Yesterday, Americans United joined a dozen of our allies to deliver a petition with more than 340,000 signatures to Congress calling for lawmakers to strike the Russell Amendment from the defense bill. Our organizations, with millions of members and supporters from across the country, are raising our voices to oppose taxpayer-funded discrimination sanctioned by this provision.
The Russell Amendment, an extreme and sweeping provision, would jeopardize critical workplace protections for anyone employed by a religiously affiliated organization that receives federal funds. Employees and job seekers could be disqualified from a taxpayer-funded job because they are the “wrong” religion or they don’t follow the same religious tenets as their employer. The people most likely to be harmed? Workers who are of minority faiths, of no faith, women, and LGBTQ individuals.
We are proud to stand with our allies in fighting against federally funded discrimination, and will continue to protect our neighbors by opposing legislation that allows religion to harm others.
