[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 34 (Tuesday, February 23, 2021)]
[House]
[Pages H569-H573]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   DANGER OF GENDER IDENTITY POLITICS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 4, 2021, the gentlewoman from Missouri (Mrs. Hartzler) is 
recognized for the remainder of the hour as the designee of the 
minority leader.


                             General Leave

  Mrs. HARTZLER. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from Missouri?
  There was no objection.
  Mrs. HARTZLER. Madam Speaker, I thank my friend, the gentleman from 
Louisiana, for that very heartfelt time recognizing Mr. Letlow and his 
family. Our hearts are with them.
  I now move on to another topic that is also very, very important to 
all of us and to America, and it deals with a bill that will be on the 
floor this week.
  It is shamefully called the Equality Act, but it shreds the 
principles of protecting our children. In fact, under this

[[Page H570]]

bill, children, beginning with the womb, will be targeted and 
victimized.
  Under this bill, children in the classroom will be bombarded with 
unscientific, confusing materials questioning the reality of their 
biological sex.
  Under this bill, children struggling with gender dysphoria will be 
pushed toward medical treatments and even surgical procedures, which 
will disrupt their natural development and may leave them sterile and 
physically altered for life.
  Under this bill, children's privacy will be violated when locker 
rooms, restrooms, and homeless shelters will no longer be single sex.
  Under this bill, parents may face custody battles for making healthy, 
wholesome choices for their children's health.
  This scenario was not hypothetical for the Ohio couple who lost 
custody of their daughter for not affirming hormonal treatments.
  Under this bill, foster care and adoption agencies will be forced to 
shutter. And this is just the tip of the iceberg.
  The so-called Equality Act jeopardizes the well-being of our 
children. It jeopardizes the role of parents, the privacy and safety of 
vulnerable women, the competitive edge of female athletes, the 
livelihood of charities and businesses, and the integrity of our 
healthcare system.
  We demand better for our children and their futures, and we will not 
be silent. We are here tonight to expose the Equality Act for what it 
is, a far-reaching policy that will upend all aspects of life, and turn 
basic decency and common sense into discrimination.
  I appreciate my colleagues who have joined me tonight to let America 
know why this bill must be defeated.
  Madam Speaker, first, I would like to yield to the gentleman from 
Maryland (Mr. Harris), my friend and colleague who is a practicing 
anesthesiologist.
  Mr. HARRIS. Madam Speaker, this bill, the Equality Act, is nothing 
more than an identity politic sellout, a thinly veiled attempt to 
attack and coerce individuals who hold serious and legitimate concerns 
or objections to things like parental rights to make healthcare 
decisions for their children; the ability of women to compete on an 
equal athletic playing field; and even medical procedures like 
sterilization and abortion.
  I am a physician and I have been practicing medicine for over 35 
years. This bill, if enacted, would mandate that healthcare 
practitioners and even facilities like Catholic hospitals would be 
forced to provide and participate in procedures like abortion, which 
ends a human life.
  We should all be able to agree that a Catholic hospital should never 
be compelled by the government to offer procedures like abortion that 
they morally object to in the strongest possible terms.
  Furthermore, if society continues to support politically correct 
gender identity politics, the science is becoming clearer that gender 
dysphoria, especially in children, is a psychiatric condition that in 
most cases will resolve itself with time.
  Instead, however, this bill would require parents to allow 
irreversible medical interventions for their children, children who may 
even be prepubescent, resulting in sterilization, and oftentimes later 
regret.

