{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://tsongas.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=49&itemid=1084", "Tsongas statement on House Floor in support of ENDA", "2013-11-19", "2013", "2013-11", "Democrat", "House", "MA", "Niki Tsongas", "T000465", "tsongas.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Tsongas statement on House Floor in support of ENDA \r\n\r\n\t\u00a0\r\n\r\n\tWASHINGTON, DC\u2013 November 19, 2013 \u2013 Today Congresswoman Niki Tsongas spoke on the House Floor in support of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA).\r\n\r\n\tOn November 7, 2013 the United States Senate voted 64-32 to pass ENDA.\r\n\r\n\tTsongas has strongly urged Speaker John Boehner to bring this bill to a vote in the House of Representatives. Her late husband Paul was the first U.S. Senator to introduce legislation to ban job discrimination based on sexual orientation more than 30 years ago, in 1979.\r\n\r\n\tClick for video of the Congresswoman\u2019s speech on the House Floor.\r\n\r\n\tBelow please find the text of the Congresswoman\u2019s speech as prepared for delivery.\r\n\r\n\t\u201cMr. Speaker, I rise today to urge House leaders to let us vote on the Employment Non Discrimination Act (ENDA).\u00a0\r\n\r\n\t\u201cIn 1979, my late husband Paul was the first U.S. senator to introduce legislation to ban job discrimination based on sexual orientation.\u00a0\r\n\r\n\t\u201cI agreed with him then and feel just as strongly about ENDA today. Employees should be judged solely by their ability to do their job.\u00a0\r\n\r\n\t\u201cAfter I was elected in 2007, I was proud to cast one of my first votes in support of the passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, an effort spearheaded by the relentless Barney Frank.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\r\n\r\n\t\u201cWhile ENDA passed in the House of Representatives in 2007, it did not move in the Senate.\r\n\r\n\t\u201cBut on November 7, the U.S. Senate made history by passing ENDA. It is now time for the House to act, pass ENDA and finally expand protections in order to prevent employment discrimination.\u00a0\r\n\r\n\t\u201cMr. Speaker, for the sake of dignity, justice and equality, let us vote.\u201d\r\n\r\n\t####", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://tsongas.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=49&itemid=1084"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.5513931177556515, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}