At Sen. Hillary Clinton’s confirmation hearing for secretary of state, Sen. Russ Feingold asked Clinton about her approach to the treatment of the department’s LGBT employees.

According to Towleroad, the transcript reads:

FEINGOLD: So I look forward to working with you. Let me switch to something completely different. There’s widespread recognition of the need to build a more robust and effective diplomatic and development corps. And as a part of that effort, it, of course, makes sense to consider ways to address challenges faced by the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees, particularly relating to domestic partner benefits and State Department policies that make it difficult for the partners of foreign service officers to travel and live at overseas posts. What would you do as secretary of state to address these concerns? Will you support changes to existing personnel policy in order to ensure that LGBT staff at State and USAID receive equal benefits and support?

CLINTON: Senator, this issue was brought to my attention during the transition. I’ve asked to have more briefing on it because I think that we should take a hard look at the existing policy. As I understand it, but don’t hold me to it because I don’t have the full briefing material, but my understanding is other nations have moved to extend that partnership benefit. And we will come back to you to inform you of decisions we make going forward.

Gays and Lesbians in Foreign Affairs Agencies (GLIFAA) released a statement discussing their intention to present the incoming Secretary of State with a letter signed by more than 2,000 current and former Department employees requesting fair policies.

The statement reads: “GLIFAA President Michelle Schohn welcomed Senator Clinton’s acknowledgement that fairer policies serve as good business sense. Schohn noted that LGBT U.S. diplomats and aid workers serve overseas in some of the most dangerous locations, but continue to be denied equal treatment for their families. She expressed hope that the incoming Administration would work quickly to implement overdue reforms.”