[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 35 (Wednesday, February 24, 2021)]
[House]
[Page H598]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  EQUALITY ACT NEEDS TO BE STRUCK DOWN

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Georgia (Mrs. Greene) for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. GREENE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in defense of 
women, girls, and children.
  I would like to talk about the Equality Act. It is a bill that we 
will be voting on this week. It is a bill that was passed before, but 
it is a bill that needs to be struck down. This is a bill that will add 
sexual orientation and gender identity as protected classes under the 
Federal 1964 Civil Rights Act.
  We live in a nation--thank God--that declares all of us equal. There 
should not be discrimination of anyone in the United States of America, 
and I fully believe that. But I ask everyone to take pause and truly 
consider what the Equality Act will do, because it has very serious 
consequences.
  You see, women have come very far in America and our rights are 
extremely important. The work of our grandmothers and mothers to 
declare women as equal and push our way into the workplace and into 
sports has been a remarkable achievement.
  Voting, being able to own businesses, achieve education the same as 
men in America is a gift that I feel so honored and blessed by. I know 
that every American woman treasures this.

                              {time}  1100

  You see, the Equality Act will change all of that, because it will 
put trans rights above women's rights, above the rights of our 
daughters, our sisters, our friends, our grandmothers, our aunts. It is 
too much.
  Mr. Speaker, you see, as a woman, I have competed in sports, and I am 
so thrilled that I was able to do that, but I competed against 
biological women. It is a wonderful thing to be able to compete and 
prove yourself. Competition is a great, great thing. Little girls all 
over the country play sports. They play their hearts out, they 
practice, they enjoy time with their friends, then they compete at 
higher levels where they can earn scholarships, where they can go to 
college and achieve and receive an education through playing a sport 
for their university or college.
  There are women that move on into professional sports fields and do 
remarkable things, incredible things for women. For example, Florence 
Griffith Joyner became the fastest woman in the world in 1988 when she 
ran the 100-meter dash in 10.49 seconds. I could only dream of being 
that fast. But in 2019, Matthew Boling caught the fastest high school 
100-meter time ever in 9.98 seconds, an entire half-second quicker than 
the fastest woman in the world.
  Biological women cannot compete against biological men. Biological 
little girls cannot compete against biological little boys. And they 
shouldn't have to.
  I have a daughter that is a D-1 athlete. We traveled the country for 
10 years where she competed at the highest level. She earned her 
scholarship, and now she plays fast-pitch softball. And I can't tell 
you how much fun I had watching her play this weekend, and she had a 
home run. But if she has to compete against boys in her sport, not only 
will they be on her playing field and she has to compete against them; 
they will be in her locker room; they will be in her showers; they will 
be in her bathroom; they will be in her hotel room when she travels 
with her team--all under the Equality Act. This is wrong.
  Mr. Speaker, this isn't about political parties. It is not about 
Democrat, Republican. This is about right and wrong. This is about 
girls' and women's rights.
  Furthermore, it affects women in prison. Trans men, biological men 
that identify as women, will be put with women in prison.
  Battered women's shelters, women that have been beaten and abused by 
men will have men in their battered women's shelters.
  Drug rehab centers--and the list goes on and on.
  Mr. Speaker, it is one thing to stop discrimination of a class of 
people, but it is another thing to completely violate and destroy the 
rights of girls and women in order to achieve this. This bill must be 
struck down. It is completely wrong.
  Furthermore, we are in an institution where it says, ``In God we 
trust.'' Well, it says in Genesis: God created us male and female. In 
his image, he created us. Science has two sets of chromosomes that 
prove male and female.
  Mr. Speaker, 80 to 95 percent of children with gender dysphoria 
completely outgrow it after puberty. The Equality Act will force 
doctors and nurses to perform mastectomies on girls that want to have 
their breasts removed. It will force doctors also to perform abortions, 
because according to the Equality Act, a doctor cannot say no.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask that everyone please pause and consider, and vote 
``no'' for the Equality Act. We can't do this in America, and it needs 
to stop with political parties.

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