motion to recommit called for adding language that would prevent courts from using ENDA to “modify, limit, restrict or in any way overturn any state or federal definition of marriage as between one man and one woman, including the use of this act as a legal predicate in litigation on the issue of marriage.”

‘I take it personally’ Frank, who led the debate against the amendment, argued that Democrats had already made changes in ENDA that state explicitly that the measure does not impact on marriage and conforms with the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage under federal law as a union only between one man and one woman. He said the motion to recommit was aimed at preventing the House from passing the bill this year and should be seen only as a delaying tactic.

Saying he has been advocating for legislation banning sexual orientation discrimination for 35 years, Frank apologized to his fellow House members for breaking with the protocol of not taking matters personally.

“I take it personally,” he said. “I feel an obligation to 15-year-olds dreading to go to school because of the torments, to people who’ll lose their job in a gas station if someone finds out who they love,” Frank said, his eyes moist with tears.

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