[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 105 (Tuesday, June 21, 2022)]
[House]
[Pages H5700-H5701]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       21ST CENTURY PRESIDENT ACT

  Mr. CICILLINE. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass 
the bill (H.R. 3285) to amend gendered terms in Federal law relating to 
the President and the President's spouse.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 3285

       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 ``21st Century President 
     Act''.

     SEC. 2. MODERNIZATION OF TERMS RELATING TO THE PRESIDENT AND 
                   THE SPOUSE OF A PRESIDENT.

       Section 879(b)(1)(A) of title 18, United States Code, is 
     amended by striking ``the wife of a former President during 
     his lifetime, the widow of a former President until her death 
     or remarriage'' and inserting ``the spouse of a former 
     President during a former President's lifetime, the surviving 
     spouse of a former President until the surviving spouse's 
     death or remarriage''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Rhode Island (Mr. Cicilline) and the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Jordan) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Rhode Island.


                             General Leave

  Mr. CICILLINE. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and 
include extraneous material on H.R. 3285.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Rhode Island?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. CICILLINE. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 3285, the 21st 
Century President Act.
  A century ago, women in this country had only barely won the right to 
vote. Today, we have the first female Vice President, a female Speaker 
of the House, and record numbers of women running for Federal office. 
Although we still have a long way to go both in equality and 
representation, our country's government is growing closer to finally 
representing our Nation's brilliant diversity.
  Our laws must reflect the fact that a President and their spouse can 
be of any gender. That concept may have seemed impossible a few decades 
ago, but today it is, thankfully, a true and real possibility.
  Currently, our criminal code defines a spouse in the ``immediate 
family'' of a President as ``the wife of a former President during his 
lifetime'' and ``the widow of a former President until her death,'' 
implying that the spouse must be female and the President must be male 
in order for a threat against a former President's family to be treated 
as a crime.
  This completely disregards the fact that a President may be female 
and the President's spouse may not be. This does not reflect the 
progress we have made in this country.
  I am proud to vote ``yes'' for this bill, which passed out of this 
Chamber by a voice vote last Congress, and I encourage all of my 
colleagues to vote for its passage to support equality in our highest 
branch.
  Madam Speaker, I again thank my colleague and friend, Congressman 
Pocan, for introducing this bill and being such a strong advocate for 
it. I look forward to seeing it made law.
  Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. JORDAN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Madam Speaker, the bill is simple. Under current law, it is a crime 
to issue threats against former Presidents' immediate family and 
certain other persons.
  Specifically, this bill replaces the words ``wife'' and ``widow'' 
with ``spouse'' and ``surviving spouse.'' Both major parties have had 
women run for President, and this change makes sense.
  But while we are dedicating floor time to consider this minor 
technical change, President Biden's inflation has hit a 40-year high; 
his border crisis has left our Nation woefully unsecure; and leftwing 
defund the police actions have

[[Page H5701]]

contributed to a crime wave that is plaguing our cities.
  Of course, this bill makes sense. It should be a crime to threaten 
the President or First Family. No one disagrees with that. But this 
body needs to get its priorities straight. Where is the legislation to 
address the crisis at the border, or address the crime wave, or to do 
anything meaningful about inflation or the price at the pump?
  The bill is fine, but I hope that House Democrats will spend some 
time addressing the real issues that face the American people.
  Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. CICILLINE. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from 
Wisconsin (Mr. Pocan), the author of this legislation.
  Mr. POCAN. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of the 21st Century 
President Act, a bipartisan bill that I am glad to have authored and 
introduced.
  Federal law hasn't caught up to where progress in this country is, 
specifically when it comes to who a future President can be.
  This bill would change Federal law that refers to a President's 
spouse. Sections that currently refer to a President's ``wife'' or 
``widow'' would be changed to ``spouse'' in recognition of the fact 
that, in the 21st century, the President could either be a woman or a 
person from the LGBTQ community.
  Without this change to the U.S. Code, for example, the law that makes 
it a crime to threaten, kill, kidnap, or inflict bodily harm upon the 
President or the President's family would fail to include a future 
female or gay President and their potential spouse.
  This change is long overdue. Someday, there could be a President 
Kamala Harris, or Elizabeth Warren, or Amy Klobuchar, or Tammy Baldwin, 
or Pete Buttigieg, or a President Nikki Haley, or Kristi Noem, or Liz 
Cheney.
  The words in law matter. It is critically important that Federal law 
recognizes that we could one day have a President who is not a man, or 
even a straight man, and that they and their families deserve equal 
protection under the law.
  I am glad that this bill passed the House by voice vote last Congress 
and that it has now been voted out of the Judiciary Committee twice on 
a voice vote.
  I personally thank Chairman Nadler and the Judiciary Committee for 
their support of this important bipartisan bill, and I urge all of my 
colleagues to, once again, support the 21st Century President Act.
  Mr. JORDAN. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. CICILLINE. Madam Speaker, H.R. 3285, the 21st Century President 
Act, does indeed take our criminal code into the 21st century by 
removing gender terms and assumptions about who can be President from 
our criminal code.
  It passed, as I said, on a voice vote last Congress. I ask my 
colleagues to again stand with me in supporting this legislation.
  Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3285, the 
``21st Century President Act''--an insightful, common-sense measure, of 
which I am an original cosponsor.
  In considering this bill, I think back to 1970 when Representative 
Shirley Chisolm, speaking on the need to ratify the Equal Rights 
Amendment, asked: ``Why is it acceptable for women to be secretaries, 
librarians, and teachers, but totally unacceptable for them to be 
managers, administrators, doctors, lawyers, and Members of Congress?'' 
At that time, it was almost unthinkable that a woman could be elected 
President of the United States.
  Although we have yet to ratify the ERA, our country has made great 
strides in the struggle for gender equality since then--from the 
groundbreaking presidential primary campaign of Representative Chisolm 
in 1972; to the first-of-its-kind vice presidential nomination of 
Geraldine Ferraro; to the 18 million cracks in the glass ceiling made 
by Hillary Clinton; and the historic election of President Joe Biden 
and Vice President Kamala Harris, which began with a field that 
included six women and one member of the LGBTQ community.
  Given the diversity of candidates for the presidency in recent years 
and the more inclusive times in which we live, our laws should evolve 
to reflect this societal progress.
  That is why H.R. 3285 amends section 879 of title 18 to do away with 
the assumption that the president is male and his spouse female by 
removing gendered terms such as ``wife'' or ``widow.''
  I hope we can all agree that ``immediate family'' means much more 
today than the 1982 law provides and that the spouse of our President 
should be protected regardless of gender.
  Indeed, we have come very far in the pursuit of gender equality since 
this statute was enacted. Yet H.R. 3285 makes clear there is still much 
work to be done.
  As we approach the 50th anniversary of the enactment of Title IX, 
women's rights are once again under threat and the push for genuine 
gender equality-has been renewed.
  Each of us must remain vigilant and ensure that equality of rights 
under the law are neither denied nor abridged by the United States or 
by any state on account of gender in any manner.
  I thank the gentleman from Wisconsin, Representative Mark Pocan, for 
his efforts to bring us into the 21st century and for recognizing the 
importance of ensuring the safety and security of those who may come 
from the wide, vast diversity of America to serve as President.
  I urge my colleagues to join me in support of this bill and hope we 
can pass it by voice vote as we did in the 116th Congress.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Rhode Island (Mr. Cicilline) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 3285.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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