The fate of at least two more gay-related bills pending in Congress in addition to ENDA and the hate crimes bill is uncertain and they may have to wait until after the 2008 election, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told the Blade this week.
Pelosi said she supports pending legislation to repeal the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy on gays in the military and the Uniting American Families Act, which would allow foreign nationals who are domestic partners of U.S. citizens to receive the same immigration rights to live in the U.S. as foreigners who marry American citizens.
“Let’s see how we do on ENDA and hate crimes,” Pelosi said.
She noted that President Bush and many Republican members of Congress have said they favor keeping “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” in place. And she said all immigration-related bills in recent years have been bogged down in controversy, making it difficult to generate support for any immigration measure.
“Our country has to move on those issues,” she said. “We have to do it when the timing is right and we have to lay down the foundation for them.”
The “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal bill and the Uniting American Families Act are among a list of 10 bills, including ENDA and the hate crimes measure, that gay advocacy groups have been asking Congress to consider for the past several sessions.
One of the bills that has languished in committee under the previous Republican-controlled Congress calls for providing health insurance benefits to the domestic partners of federal employees. Another would change the IRS code to allow domestic partners of employers that offer partner benefits to receive the same tax exemption on those benefits as married spouses. Under the current IRS law, domestic partners must pay taxes on employer partner benefits as if they were regular income while married spouses receive those “spousal” benefits tax-free.
The Early Treatment of HIV Act, which has been pushed by gay and AIDS activists, would allow low-income people with HIV to receive Medicaid benefits before developing full-blown AIDS, with the aim of keeping them healthy for a longer period of time.
“I’ve been on that for years because it makes sense,” Pelosi said. “Early intervention is very important, so hopefully we can move ahead with that.”
