LGBT amendment sinks Army Corps appropriations bill in House

The fiscal year 2017 Energy & Water Development Appropriations bill was defeated in the House Thursday.    The House voted down the fiscal year 2017 Energy & Water Development Appropriations bill because of an amendment that would enshrine into law President Obama’s 2014 executive order barring federal contractors from discriminating against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.
   The underlying bill, which passed in the Senate earlier this month, enjoys wide support and would help fund the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers navigation program for coastal and inland waterways.
   The bill includes money for maintenance dredging of harbors, as well as for starting new navigation studies and construction projects.
   The appropriations bill was derailed 305-112 when Republicans opposed the gay rights provision. Many Democrats voted against the bill over objections to other GOP-sponsored amendments, according to Politico.
   Waterways Council Inc. President Michael Toohey expressed disappointment in the failed vote. “We were very pleased to see an attempt to return to regular order for the appropriations process, whereby individual bills are passed,” Toohey said. “Both the Senate-passed FY ’17 E&WD appropriations bill, and the House bill, recommended strong funding levels for the Corps’ important work to ensure reliability on the inland waterways transportation system. With so many lock and dam infrastructure needs, it is our hope that the House can return to this bill and strike compromise with a better outcome.”