Human Rights Campaign Scorecard for the 110th Congress

justinVELEZgreenhalgh

The HRC’s Scorecard is a publicly-available assessment released every 2 years, which helps the LGBTQ community and its friends identify those members of Congress who are truly most supportive of EQUALITY, as measured by their voting records.

Especially since Colorado, of all states, is choosing between Rep. Mark Udall and former Rep. Bob Schaffer in an important Senatorial election, I think we in the gay community should really take a close look at who is really our friend. Just to make it simple, Mark Udall is clearly the ally we need in the Senate – and I truly hope he’s victorious on November 4th.

Can I just give a special shout-out to Rep. Diana Degette (D) (CO 1st Congressional District – Denver and Denver County) (A++ for her efforts), who has stood with us and TRULY been our friend on each and EVERY one of the legislative issues affecting the gay community that have been presented during the 110th Congress!!??!!

Congressman Mark Udall (D) (CO 2nd Congressional District) (A+ for his work) has voted with us on all but one issue, on which he did not vote and did not oppose us. Bob Schaffer, in the 107th Congress, which was the last one in which he served as a representative, voted AGAINST us 100% of the time – he is not our candidate!

Senator Ken Salazar (D) received a B+ on this scorecard for his 85% pro-LGBTQ voting record during the 110th Congress. His brother, Representative John Salazar (D) (CO 3rd Congressional District), received a B for his record. Representative Ed Perlmutter (D) (CO 7th Congressional District) also received a B for his efforts.

Reps. Marilyn Musgrave (R) (4th Congressional District), Doug Lamborn (R) (5th Congressional District), and Tom Tancredo (R) (6th Congressional District) all get Fs for their consistent failure to embrace EQUALITY in their Congressional voting patterns.

Sen. Wayne Allard (R), consistently one of the Senate’s least useful members, also gets an F for his opposition to legislative fairness.

Outside of Colorado, but totally relevant to the Presidential election, it should be noted that BARACK OBAMA is our friend and gets an A rating for his work in the 110th Congress, while JOHN McCAIN gets an F for his 100% opposition to LGBTQ legislation. I believe that choice is abundantly clear – Obama must win on 11042008!!!

The following LGBTQ-affecting issues have been dealt with during the 110th Congress:

Kennedy Amendment to Department of Defense Authorization Act (S.Amdt. 3035): an amendment to the Defense Authorization Act of 2008 that expanded federal jurisdiction to include hate crimes perpetrated on the basis of one’s race, gender, color, sexual orientation, gender-identity, etc. Note: SENATORS BARACK OBAMA and HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON BOTH WERE COSPONSORS of this LEGISLATION (source: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:SP3035:)
o Status: invoked cloture on 09272007 – passed by voice vote after cloture invocation (note: to invoke cloture means to abruptly and quickly end debate on an issue)

Judge Leslie Southwick Confirmation: 5th Circuit Court of Appeal – HRC-opposed nomination – the source of HRC’s opposition was in large part due to a decision made (Judge Southwick was part of the 8-2 majority) while he was a Mississippi state judge to grant sole custody of a child to the father in a case where the mother was an out and open lesbian – the mother’s homosexuality was cited in this decision as an important factor guiding the judges’ decision to grant custody to the father
o Status: confirmed – 59yea38no

Tom Lantos and Henry J. Hyde United States Global Leadership against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Reauthorization Act (HR 5501): reauthorizes the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) – a TRULY PROGRESSIVE piece of legislation in that it eliminates the ban on the entry of HIV+ visitors and immigrants into the United States
o Status: Senate voted FOR this Act (roll call vote – 80yea16no)

Early Treatment for HIV Act (S. 860): introduced in 032007 – would allow individual state Medicaid programs to cover HIV+ Americans in lowINCOME brackets before they develop fullBLOWN AIDS
o Status: 40 cosponsors as of 100308

Matthew Shepard Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act (S. 1105): legislation introduced in 042007 that would expand federal jurisdiction to include hate crimes perpetrated on the basis of race, gender, gender-identity, color, sexual orientation, etc.
o Status: 45 cosponsors as of 10032008

Uniting American Families Act (S. 1328): legislation to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide samSEX partners of UScitizens and legal residents the same immigration benefits as legal spouses have NOTE: the following 22 – yes, 22 – countries already provide this kind of commonsense recognition: Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Israel, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom
o Status: 19 cosponsors as of 100308

Tax Equity for Domestic Partner and Health Plan Beneficiaries Act (S. 1556): legislation designed to equalize tax treatment for employer-provided health coverage for domestic partners and other beneficiaries – the value of employer-provided health coverage for a domestic partner (or DP’s dependent(s)) would be excluded from the imputed income of the employee so long as the domestic partner is an eligible participant under the plan supported by over 50 major US employers that have joined the Business Coalition for Benefits Tax Equity
o Status: 26 cosponsors as of 100308 – referred to the Senate Committee on Finance