BY AMANDA TERKEL
Huffington Post Gay Voices
WASHINGTON — The Employment Non-Discrimination Act could come up for a vote in the Senate as early as next week, according to the office of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.). ENDA would ban workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. When the Senate convened Monday afternoon, Reid formally announced his plans to bring up the legislation during the current work period, which ends the week before Thanksgiving. Reid has long been a supporter of ENDA, cosponsoring it as early as 1997.
“I thank Majority Leader Reid for committing to bring ENDA to the floor this work period,” Merkley said in a statement to The Huffington Post. “Americans understand that it’s time to make sure our LGBT friends and family are treated fairly and have the same opportunities. Now it’s time for our laws to catch up. People should be judged at work on their ability to do the job, period.” The bill has been reintroduced in several Congresses and has gotten some hearings, but it hasn’t had a vote on the House or Senate floor since November 2007.
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