mr. clegg? >> thank you very much. i appreciate the opportunity to testify. my name is roger clegg. i'm president of counsel. a nonprofit, research and -- our chairman is linda chavez. our focus is on public policy issues that deal with race and issues. immigration and assimilation. i should add that ms. chavez -- i was once the heavy assistant attorney general in the justice department of civil rights. the points i make in the written testimony that you have about the employment donna -- the employment donna nondesc -- there's a strong presumption to let businesses make a decision. it is not immoral to discriminate based on -- legislation would create many problems for employers. the main purpose of this bill is to try and marginalize americans that believe that gay sex is a sin. this is a bad aim. there is some overlap among these points. that is my written testimony in my oral testimony today. i like to talk more about when discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation might need rational. these situations i discussed in my written testimony are principally where the employer or customers might have o

mr. roger clegg, that of equal opportunity. and then we have kate director for the national center for lesbian rights. the third is sarah the fourth panelist is stacey long simmons director of public policy and government affairs at the national lgbt task force. and our fifth and final panelist for the second panel is winnie executive vice president for external affairs for the center center for american progress and i will ask lotteries right hand and to swear and affirm that the information that you're about to provide to us is true and accurate to the best of your knowledge and belief. is that correct? >> yes. >> thank you. good to see you again, you have the floor, sir. >> thank you very much. i appreciate the opportunity to testify today. my name is roger clegg and i am president and general counsel of the center for equal opportunity which is a nonprofit research opportunity organization. our principal focus is on public policy issues that involve race and ethnicity including civil rights and immigration. i should add [in

mr. clegg? you have the four. event minutes. >> thank you very much. i appreciate the opportunity to testify today. my name is roger clegg and i'm president and general counsel of the center for equal opportunity which is a nonprofit research education organization that's based in falls church virginia. our chairman is linda chavez and our principal focus is on public policy issues that involve race and ethnicity such as civil rights, bilingual education. miss chavez was once the staff director of the u.s. commission on civil rights and that i was once the deputy assistant attorney general in the justice department civil rights division. the points i make in the written testimony that you all have about the employment nondiscrimination act are six. i'm just going to list them. number one, congress lacks constitutional authority to pass this bill. number two, there is no call for a federal role in this area anyway. number three, the bill is inconsistent with free market federalism and personal freedom principles. we shouldn't forget that there's a strong presumption in letting businesses make their own personnel dec

mr. clay the nose, doing regulation is a very long and -- mr. clegg knows, that is a painful process. nothing could be more important than the employment context. so, roger, i'm just curious because your argument against covering lgbtq people seems to also apply to religious commission. so is it the view of the center for equal opportunity that title vii should, in fact not be trying to stop discrimination based on religion? >> no. i'm not sure how that follows. no. the center -- >> because you argued that the lgbtq status is not -- which i don't necessarily agree with. you -- >> wait a minute. i did not say that. >> welcome in your comparison with lgbtq status and race, you try to draw a distinction about how race is very different, but title vii covers more than raise. on just trying to understand the boundaries of your argument because you tried to make the point that we should not burden -- that's what i am asking you. >> no. >> please clarify where i've i have gone astray. >> the center for equal opportunity does not object to the fact that title vii makes it illegal to discriminate against employees on the basis of religion. and i don't see how the

mr. cleg. good to see you again. you have the floor. seven minutes. >> thank you very much. i appreciate the opportunity to testify today. my name is roger clegg and i'm president and general counsel of the center for equal opportunity which is a nonprofit research and educational organization that is based in falls church virginia. our chairman is linda chavez. and our principal focus is on public policy issues that involve race and ethnicity, such as civil rights, bilingual immigration and i should add that miss chavez was the civil staff director and i was once the deputy attorney general in the civil rights department. and the testimony you have about the employment nondiscrimination act are six. and i'm going to list them. number one, congress lacks the constitutional authority to pass this bill. number two, there is no call for a federal role in this area any way. number three the bill is inconsistent with free market federalism and principals and we shouldn't forget there is a strong presumption in letting businesses make their own personnel decisions. number four, it is not necessarily immoral or irrational to discriminate on the basis