[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 110 (Friday, June 23, 2023)]
[House]
[Page H3130]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       COMMEMORATING PRIDE MONTH

  (Ms. SCHOLTEN asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. SCHOLTEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commemorate Pride Month 
for the good people of west Michigan.
  Even as we celebrate this month as a time of joy, allowing 
individuals to be their authentic selves, it has been marked by 
communications from back home about the challenges and direct harm 
individuals face just for being a member of the LGBTQ community. Far, 
far too often, this harm is inflicted directly and intentionally in the 
name of God.
  West Michigan has not had a countervoice in Congress, but they do 
now. I rise today as a lawmaker to express my commitment to championing 
freedom and justice for all in this country. I also rise today as a 
woman of deep and unwavering faith to reaffirm the equality that we all 
experience as precious human beings created with love, with joy, in the 
image and likeness of God. No scheme of man can change that.
  To all of you in west Michigan who have felt unseen, unheard, or, 
even worse, bullied, this statement in the Congressional Record is for 
you. My votes are for you. My presence here on the House floor is for 
you.

  We are bending the arc toward justice, toward inclusion, toward 
equality. Happy Pride.

                          ____________________