Equality Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Ohio for yielding, and I completely agree with him on his comments.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to H.R. 5, yet another harmful bill that has been rushed to the House floor without thorough bipartisan consideration. It claims to strive for equality, but, in practice, this bill undermines the constitutional religious freedoms guaranteed to all Americans.

Once again, abandoning long-established House procedures, Democrats are pushing a conveniently titled bill without convening one hearing or markup during the 117th Congress to consider its vast implications for educational institutions and employers.

This legislation would require our Nation's K-12 schools to treat gender as being fluid, subjective, and not tied to biological reality.

H.R. 5 also threatens religious freedom protections for all Americans and Federal funding for religiously affiliated colleges and universities.

Under this bill, student codes of conduct, hiring practices, and housing rules that reflect sincerely held beliefs about marriage and sexuality would be deemed discriminatory, eroding First Amendment rights.

In addition, the definitions in this bill are vague and would subject employers and other covered organizations to increase litigation risks.

The bill also fails to advocate for the unborn, which is why I urge support for my amendment that will protect anyone, including religiously affiliated groups and individuals, from being forced to perform abortions.

Masquerading as a proposal to guarantee fundamental civil rights to all Americans, H.R. 5 is nothing more than a partisan ploy to destroy religious liberty and educational opportunities for girls. Shameful doesn't even begin to describe this bill.

This is no way to legislate, but for House Democrats, silencing the voices of the minority and millions of hardworking Americans is business as usual.

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