On June 28th, Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese issued the following statement following the vote on two amendments to the fiscal year 2008 Financial Services and General Government appropriations bill. The first amendment, offered by Rep. Virgil Goode, R-Va., added anti-gay language back into the bill, stating that no federal funds could be used for the district's domestic partner registry. The second amendment, offered by Rep. Mark Souder, R-Ind., sought to reinstate the ban on the District of Columbia using its own tax revenue to fund needle-exchange programs.
The Goode amendment passed by a vote of 224 to 200. The Souder amendment failed by a vote of 216 to 208.
Solmonese said:
"In the wake of a hateful and divisive White House veto threat, we are disappointed that the House of Representatives voted to approve the Goode amendment and add anti-gay language into the Washington, D.C., appropriations bill.
"We appreciate the efforts of our fair-minded committee leaders in removing this unnecessary language from the bill and we will continue to work for its removal in the future. As harmful as these symbolic acts of bigotry are to our fight for equality in America, today's vote does not impact the quality of life of the thousands of gay and lesbian couples living in Washington, D.C. The D.C. domestic partnership registry remains intact and fully functioning, and same-sex and unmarried couples can still participate in the partnership registry. It's a shallow victory when the status quo on D.C.'s law is the best our opponents can do in this Congress.
"We are pleased that Congress voted to finally allow the district to use its own funds for needle-exchange programs. These life-saving programs help control the spread of HIV/AIDS. Congress acted responsibly today by choosing not to tie the hands of the D.C. government. The district must have the freedom to do everything in its power to help get this epidemic under control. We commend the fair-minded committee leadership for removing the onerous language from the bill and allowing the district to use it own local funds to protect the lives of its citizens."
Enviroshop is maintained by dedicated NetSys Interactive Inc. owners & employees who generously contribute their time to maintenance & editing, web design, custom programming, & website hosting for Enviroshop.