Images (71)
Showing first 60 of 71 pages.
- Parte de Records of the Office of the Public Liaison (Clinton Administration), Elizabeth (Julian) Potter's files
Extracted text
OCR Page 1 of 71THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
May 28, 1998
STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT
Today I have signed an Executive Order entitled Further Amendment to Executive Order
11478, Equal Employment Opportunity in the Federal Government. The Order provides a
uniform policy for the Federal Government to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation
in the federal civilian workforce and states that policy for the first time in an Executive Order of
the President.
It has always been the practice of this Administration to prohibit discrimination in
employment based on sexual orientation in the civilian workforce, and most federal agencies and
department have taken actions, such as the issuance of policy directives or memoranda from the
agency heads, to memorialize that policy. The Executive Order I have signed today will ensure
that there is a uniform policy throughout the Federal Government by adding sexual orientation to
the list of categories for which discrimination is prohibited in Executive Order 11478 (i.e. race,
color, religion, sex, national origin, handicap, or age).
This Executive Order states Administration policy but does not and cannot create any new
enforcement rights (such as the ability to proceed before the Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission). Those rights can be granted only by legislation passed by the Congress, such as the
Employment Non-Discrimination Act. I again call upon Congress to pass this important piece of
civil rights legislation which would extend these basic employment discrimination protections
to all gay and lesbian Americans. Individuals should not be denied a job on the basis of
something that has no relationship to their ability to perform their work.
-30-30-30-