[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5812 Introduced in House (IH)]
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114th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 5812
To repeal executive overreach, to clarify that the proper
constitutional authority for social transformation belongs to the
legislative branch.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 14, 2016
Mr. Olson (for himself and Mr. Grothman) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To repeal executive overreach, to clarify that the proper
constitutional authority for social transformation belongs to the
legislative branch.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Civil Rights Uniformity Act of
2016.''
SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS AND DECLARATION OF PURPOSE.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
(1) Over the past half century, Congress has passed
numerous civil rights laws prohibiting discrimination on the
basis of ``sex,'' a designation long understood to be grounded
in objective biology up to the present day. There is no
evidence that Congress or the American people ever understood
the word sex or gender in civil rights laws to include
subjective self-identification.
(2) For years, advocates have pressed Congress to include a
person's subjective self-declared ``gender identity'' in
Federal civil rights laws that prohibit sex discrimination.
Congress has declined to do so except for the Shepard-Byrd Act
of 2009 and the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of
2013 where gender identity is defined as ``actual or perceived
gender-related characteristics'' with ``gender'', there
referring to characteristics associated with biological males
and females.
(3) This demonstrates that when Congress wants to protect
sex, it does so explicitly; when it wants to also elevate
gender identity it does so explicitly; and when it does not
want to elevate gender identity, it can do so either explicitly
or by simply not disturbing the status quo.
(4) Despite the complete clarity of this point, President
Barack Obama's administration has attempted to effectively
replace the word ``sex'' with the phrase ``gender identity''
for purposes of Federal antidiscrimination law and policy
through a series of unilateral executive actions.
(5) For example, on December 15, 2014, Attorney General
Eric Holder announced that the Department of Justice would
reinterpret the ban on ``sex'' discrimination under title VII
of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to encompass ``gender
identity.'' This was followed on March 27, 2015, by an Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission decision holding that
declining to use a female pronoun to address a male who
identifies as female constituted ``sex'' discrimination under
title VII.
(6) On May 9, 2016, the Obama administration sued the State
of North Carolina and threatened it with fines and loss of
Federal funding if it did not adopt the administration's
incorrect readings of title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
and title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972.
(7) On May 13, 2016, the Departments of Justice and
Education issued a ``significant guidance'' letter stating that
under title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 ``when a
school provides sex-segregated activities and facilities,
transgender students must be allowed to participate in such
activities and access such facilities consistent with their
gender identity.'' The guidance further states that schools
``must treat a student's gender identity as the student's sex''
including in the context of ``sex-segregated restrooms, locker
rooms, shower facilities, housing, and athletic teams, as well
as single-sex classes.'' In other words, the Departments
consider it a title IX violation if a person of the male sex
who self-identifies as a female is not granted unfettered
access to women's or girls' dorms, showers, locker rooms, and
bathrooms. This, despite assurance that such a thing would
never happen from the likes of Ruth Bader Ginsburg who wrote in
1975 that ``separate places to disrobe, sleep, perform personal
bodily functions are permitted, in some situations required, by
regard for individual privacy.'' This position was codified in
Federal regulations, 34 CFR 106.33, which state that recipients
of Federal funds ``may provide separate toilet, locker room,
and shower facilities on the basis of sex,'' with sex obviously
referring to biology.
(8) Also on May 13, 2016, the Department of Health and
Human Services finalized regulations that redefined the
Affordable Care Act's prohibition on ``sex'' discrimination in
federally funded health programs and activities to cover
``gender identity'', thereby opening health care professionals
and insurers to extensive liability if they decline to
participate in or pay for ``gender transition'' treatments or
``sex change'' operations.
(9) The Obama administration's actions are an affront to
the rule of law, the separation of powers, the will of the
people, language, history, safety, privacy, and biological
realities.
(b) Purpose.--The purposes of this Act are--
(1) to prevent the executive branch from unilaterally
rewriting Federal civil rights laws by enacting or implementing
any policy or undertaking any enforcement action that is based
on construing the term ``sex'' or ``gender'' to mean ``gender
identity''; and
(2) to ensure that gender identity is not treated as a
protected class in Federal law or policy without the
affirmative approval of the people's representatives in
Congress.
SEC. 3. PROHIBITION OF POLICIES REDEFINING SEX TO MEAN GENDER IDENTITY.
(a) Rule of Construction.--In determining the meaning of any
Federal civil rights law, and of any related ruling, regulation,
guidance, or interpretation of the various administrative bureaus and
agencies of the United States, the words ``sex'' and ``gender'' and
their equivalents shall not be interpreted to mean ``gender identity''
or its equivalent, and the words ``man'' and ``woman'' and their
equivalents shall refer exclusively to a person's sex.
(b) Rule of Interpretation.--No Federal civil rights law shall be
interpreted to treat gender identity or transgender status as a
protected class, unless such law expressly designates ``gender
identity'' or ``transgender status'' as a protected class.
(c) Definition of ``Federal Civil Rights Law''.--For purposes of
this Act, the term ``Federal civil rights law'' means any Federal law
prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sex or gender, including
title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.),
the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000a et seq.), the Fair
Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 3601 et seq.), the Patient Protection and
Affordable Care Act (Public Law 111-148), and any other Federal law or
provision thereof prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sex or
gender.
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