Jay Carney Applauds Senate Passage of ENDA: To Oppose Is to Be ‘Left Behind by History’

History was caught on tape at the White House today, In the time it took White House Press Secretary Jay Carney to conduct Thursday’s White House daily briefing, the U.S. Senate passed the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) after years of struggle. At the very end of the briefing, Carney was informed of the vote, and, visibly moved, offered comment on the bill. He praised the Senate, particularly the Republicans who crossed the aisle to end a filibuster of the bill, demanded that the House take up the measure. “To oppose this kind of legislation is to is to announce that you want to be left behind by history” Carney said.

The Republicans who voted with Democrats to defeat a filibuster of ENDA, according to The Hill, were:

Republican Sens. Susan Collins (Maine), Mark Kirk (Ill.), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Dean Heller (Nev.), Kelly Ayotte (N.H.), Rob Portman (Ohio), Jeff Flake (Ariz.), John McCain (Ariz.), Orrin Hatch (Utah) and Pat Toomey (Pa.) joined Democrats in voting 64-34 to end debate on the bill, which bans workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Sixty votes were needed to overcome a Republican filibuster.

The bill was then passed by a 64-32 vote, and will go to the House of representatives. Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH) has already said he won’t support the bill.

Informed of the vote at the very end of the briefing, Carney said “If that, in fact, has happened while I’ve been up at the podium, that i good news, and we commend the senators who voted yes, and we hope and insist that the House take up the legislation.”

“To oppose this kind of legislation,” Carney continued, “is to announce that you want to be left behind by history. The necessity of making sure that every American has equal rights is fundamental to our history, and to who we are. And that’s what this legislation represents.”

“Some of the objections that I’ve heard from members of the House are reminiscent of objections that opponents of other civil rights legislation have put forward,” Carney added. “And they were wrong then, and they’re wrong now. This is the right thing to do. It’s the right thing to do because we’re all equal. And so the House should pass it. The Senate has, and we congratulate the Senate.”

Here’s the video, from The White House:

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