Oct 27, 2007Quickie Link: Freshman Democrats Kill Transgender Amendment
By vanrozenheim
(USA) - Reps. Tim Walz (Minn.) and Ron Klein (Fla.), leaders of the class of freshman Democrats, carried a message to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Tuesday that their fellow first-term lawmakers did not want to vote on an amendment extending civil rights to Transgender employees. House Education and Labor panel Chairman George Miller (D-Calif.), whose committee passed the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, said he told the freshman lawmakers at their Wednesday breakfast with Pelosi that the amendment did not have the votes to pass and would not be brought to the House floor. In addition, Miller told the freshmen he recognized that the amendment "exposed the first-term lawmakers to political attacks from conservatives and liberals alike", said two sources who attended the breakfast.