                              {time}  2015

  Scientific data confirms that many who undergo gender transition 
continue to deal with serious depression, even after full transition. 
And the poorly named ``Equality Act'' would mandate that medical 
professionals accept and support the desire of their patients to 
undergo these invasive procedures, even if they have professional or 
conscience objections.
  Madam Speaker, in response, I will be reintroducing the Conscience 
Protection Act this week. My bill will protect healthcare providers 
from being required to perform abortions or sterilizations and allow 
them to continue practicing medicine without duress or coercion from 
their employer or perhaps even their patients.
  Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to cosponsor my bill, and I 
oppose the so-called Equality Act on the floor this week.
  Mrs. HARTZLER. Madam Speaker, I thank Dr. Harris, and I appreciate 
his firsthand experience and thoughts on this very, very, serious 
matter.
  Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Lamborn), 
cochair of the Values Action Team.
  Mr. LAMBORN. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Missouri for 
her courage and backbone in supporting these vital social issues.
  Madam Speaker, I rise today to speak on the dangers of H.R. 5, the 
so-called Equality Act. This bill would have disastrous effects on our 
culture. H.R. 5 will not only turn the Civil Rights Act on its head, it 
would harass individuals and entities who are merely seeking to 
exercise their sincerely held religious beliefs.
  Under the current text, countless faith-based businesses and 
nonprofits across the country would simply cease to exist. I am not 
convinced that my colleagues across the aisle understand the far-
reaching consequences of the so-called Equality Act. The reality is 
that churches could be forced to violate their beliefs simply to stay 
open if it were enforced as written.
  This awful legislation also creates fundamental inequalities for many 
Americans. Parents sending their kids to public schools would live in 
fear that their young daughter would have to use the same locker room 
or restroom as a man because the Equality Act would open the door to 
biological males self-identifying as females.
  I have introduced an amendment to the Equality Act protecting 
accommodations choosing to designate private, single-sex spaces, such 
as restrooms or locker rooms. I hope the Democrat majority allows a 
vote on this commonsense amendment that tens of millions of American 
parents want.
  In addition, the so-called Equality Act would significantly 
disadvantage women participating in sex-specific sports leagues. That 
is why I have also introduced an amendment, originally filed as a bill 
last Congress by Democratic Representative Tulsi Gabbard, protecting 
equal opportunities for women and girls in high school and college 
sports. This amendment of mine seeks to protect women and girls simply 
wanting to compete against other biological women and girls on a level 
playing field.
  Women and children suffer when Democrat policies are enacted. Women's 
sports, and the girls and young women who just simply want to compete 
with other females on an equal basis, will be the victims of Democrat 
policies.
  Madam Speaker, I adamantly oppose the radical Equality Act, and I 
hope my colleagues on both sides of the aisle will take a stand and 
oppose it as well.
  Mrs. HARTZLER. Mr. Lamborn, such great remarks, so much common sense 
there.
  Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Green), 
my friend, and an emergency room physician.
  Mr. GREEN of Tennessee. Madam Speaker, I thank the distinguished 
gentlewoman from Missouri for her leadership on this very important 
issue.
  Madam Speaker, as a physician, I know firsthand that this bill, H.R. 
5, will force medical providers to surrender sound medical judgment and 
their sincerely held convictions to politically fashionable dogmas.
  According to the radical activists who seek to enshrine gender 
identity in the Federal civil rights law, the only appropriate 
treatment for a child struggling from gender dysphoria is gender 
reassignment. That is it. Such procedures often lead to irreversible 
damage, especially in adolescents. But under the Equality Act, medical 
providers who object to performing these procedures will face crushing 
legal liability if they refuse to comply. Every medical facility 
receiving any Federal money will be given an ultimatum: Comply or shut 
down.
  Madam Speaker, if H.R. 5 becomes law, a doctor who refuses to perform 
a mastectomy or a hysterectomy on an otherwise healthy teenage girl 
seeking gender reassignment surgery, will be held liable for violating 
the Federal law.
  H.R. 5 even goes so far as to exempt itself from longstanding, 
bipartisan Federal religious liberty protections--protections both 
Congress and the Supreme Court have consistently upheld. A Catholic 
hospital, following the commands of Scripture to serve the frail and 
the poor will be forced to violate

[[Page H571]]

their very faith to comply and perform abortions or face financial 
ruin.
  Madam Speaker, as a physician, I took a sacred oath to do no harm and 
to preserve the health of those in my care. If this bill becomes law, 
many doctors will be forced to go against both their conscience and 
their medical judgment.
  Make no mistake, this is a death sentence for medicine and for the 
sacred rights of conscience. Biology is not bigotry, and medicine is 
not discrimination.
  All Americans who do not wish to see medicine sacrificed to the 
politically correct orthodoxy should stand up and oppose this bill.
  Mrs. HARTZLER. Thank you, Dr. Green. That is excellent. ``Biology is 
not bigotry.'' It seems like common sense, but we are not talking about 
common sense with the Equality Act. And that is why we are here 
tonight, to let the American people know about the ramifications, the 
very serious, permanent ramifications of this bill.

  Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Babin), 
another doctor, who I am proud to be joined by, who is a dentist from 
Texas.
  Please share your thoughts about this bill and what it is going to 
mean to Americans.
  Mr. BABIN. Madam Speaker, I thank my distinguished colleague from 
Missouri for this opportunity.
  Madam Speaker, I rise today in objection to the so-called Equality 
Act. Once again, under the guise of equality, the left is prioritizing 
its radical agenda over religious freedom, the well-being of children, 
and the safety of women and girls.
  As the father of three daughters and the grandfather of nine 
granddaughters, I am outraged at the assault that this bill launches on 
women in sports. And furthermore, as a healthcare practitioner, I am 
infuriated at its blatant attack on the conscience rights and religious 
freedoms of those in the healthcare industry.
  This bill is not about preventing discrimination in medical 
treatment, it is about forcing medical professionals to abandon their 
conscience rights and medical judgment to comply with the left's 
extreme views on gender.
  The Equality Act would prohibit physicians from counseling children 
with gender dysphoria. Instead, they would be required to administer 
dangerous medical treatments, including puberty blockers, cross-sex 
hormones, and surgeries.
  This mandate contradicts science. Increasingly, we are finding that 
these treatments compound these children's confusion rather than 
solving it. The catastrophic effects leave children physically and 
psychological scarred and often render them sterile. It is nothing 
short of child abuse.
  The left will not tolerate disagreement with its view on gender. They 
provide no conscience protections and explicitly state that the 
Religious Freedom Restoration Act does not apply to this new definition 
of sex. Physicians refusing to perform these harmful treatments would 
be punished, even if they object because of religious or moral 
convictions.
  The Equality Act is another attempt by the left to promote its 
radical agenda and suppress everyone else who disagrees. We must fight 
for the conscience rights and religious freedoms of our medical 
professionals, and we must stop our children from being used as pawns 
in the game of political correctness.
  Mrs. HARTZLER. Well said, and I thank the gentleman so much.
  Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Minnesota (Mrs. 
Fischbach), the first female president of the Minnesota Senate. She is 
a mother of two and grandmother of five.
  Mrs. FISCHBACH. Madam Speaker, I thank Congresswoman Hartzler for 
putting this together. I appreciate the opportunity in making sure the 
people in the country understand what is in this bill.
  Madam Speaker, I rise in opposition to H.R. 5, the so-called Equality 
Act. The reality of this bill is anything but equal. It is nothing more 
than a thinly veiled attempt to force unreasonable mandates on our 
institutions and restrict the liberties of the American people.
  If this becomes law, Americans can expect government-imposed limits 
on the free exercise of religious liberty, businesses forced to cover 
the costs of abortions, and medical providers required to perform 
abortions, even if it conflicts with their deeply held beliefs.
  Unfortunately, this is just the tip of the iceberg. So today, I rise 
to speak on behalf of pro-life Americans in my district and across the 
country who fear this legislation will be manipulated by the radical 
left to impose its will and create a right to abortion right up to the 
moment of birth.
  Madam Speaker, a majority of Americans support at least some 
restrictions on abortion, including making sure taxpayer funds are not 
used to fund abortions. Instead of respecting the rights of all 
Americans, this bill will impose a top-down abortion mandate that 
interferes with the State and Federal laws that protect the right to 
life and will force doctors, nurses, and other medical providers to 
participate in abortion procedures, even if it goes against their own 
sincerely held beliefs.
  The previous administration made great strides in protecting 
religious freedom and the liberties of all Americans. Unfortunately, 
the new administration does not seem to value those cherished beliefs.
  This bill will relegate the pro-life view to discrimination, redefine 
gender, and require faith-based employers to pay for abortion in their 
insurance offerings.
  Madam Speaker, I oppose this legislation on behalf of the unborn who 
do not have a voice. I oppose this legislation on behalf of my 
constituents, many of whom hold beliefs that are in conflict with this 
bill's radical ideology. And I oppose this bill on behalf of the 
millions of Americans who know that life is a God-given gift worth 
fighting for.
  Madam Speaker, I oppose this bill and ask Members to do the same.
  Mrs. HARTZLER. Thank you, Representative Fischbach. Life is precious, 
and it is jeopardized under this very poor bill, and so thank you for 
raising those points.
  Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Colorado (Mrs. 
Boebert), a volunteer counselor to incarcerated women.
  Mrs. BOEBERT. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding 
time.
  The Equality Act.
  Madam Speaker, equality for who?
  Where is the equality in this legislation for the young girls across 
America who have to look behind their backs as they change in their 
school locker rooms just to make sure there isn't a confused man trying 
to catch a peek?
  Where is the equality for women who have been sexually assaulted?

