March 18, 2014 The President The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, NW Washington, DC 20500 Dear Mr. President: We are writing to urge you to fulfill the promise in your State of the Union address to make this a “year of action” and build upon the momentum of 2013 by signing an executive order banning federal contractors from engaging in employment discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) Americans. As you have said before, “now is the time to end this kind of discrimination, not enable it.” As we continue to work towards final passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) with strong bipartisan support, we urge you to take action now to protect millions of workers across the country from the threat of discrimination simply because of who they are or who they love. We are committed to doing all that we can in Congress to get ENDA to your desk this year; however, there is no reason you cannot immediately act by taking this important step. This executive order would provide LGBT people with another avenue in the federal government they could turn to if they were the victim of employment discrimination by a federal contractor. When combined with ENDA, these non-discrimination protections would parallel those that have been in place for decades on the basis of race, sex and religion. An executive order covering LGBT employees would be in line with a bipartisan, decades-long commitment to eradicating taxpayer-funded discrimination in the workplace. In 1941, President Roosevelt prohibited discrimination in defense contracts on the bases of race, creed, color, or national origin. In subsequent executive orders, Presidents Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson expanded these protections to ensure that taxpayer dollars are not used to discriminate. In addition, most of the largest government contractors – companies like Boeing, Raytheon, and Lockheed Martin – have LGBT non-discrimination policies in place. They adopted them because business leaders recognize that discrimination is bad for the bottom line. Finally, time is of the essence. Even with an executive order in place, full implementation of these protections will require regulations to be developed and finalized, a process that will take many months, if not longer, to fully put in place. Issuing an executive order prohibiting discrimination against LGBT workers in federal contracts would build on the significant progress for LGBT rights made during your time as President and would further your legacy as a champion for LGBT equality. We urge you to act now to prevent irrational, taxpayer-funded workplace discrimination against LGBT Americans. Sincerely, ______________________________ Jeffrey A. Merkley United States Senator ______________________________ Jared Polis Member of Congress ______________________________ Tom Harkin United States Senator ______________________________ Mike Michaud Member of Congress ______________________________ Tammy Baldwin United States Senator ______________________________ David N. Cicilline Member of Congress ________________________________ Mazie K. Hirono United States Senator ______________________________ Sean Patrick Maloney Member of Congress ______________________________ Tim Kaine United States Senator ______________________________ Mark Pocan Member of Congress _____________________________ Christopher Coons United States Senator ______________________________ Kyrsten Sinema Member of Congress ______________________________ Jeanne Shaheen United States Senator ______________________________ Mark Takano Member of Congress ______________________________ Richard Durbin United States Senator ______________________________ Frank Pallone, Jr. Member of Congress ______________________________ Patrick Leahy United States Senator ______________________________ Lois Capps Member of Congress ______________________________ Elizabeth Warren United States Senator ______________________________ Steny H. Hoyer Member of Congress ______________________________ Sheldon Whitehouse United States Senator ______________________________ James E. Clyburn Member of Congress ______________________________ Patty Murray United States Senator ______________________________ Joseph Crowley Member of Congress ______________________________ Kirsten Gillibrand United States Senator ______________________________ Steve Israel Member of Congress ______________________________ Barbara Boxer United States Senator ______________________________ Diana DeGette Member of Congress ______________________________ Carl Levin United States Senator ______________________________ Joe Garcia Member of Congress ______________________________ Robert P. Casey, Jr. United States Senator ______________________________ Raúl M. Grijalva Member of Congress ______________________________ Bernard Sanders United States Senator ______________________________ Michael Honda Member of Congress ______________________________ Al Franken United States Senator ______________________________ Barbara Lee Member of Congress ______________________________ Martin Heinrich United States