The Human Rights Campaign recently released its scorecard for the
107th Congress. This scorecard, which can be downloaded at www.hrc.org, is
considered a key tool for judging how members of Congress vote on gay,
lesbian, bisexual and transgender issues and assessing the level of support
for these issues in Congress, says HRC.
HRC's scorecard shows an encouraging trend toward more broad-based
support for GLBT issues on Capitol Hill. This growth in support is apparent
as the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA; S. 1284, H.R. 2692) and the
Local Law Enforcement Enhancement Act (LLEEA; S. 625, H.R. 1343) boast the
highest number of co-sponsorships in history. In the 107th Congress, ENDA
had 194 House and 45 Senate co-sponsors, an increase from the 168 House and
37 Senate co-sponsors in the 106th Congress. LLEAA had a record 206 House
and 51 Senate co-sponsors this Congress, compared to 187 in the House and 42
in the Senate in the 106th.
Additionally, there are 163 representatives, (159 Democrats, 3
Republicans and 1 independent) who scored a perfect 100 percent on this
scorecard. This is up from 130 representatives in 2000 and 111 in 1998. In
the Senate, 38 senators scored a perfect score (36 Democrats, 1 Republican
and 1 Independent). This is up from 29 senators in 2000, and 25 senators in
1998.
"Equality is a bipartisan issue, and we can see this by looking at
the increased support from both parties," said Winnie Stachelberg, HRC's
political director. "The growing base of members who scored 100 percent
gives us a strong, rock-solid foundation of committed allies to help us
build on our efforts in the next Congress. But much of our success will
depend on whether fair-minded people are elected; so it is imperative that
people who care about equality get out and vote in the upcoming elections."
In this scorecard, HRC included co-sponsorship of both ENDA and
LLEEA, formerly known as the Hate Crimes Prevention Act. Additionally,
office non-discrimination policies and important votes on issues like
domestic partner benefits in the District of Columbia and needle exchange
programs were all evaluated in the scoring process.
This scorecard also reveals that support for another one of HRC's
legislative priorities, the Permanent Partners Immigration Act, has nearly
doubled from the last Congress, to 103 co-sponsors. On this scorecard, HRC
noted that it would be scoring this important bill, along with the Early
Treatment for HIV Act, in the 108th Congress.
"This scorecard is the definitive report card on how members voted
on our issues in the 107th Congress," said Stachelberg. "It is a resource
for voters and reporters who want to gauge the progress or shortcomings of
any member of Congress. As we look toward the future, we can be encouraged
that the honor roll keeps expanding, and we believe will continue to grow in
the next Congress and beyond."
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