Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) has received the highest possible rating from the national civil rights organization Human Rights Campaign (HRC) for his record of supporting legislation that combats discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Americans.
HRC’s annual Congressional Scorecard rates Members of Congress on a scale from 0 to 100 percent, measuring their voting and legislative records on issues that matter to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender employees, consumers and investors. Whitehouse was one of only 16 senators to achieve 100 percent in the 2009 Congressional Scorecard.
“Every American deserves the right not to face violence or discrimination, and the right to create and support a family,” said Whitehouse. “I’m proud of my Senate record in support of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community, and honored to be recognized by the Human Rights Campaign.”
As a freshman Senator, Whitehouse has established a strong record on issues of importance to the LGBT community. A former U.S. Attorney and Attorney General for Rhode Island, Whitehouse cosponsored the Matthew Shepard Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007 (S. 1106), which provides federal assistance to State and local jurisdictions to prosecute violent hate crimes. Whitehouse also voted for the bill on the Senate floor when it was introduced as an amendment to the Department of Defense Authorization Act of 2008.
Whitehouse has also cosponsored the Uniting American Families Act (S. 1328), to end discrimination against LGBT families in immigration law and to allow same-sex partners of U.S. citizens to obtain lawful permanent resident status on the same terms as heterosexual spouses; and the Tax Equity for Domestic Partner and Health Plan Beneficiaries Act (S. 1556), which would amend the Internal Revenue Code to extend the exclusion from gross income for employer-provided health coverage to domestic partners and other non-spousal, non-dependent beneficiaries.
Read the full Human Rights Campaign Congressional Scorecard here: http://www.hrc.org/documents/Congress_Scorecard-110th.pdf
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