Senator ______________________________ Jerrold Nadler Member of Congress ______________________________ Sherrod Brown United States Senator ______________________________ Adam Schiff Member of Congress ______________________________ Edward J. Markey United States Senator ______________________________ Matt Cartwright Member of Congress ______________________________ Jack Reed United States Senator ______________________________ Alan Lowenthal Member of Congress ______________________________ Thomas R. Carper United States Senator ______________________________ Charles B. Rangel Member of Congress ______________________________ Debbie Stabenow United States Senator ______________________________ Jan Schakowsky Member of Congress ______________________________ Benjamin L. Cardin United States Senator ______________________________ Allyson Y. Schwartz Member of Congress ______________________________ Mark Udall United States Senator ______________________________ Jackie Speier Member of Congress ______________________________ Ron Wyden United States Senator ______________________________ Tony Cardenas Member of Congress ______________________________ Christopher Murphy United States Senator ______________________________ Sam Farr Member of Congress ______________________________ Brian Schatz United States Senator ______________________________ Brian Higgins Member of Congress ______________________________ Barbara Mikulski United States Senator ______________________________ Hank Johnson Member of Congress ______________________________ Tim Johnson United States Senator ______________________________ Jim Moran Member of Congress ______________________________ Charles Schumer United States Senator ______________________________ Louise Slaughter Member of Congress ______________________________ Bill Nelson United States Senator ______________________________ Niki Tsongas Member of Congress _____________________________ Jon Tester United States Senator ______________________________ Carol Shea-Porter Member of Congress ______________________________ Mark Begich United States Senator ______________________________ Eric Swalwell Member of Congress ______________________________ Mary L. Landrieu United States Senator ______________________________ Earl Blumenauer Member of Congress ______________________________ Robert Menendez United States Senator ______________________________ Robert A. Brady Member of Congress ______________________________ Amy Klobuchar United States Senator ______________________________ Susan A. Davis Member of Congress ______________________________ Cory Booker United States Senator ______________________________ Mike Doyle Member of Congress ______________________________ Claire McCaskill United States Senator ______________________________ Alcee L. Hastings Member of Congress ______________________________ Richard Blumenthal United States Senator ______________________________ Steven A. Horsford Member of Congress ______________________________ Dianne Feinstein United States Senator ______________________________ Dan Kildee Member of Congress ______________________________ Tom Udall United States Senator ______________________________ Ron Kind Member of Congress ______________________________ John D. Rockefeller, IV United States Senator ______________________________ Ann McLane Kuster Member of Congress ______________________________ Mark Warner United States Senator ______________________________ Sander M. Levin Member of Congress ______________________________ Joe Donnelly United States Senator ______________________________ Zoe Lofgren Member of Congress ______________________________ Kay Hagan United States Senator ______________________________ Lucille-Roybal-Allard Member of Congress ______________________________ Linda T. Sánchez Member of Congress ______________________________ George Miller Member of Congress ______________________________ Adam Smith Member of Congress ______________________________ Chris Van Hollen Member of Congress ______________________________ Donald M. Payne, Jr. Member of Congress ______________________________ Tammy Duckworth Member of Congress ______________________________ Rosa DeLauro Member of Congress ______________________________ James R. Langevin Member of Congress ______________________________ James A. Himes Member of Congress ______________________________ Lloyd Doggett Member of Congress ______________________________ Kathy Castor Member of Congress ______________________________ Frederica S. Wilson Member of Congress ______________________________ Joaquin Castro Member of Congress ______________________________ Michelle Lujan Grisham Member of Congress ______________________________ Mike Thompson Member of Congress ______________________________ Colleen W. Hanabusa Member of Congress ______________________________ Gregory W. Meeks Member of Congress ______________________________ Timothy H. Bishop Member of Congress __________________________ William R. Keating Member of Congress ______________________________ Brad Schneider Member of Congress ______________________________ Suzan K. DelBene Member of