OLYMPIA - Washington State soldiers are battling an unseen enemy in their hometowns - discrimination.

State lawmakers want to provide them with the weapon they need to win this battle.

A proposed bill would add veterans and people with military status to an existing law banning discrimination in matters of employment, credit, insurance and property transactions.

"Unfortunately, some Washingtonians have vented their anger about the Iraq war onto the men and women who followed orders and put their lives on the line," said bill author Sen. Steve Hobbs, D-Lake Stevens.

"We need to protect those who have protected us," he said.

The Senate Committee on Government Operations and Elections passed the bill unanimously Tuesday.

If it becomes law, Washington will be the fifth state to enact such legislation.

Skip Dreps, director of the Northwest Chapter of the Paralyzed Veterans of America, spoke Tuesday of a 25-year-old Iraq veteran who had sought work as an office clerk at a community college.

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