T Town Tommy: Bush Finds Loop Hole to Veto ENDA

The Bush Administration has issued a statement signaling The President will likely veto the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. The act will add sexual orientation to the list of reasons an employer may not fire a person from their job. The loophole the Bush Administration has found to kill the bill is the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 and the Defense of Marriage Act of 1996 both signed into law by President Bill Clinton. The RFRA act prohibits the Federal Government from substantially burdening the free exercise of religion except for compelling reasons, and then only in the least restrictive manner possible. The DOM act states the Federal Government will not recognize the marriage of two adult citizens of the same gender.

So according to Bush, Christians should have the religious freedom to terminate the employment of someone for simply being homosexual. Following his logic through it should also be legal for a majority run Catholic business to be able to fire an employee for possibly being Jewish or a Jewish firm to fire someone for being Muslim. It should be legal for a business being run by someone who is Pentecostal to fire a female worker for having short hair and wearing a pant suit to work someone like Laura Bush perhaps. Basically Bush found a political loop hole to avoid stating outright to the American people that according to him, being a Christian and a good Republican means being against civil rights and is defined by homophobia.

EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT

OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20503

October 23, 2007 (House Rules)

STATEMENT OF ADMINISTRATION POLICY

H.R. 3685 – The Employment Non-Discrimination Act

(Rep. Frank (D) MA and 9 cosponsors)

H.R. 3685 would extend existing employment-discrimination provisions of Federal law, including those in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, to establish "a comprehensive Federal prohibition of employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation." The bill raises concerns on constitutional and policy grounds, and if H.R. 3685 were presented to the President, his senior advisors would recommend that he veto the bill.

H.R. 3685 is inconsistent with the right to the free exercise of religion as codified by Congress in the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). The Act prohibits the Federal Government from substantially burdening the free exercise of religion except for compelling reasons, and then only in the least restrictive manner possible. H.R. 3685 does not meet this standard. For instance, schools that are owned by or directed toward a particular religion are exempted by the bill; but those that emphasize religious principles broadly will find their religious liberties burdened by H.R. 3685.

A second concern is H.R. 3685's authorization of Federal civil damage actions against State entities, which may violate States' immunity under the Eleventh Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

The bill turns on imprecise and subjective terms that would make interpretation, compliance, and enforcement extremely difficult. For instance, the bill establishes liability for acting on "perceived" sexual orientation, or "association" with individuals of a particular sexual orientation. If passed, H.R. 3685 is virtually certain to encourage burdensome litigation beyond the cases that the bill is intended to reach.

Provisions of this bill purport to give Federal statutory significance to same-sex marriage rights under State law. These provisions conflict with the Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as the legal union between one man and one woman. The Administration strongly opposes any attempt to weaken this law, which is vital to defending the sanctity of marriage.