[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 5867]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           DR. KENT SCRIBNER

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Veasey) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. VEASEY. Mr. Speaker, before I get into my remarks, I want to 
share a story about a conversation that I had with one of my colleagues 
here on the House floor. It was a colleague from Arizona.
  I asked the colleague: How is the new superintendent that is coming 
to the Fort Worth Independent School District, Dr. Scribner?
  The colleague told me how lucky we were to be getting Dr. Scribner 
from the Phoenix Independent School District because he has done such a 
remarkable job there and that the community was really saddened, but 
happy for him that he was given the opportunity to come and work in one 
of Texas' largest independent school districts.
  I want to rise today to lend my unwavering support for a respected 
educator that has made a mark very quickly in the Fort Worth community, 
and that is Dr. Kent Scribner.
  Dr. Scribner is a dedicated educator who is leading, again, one of 
the largest school systems in the entire State of Texas. But recently 
he has come under attack from centralized forces in Austin that don't 
believe in local control and, by the way, would like to actually take 
money out of the Fort Worth ISD and let that money be used for poor-
performing schools in the form of school vouchers.
  What Dr. Scribner is under attack for from Austin is by trying to 
protect transgender students. Under the guidelines issued by Dr. 
Scribner, transgender students are allowed to use the bathroom and 
locker room of their choice.
  Teachers are to address them by the pronoun that reflects the 
student's gender identity. Staff are to protect a student's privacy 
about decisions to transition from one gender to another. An employee 
who does not comply with these rules could face discipline.
  It also protects other students. It says that students who do not 
feel comfortable using a bathroom with a transgender student are 
provided a reasonable and safe accommodation for them as well.
  These guidelines, unlike it was first reported, were not developed in 
isolation. The Fort Worth School Board has been working on these 
policies since 2014 and drafted a new set of guidelines last summer.
  Instead of condemning Dr. Scribner, we should applaud his leadership 
because it encourages an environment that protects our children's 
safety. Dr. Scribner has children, also, I want to make clear, in the 
Forth Worth Independent School District, and I doubt that he would want 
to subject his children to an environment that he didn't feel was safe.
  Many transgender students simply cannot use the restroom or locker 
room of the gender they were assigned at birth. Asking transgender 
students to use a separate restroom, like a faculty restroom, singles 
them out and
increases the risk of bullying. Transgender students should not also 
have to face bullying from government officials.
  Allowing transgender students to use the correct restroom is just 
telling them that they can use the restroom like anyone else. Doing 
otherwise would tell them that they are unwelcome at the school they 
attend. Restricting restroom access for transgender students goes 
against the consensus of medical professionals and mental health 
experts.
  The guidelines that Dr. Scribner has issued are similar to those 
adopted by hundreds of school districts around the country. Let me just 
also tell you that Dr. Scribner has a lot of good backup in what he is 
doing. These best practices are supported by the Child Welfare League 
of America, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Texas Association 
Against Sexual Assault, and the Texas Council on Family Violence.
  Dr. Scribner's leadership is especially commendable at a time when we 
are seeing a dramatic increase in hateful, discriminatory, and anti-
LGBT legislation across the United States. It is imperative that we 
stand together to ensure that no one is discriminated against because 
of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
  That is why I am a proud sponsor and a proud cosponsor of the Quality 
Act and I am also a member of the Quality Caucus. I wholeheartedly 
believe that preventing this type of discrimination only makes our 
country a better place.
  The fight for LGBT equality has seen tremendous progress, but we 
still have a lot of work to do to make sure that all of our students 
feel safe in school.
  I am honored to stand in solidarity with Dr. Scribner. I ask my 
colleagues to stand with me as we support the rights of all Americans.

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