  Under this legislation, their crisis counselor may be ``Alexis'' who 
was actually born ``Alex.'' And they will have to talk to him about 
their assault.
  Where is the equality for parents who want and deserve the right to 
raise their children, free from government overreach?
  Under this proposal, Congress seeks to replace mom and dad with 
bureaucrats. This isn't hyperbole. In Ohio, a mom and dad had their 
child removed from their custody because they didn't allow their 
daughter to undergo gender transition. Removed from their custody.
  And so here we are. The left will lay down the rights and security of 
millions of Americans, particularly young women, at the altar of gender 
ideology.
  Following the lead of liberal indoctrination camps, also called 
colleges and universities, my colleagues on the left are committed to 
advancing this radical ideology, the rights and sovereignty of 
individual States be darned. So much for Federalism.
  The power-hungry left will not slow down until every school, every 
church, every workplace, every State, and every community adheres to 
the left's definition of gender.
  You disagree?
  They will find you. They will imprison you. Or as we have seen, they 
will even take your children. And let's make sure the American people 
know this is only the beginning.
  The Equality Act requires doctors to perform abortions, and they are 
going to use your tax dollars to pay for them.
  Once the left codifies their ideology, they will come for your 
speech. It is already happening in Canada, where you can be fined and 
imprisoned for misgendering someone.

[[Page H572]]

  


