[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 47 (Monday, April 4, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E620]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            RESTROOM GENDER PARITY IN FEDERAL BUILDINGS ACT

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                          HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, April 4, 2011

  Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, public restrooms have been the site of 
institutional discrimination by race, physical ability and gender. 
Women are often forced to wait in long lines to use public restrooms, 
while men rarely have the same problem. It is an inconvenience seen in 
almost every type of public building; be it a sporting venue, office 
building, airport or a building designed for recreational activities. 
Many of these establishments were constructed decades ago, during a 
time in which many women did not travel, hold the same jobs as men, 
receive the same level of education or have the same type of social 
life as they do today.
  The issue of inadequate accommodations in women's restrooms may be 
found in many professional places of employment. Restroom gender parity 
is an issue of equality and health. In the year 2011, it is 
unfathomable to think that American women are still being discriminated 
against by infrastructural disparities in public buildings.
  Unfortunately, this is the sad truth exhibited in nearly all public 
buildings today. A one-to-one ratio of toilets in female restrooms to 
toilets in male restrooms sounds like a requirement that ought to have 
existed decades ago; yet there are still fewer female accommodations 
compared to male accommodations in many public structures.
  This is why supporting the bipartisan Restroom Gender Parity in 
Federal Buildings Act is necessary not only for the advancement of 
gender parity, but for the general well being and health of women 
everywhere. This bill will require any Federal building constructed for 
public use to have a 1 to 1 ratio for toilets, including urinals in 
women's and men's restrooms. Moreover, the bill will impact future 
Federal projects by mandating that preference for Federal leasing 
considerations be given to buildings that already meet this criteria.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in passing this common 
sense legislation to address the inadequacies in our federal 
infrastructure.

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