Tag Archives: Congress

Mormon Rep. Jason Chaffetz Vows To Bring Congress Into DC Marriage Battle

Freshman Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), a Mormon, has vowed to have Congress intervene in DC’s decision to recognize same-sex marriages from other jurisdictions. Chaffetz, who is the ranking Republican on the House subcommittee that oversees the district, says he is in discussions with House minority leaders on which of several options they will use to try to thwart the sanction …

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Anti-Gay Former Rep. Jack Kemp Dies

Anti-gay former Rep. Jack Kemp has died of cancer at age 73. Jack Kemp, a star football quarterback who became a congressman, U.S. Cabinet secretary and Republican vice presidential nominee, died on Saturday at age 73. Kemp died of cancer at his home in Bethesda, Maryland, The New York Times said, quoting his son, Jimmy Kemp.He served 18 years as …

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U.S. House Debating Vote On Hate Crimes

At the moment, wingnut Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) is railing against “protected sexual orientations” such as pedophilia. Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) is literally waving his Bible and quoting scripture. It’s a zoo. Watch live here.

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Obama: Pass The Hate Crimes Act

Last night President Obama urged Congress to pass the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act. “This week, the House of Representatives is expected to consider H.R. 1913, the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009. I urge members on both sides of the aisle to act on this important civil rights issue by passing this legislation to …

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Hate Crimes Bill Passes Committee

Despite attempts by Republican legislators to add unborn children, pregnant women, and members of the military to the protected classes, today the House Judiciary Committee narrowly approved the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act* by a vote of 15-12. GOP reps also attempted but failed to strip gender identity protections from the act. The bill will go the full …

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Sen. Franken (For Real Real This Time)

And it only took 164 days! Over five months after the election, a three-judge panel has declared Democrat Al Franken the winner of the Minnesota U.S. Senate race. The judges–Hennepin County’s Denise Reilly, Pennington County’s Kurt Marben and Stearns County’s Elizabeth Hayden–issued their final ruling late Monday, stating “Franken received the highest number of lawfully cast ballots in the Nov. …

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HomoQuotable – Jared Polis

“The United States should not tolerate human rights violations of any kind, especially by a government that Americans spend billions of taxpayer dollars each year supporting. Hopefully my trip and letters to US and Iraqi officials will help bring international attention and investigation to this terrible situation and bring an end to any such offenses. “We will now wait and …

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Feds To Drop Charges Against Former Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens

Oh, Alaska. If only this were an April Fool’s joke. The Justice Department plans to drop all charges against former Sen. Ted Stevens, the 85-year old Alaska Republican convicted last year of lying on Senate financial disclosure forms to conceal hundreds of thousands of dollars in gifts and home renovations from a businessman, according to a news report this morning. …

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HRC Says No To Gay-Only ENDA

In 2007 the Human Rights Campaign supported a version of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) that did not include transgender citizens, setting off the biggest rift in the history of LGBT activism as a huge coalition of groups aligned against the HRC. Yesterday the HRC announced that they will not go down that road again. The board of directors of …

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This Is A Republican Congressman?

TMZ is calling 27 year-old freshman Rep. Aaron Schock (R-IL) “Congressman Studly.”

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Sen. Chuck Schumer Comes Out For Marriage Equality And Repeal Of DOMA

At an Empire State Pride Agenda dinner in NYC last night, New York Sen. Chuck Schumer reversed his previous stance, publicly endorsing marriage equality and called for the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act. From our reliable ally Elizabeth Benjamin at the New York Daily News: Schumer: “It’s time. Equality is something that has always been a hallmark of …

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Notorious A-I-G

Barney Frank grilled AIG CEO Bill Liddy today and asked for a list of the names of AIG executives that have received post-bailout bonuses. Liddy says he’ll only release the names if Frank guarantees their anonymity. Liddy then goes on to read from a list of death threats made against AIG personnel. Frank refused to promise to shield the names …

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Openly Gay NY Legislator Jon Cooper May Run Against Gillibrand For U.S. Senate

Lots of folks consider Hillary-replacement Sen. Kristen Gillibrand to be highly vulnerable in the 2010 elections. One of the several Democrats eyeballing her job is openly gay Suffolk County legislator Jon Cooper. “I consider myself progressive on the important issues,” said Cooper, alluding to gun control and gay rights. “And obviously, Sen. Gillibrand has not been a strong supporter in …

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“Birther” Movement Hits Congress

Politico reports that the first Congressional bill requiring that presidential candidates provide their original birth certificates has been filed by Rep. Bill Posey (R-FL). “Opponents of President Obama are raising the birth certificate issue as a means of questioning his eligibility to serve as president,” Posey said in a statement. “This bill, by simply requiring such documentation for future candidates …

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HomoQuotable – Jared Polis

“Oh, it didn’t pass? OK. So we still need to pass it? OK. So we’ll try to pass that one for you, too. But that’s why we need it. And of course Obama supports that, our Congress supports that, our Senate supports that. I thought we did pass it, so we will try to get that. But that’s exactly why …

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Tammy Baldwin To Introduce Bill Granting Benefits To Partners Of Federal Employees

Some time this month, openly lesbian Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) plans to introduce legislation to grant benefits to the domestic partners of federal employees. The bill would grant the partners of gay federal employees the same benefits that are available to the spouses of straight employees. Versions of the bill considered in the last session of Congress would have granted …

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Rep. Ellen Tauscher On DADT

Think Progress interviewed Rep. Ellen Tauscher about her just-submitted House bill to repeal DADT. TAUSCHER: So, I think that there’s, a lot has happened since 1993 and I think that even though the atmospherics look the same, a brand new president, you know, at a time when the Republicans are critical of whatever he’s doing, I think that what our …

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Pelosi Promises Trans-Inclusive ENDA

Speaking this morning to a group of progressive bloggers and activists, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi responded to a question about a possible repeal of DADT in 2009 by saying that passing hates crimes legislation and a fully-inclusive ENDA will come first. “The priorities have been Hate Crimes and ENDA, fully inclusive legislation in those two areas, so we’ll have to …

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Democracy Comes To DC (Probably)

Residents of Washington DC will at last have representation in Congress. Probably. By a vote of 61-37, the Senate passed a bill providing full voting representation for the nation’s capital in the House of Representatives, nearly ensuring that the measure will become law this time around. While advocates were declaring victory already, a court fight almost definitely looms over the …

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CNN Interviews Gay Congressman Jared Polis On Stimulus Bill

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