Congress ______________________________ John Lewis Member of Congress ______________________________ Dina Titus Member of Congress ______________________________ John Yarmuth Member of Congress ______________________________ Janice Hahn Member of Congress ______________________________ Karen Bass Member of Congress ______________________________ Marc Veasey Member of Congress ______________________________ Joyce Beatty Member of Congress ______________________________ Dan Maffei Member of Congress ______________________________ Denny Heck Member of Congress ______________________________ Alan Grayson Member of Congress ______________________________ Filemon Vela Member of Congress ______________________________ James P. McGovern Member of Congress ______________________________ Suzanne Bonamici Member of Congress ______________________________ Elizabeth Esty Member of Congress ______________________________ Julia Brownley Member of Congress ______________________________ Theodore E. Deutch Member of Congress ______________________________ Ron Barber Member of Congress ______________________________ Tim Walz Member of Congress ______________________________ Jim McDermott Member of Congress ______________________________ Lois Frankel Member of Congress ______________________________ Loretta Sanchez Member of Congress ______________________________ Mike Quigley Member of Congress ______________________________ Kurt Schrader Member of Congress ______________________________ Jerry McNerney Member of Congress ______________________________ Rush Holt Member of Congress ______________________________ Joseph P. Kennedy III Member of Congress ______________________________ Bill Foster Member of Congress ______________________________ Grace Meng Member of Congress ______________________________ Chellie Pingree Member of Congress ______________________________ Ami Bera Member of Congress ______________________________ Ed Perlmutter Member of Congress ______________________________ Michael E. Capuano Member of Congress ______________________________ Derek Kilmer Member of Congress ______________________________ Patrick E. Murphy Member of Congress ______________________________ Judy Chu Member of Congress ______________________________ Dave Loebsack Member of Congress ______________________________ Juan Vargas Member of Congress ______________________________ Gary C. Peters Member of Congress ______________________________ Jared Huffman Member of Congress ______________________________ John K. Delaney Member of Congress ______________________________ Betty McCollum Member of Congress ______________________________ Beto O’Rourke Member of Congress ______________________________ Katherine Clark Member of Congress ______________________________ Rick Larsen Member of Congress ______________________________ Stephen F. Lynch Member of Congress ______________________________ Eleanor Holmes Norton Member of Congress ______________________________ John Conyers, Jr. Member of Congress ______________________________ Sheila Jackson Lee Member of Congress ______________________________ Eliot L. Engel Member of Congress ______________________________ David E. Price Member of Congress ______________________________ Al Green Member of Congress ______________________________ Henry A. Waxman Member of Congress ______________________________ Robert C. “Bobby” Scott Member of Congress ______________________________ Jim Matheson Member of Congress ______________________________ José E. Serrano Member of Congress ______________________________ John F. Tierney Member of Congress ______________________________ Brad Sherman Member of Congress ______________________________ Keith Ellison Member of Congress ______________________________ Gwen Moore Member of Congress ______________________________ Rubén Hinojosa Member of Congress ______________________________ Bruce Braley Member of Congress ______________________________ Nydia Velazquez Member of Congress ______________________________ Peter Welch Member of Congress ______________________________ Carolyn B. Maloney Member of Congress ______________________________ Albio Sires Member of Congress ______________________________ Joe Courtney Member of Congress ______________________________ Yvette D. Clarke Member of Congress ______________________________ Nita M. Lowey Member of Congress ______________________________ Bill Pascrell, Jr. Member of Congress ______________________________ Steve Cohen Member of Congress ______________________________ Luis V. Gutiérrez Member of Congress ______________________________ Scott Peters Member of Congress ______________________________ John P. Sarbanes Member of Congress ______________________________ Richard M. Nolan Member of Congress ______________________________ André Carson Member of Congress ______________________________ Paul Tonko Member of Congress ______________________________ Eddie Bernice Johnson Member of Congress ______________________________ Anna G. Eshoo Member of Congress ______________________________ Bobby L. Rush Member of Congress   ______________________________ Gerald E. Connolly Member of Congress