Republican U.S. Senator Mark Kirk of Illinois took to the Senate floor Monday for the first time since suffering a stroke. He spoke out in support of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. It’s a bill to prohibit workplace discrimination against gay, bisexual and transgender people, something that’s already in effect in Illinois.
“This is not a major change to law. I would say it’s already the law in 21 states. I think it’s particularly appropriate for an Illinois Republican to speak on behalf of this measure in the true tradition of Everett McKinley Dirksen and Abraham Lincoln, men who gave us the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 13th Amendment to the Constitution.”
All Democrats in the Senate and at least five Republicans are expected to vote for the bill, but its chances in the Republican-controlled House are uncertain.
Republican Congressman John Shimkus of Collinsville says the bill in unnecessary.