                              {time}  2030

  Madam Speaker, they won't stop there. Nothing will ever satisfy the 
left until there is complete and total compliance.
  Madam Speaker, Scripture says, when speaking of those who have turned 
their back on God, who have traded the truth for a lie: Professing to 
be wise, they became fools.
  I can think of no better description of the so-called Equality Act, 
or inequality act, than this. The utter foolishness is astounding. Up 
is down. Wrong is right. Left is right. Boys are girls and vice versa.
  Madam Speaker, for the sake of our sons and daughters, for the sake 
of parental rights, privacy, decency, and so much more, I urge my 
colleagues to vote ``no'' on this horrendous legislation.
  Mrs. HARTZLER. Madam Speaker, so well said. Up is down, and right is 
wrong.
  Our last speaker is the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms. Foxx), a 
doctor of education.
  I want to thank the other colleagues who are here. We are running out 
of time, but I want to thank Representative Rick Allen, who objects to 
this bill, for being here as well.
  Dr. Foxx, will you share, in closing, why we should oppose this bill 
this week? I yield to the gentlewoman from North Carolina.
  Ms. FOXX. Madam Speaker, our First Amendment is a powerful instrument 
that has protected our most sacred freedoms for hundreds of years. Few 
other countries provide the same protections and freedoms that our 
First Amendment guarantees. Yet, today, these essential rights are 
under attack.
  H.R. 5 is the latest example of Democrats' misleading and partisan 
manner of legislating. As a former educator and the Republican leader 
of the Education and Labor Committee, I can tell you the bill may have 
``equality'' in the title, but it certainly does not serve all 
Americans.
  The Equality Act would empower the government to interfere in how 
regular Americans think, speak, and act. Specifically, it would amend 
the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to make sexual orientation and gender 
identity protected classes.
  According to the National Review, this extreme legislation redefines 
sex to include gender identity, undermines religious freedom, gives 
males who identify as females the right to women's spaces, and sets a 
dangerous political precedent for the medicalization of gender-confused 
youth.
  Under H.R. 5, our Nation's K-12 schools would be forced to treat 
gender as being fluid, subjective, and not tied to biological reality.
  Government intervention often causes more harm than good. I've spent 
my time in Congress working to protect individual freedoms from 
unnecessary bureaucratic burdens. I recognize that a strong family is 
vital to our nation's progress and prosperity, which is why I've worked 
to advance legislation that allows families to flourish and protects 
life at all stages. It is unconscionable that in America, where we 
fight for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, we tolerate this 
systematic extermination of on entire generation. The right to life 
demands that we protect our Nation's most vulnerable, including the 
unborn.
  Our First Amendment is a powerful instrument that has protected our 
most sacred freedoms for hundreds of years. Few other countries provide 
the same protections and freedoms that our First Amendment guarantees. 
We are the `land of the free' because of it. Our individual liberties 
are the envy of people around the world and they are the cornerstone of 
the world's oldest democracy.
  Yet today, these essential rights are under attack.
  H.R. 5 is the latest example of Democrats' misleading and partisan 
manner of legislating.
  As a former educator and the Republican Leader of the Education and 
Labor Committee, I can tell you that the bill may have ``equality'' in 
the title, but it certainly does not serve ALL Americans.
  This legislation has a clever name and an allegedly noble purpose, 
but it is a vehicle for serious, harmful consequences.
  The Equality Act would empower the government to interfere in how 
regular Americans think, speak, and act. Specifically, it would amend 
the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to make sexual orientation and gender 
identity protected classes. According to the National Review, this 
extreme legislation ``redefines sex to include gender identity, 
undermines religious freedom, gives males who identify as females the 
right to women's spaces, and sets a dangerous political precedent for 
the medicalization of gender-confused youth.''
  Under H.R. 5, our nation's K-12 schools would be forced to treat 
gender as being fluid, subjective, and not tied to biological reality.
  The bill would undermine Title IX protections for girls by outlawing 
sex-based athletic competitions.
  Even more troubling is the bill's meticulous and intentional 
destruction of religious freedom protections.
  Religiously affiliated colleges and universities that maintain 
student codes of conduct, hiring practices, or housing rules reflecting 
sincerely held beliefs about marriage and sexuality risk losing federal 
funding under the Equality Act, as such policies would be deemed 
discriminatory.
  Beloved secular private colleges that maintain single sex admissions 
policies, like Smith College and Morehouse College, could be forced to 
change their policies or forego federal funding.
  In Virginia, we've already seen the displeasure amongst parents 
regarding such policy implementation. In an opinion piece published by 
the Washington Post in 2019, a former middle and high school teacher 
whose children attend Arlington Public Schools said, ``It would erode 
parents' rights over their children's education, corrode Title IX 
protections for girls and risk convincing healthy, normally developing 
boys and girls that their bodies are wrong and must be altered with 
hormones and be vandalized by surgical instruments.''
  The bill also lacks any pro-life protections, which is why I am 
submitting my amendment that will protect religiously affiliated groups 
and individuals from participating in or funding abortions.
  This bill is a brazen attempt to replace longstanding constitutional 
rights with the identity politics of the moment.
  We've entered treacherous waters by considering legislation that 
stifles proven, bipartisan solutions and, more seriously, our Bill of 
Rights. It's outrageous that Democrats would advertise these proposals 
as guaranteeing fundamental civil and legal rights.
  Madam Speaker, as elected Representatives, we all strive for equality 
before the law, but H.R. 5 is another classic example of Democrats 
passing a bill now and figuring out what it means later.
  This is no way to legislate.
  Mrs. HARTZLER. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. LaMALFA. Madam Speaker, the Equality Act's supporters claim it 
will protect students from discrimination, but in reality it makes 
schools more dangerous and unfair for everyone.
  By expanding the definition of ``sex'' to include self-declared 
gender identity, it requires schools to allow biological males into 
girls' restrooms, locker rooms, showers, and sport events usually 
reserved for women.
  And by incorporating sexual orientation and gender identity into 
Title IV of the Civil Rights Act, which appropriately mandates the 
desegregation of public education, this bill could order the 
incorporation of radical gender ideology in sex education or other 
aspects of curriculum, far outside the original law's scope. Activists 
are already pushing graphic, age-inappropriate content on these topics 
on students in places like Arlington, Virginia.
  This bill puts teachers and administrators at risk too. Those who 
``misgender'' a student or fail to use the individual's preferred 
pronouns could be accused of harassment and subject to discipline or 
even lose their jobs.
  Girls would also face unfair competition in sports. The Equality Act 
would force schools to allow biological males to compete on female-only 
teams.
  We have already seen consequences of this. One transgender MMA 
fighter has broken the skulls of two female opponents (and counting), 
and transgender runners and basketball players are dominating female 
competitors, leaving many females' long ambitioned goals of trophies 
and scholarships dashed.
  For years, supporters of Title IX have fought to encourage and 
empower girls through athletic competition. Democrats would like to 
erase those gains, shattering countless girls' dreams and dignity, to 
appease the woke mob.
  Americans of faith would suffer too. Religiously affiliated colleges 
and universities that maintain student codes of conduct, hiring 
practices, or housing rules reflecting their faith's sincerely held 
belies about marriage and sexuality would lose federal funding under 
the Equality Act, as such policies would be deemed discriminatory and 
open them to countless lawsuits to threaten their very existence.
  All-female universities, whether religious or secular, would be 
required to accept male students identifying as female students, and 
male students identifying as males, since this bill provides no 
exemptions for female-only institutions. Is that a policy Americans 
want?
  The misnamed Equality Act erases opportunities for girls and women 
and harms all students and teachers. It must be opposed.

[[Page H573]]

  

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