I had no idea there’s a Klondike Gold Rush National Historic Park—that’s the actual name—in downtown Seattle. Usually things called national parks entail large expanses of wilderness. This one is a hole-in-the-wall exhibit in the corner of a brick building near Pioneer Square. But there I was this afternoon, because Rep. Dave Reichert (R-8) was holding a presser after receiving an award from the National Parks Conservation Association.
Parks are great, but I wanted to ask him how he’d vote on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). The bill would ban workplace discrimination based on sexual preference or gender orientation, and it passed by a wide margin in the Senate on Thursday. But it’s unclear whether House Republican leaders will allow a vote on it—and, if they do, whether it would pass.
President Obama’s press secretary put it succinctly enough: “To oppose this legislation is to announce that you want to be left behind by history.” (Meanwhile, Obama has refused to sign an executive order banning federal contractors from engaging in the same discrimination, although progressive LGBTQ groups are upping the pressure now.)
Reichert refused to commit to vote for ENDA, saying several times he has to read the bill before making a decision, even though the legislation has been repeatedly proposed since 1974, its Senate passage is historic, and you’d have to live under a rock to not know what it does. “I don’t know what the argument would be for [House Speaker] John Boehner or others,” Reichert explained. “My argument is sometimes there need to be special laws to protect individuals or groups because they’re special targets. So sometimes we need to specially call that out, and put a bright light on it, and call attention to it.”
It sounds like you’re at least inclined to support ENDA, I suggested. “I think if you look at my past votes, you might be able to decipher that,” he said. Then he flashed a big grin and laughed.