Jerrold Nadler

Mr. NADLER

Mr. NADLER. Madam Speaker, I yield 45 seconds to the distinguished gentlewoman from Illinois (Ms. Schakowsky).

Mr. NADLER. Madam Speaker, I yield the balance of my time to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Waters).

Mr. NADLER. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. NADLER

Mr. NADLER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I have listened to this debate in amazement. I have been involved in this struggle for equality for many, many years. I was the chief author in the House of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, and to hear it suggested that I would turn my back on religious freedom is just ridiculous. This bill enshrines equality. It enshrines equality for everyone. That is its purpose. It does not contradict the Religious Freedom Restoration Act which, as a number of people have mentioned, I was the chief author of. But it does enshrine equality, and that is what our friends on the other side of the aisle seem to be afraid of, equality. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. NADLER. Madam Speaker, I have the right to close. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. NADLER. Madam Speaker, this bill does not affect Title IX and, consequently, religious freedom at all. I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Garcia).

Mr. NADLER. Madam Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 147, I call up the bill (H.R. 5) to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex, gender identity, and sexual orientation, and for other purposes, and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. NADLER. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee).

Mr. NADLER. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Cohen).

Mr. NADLER. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous material on H.R. 5.

Mr. NADLER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself 3 minutes. Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 5, the Equality Act, which amends the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and other core civil rights statutes to explicitly prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. The bill would also strengthen nondiscrimination protections for women and others. In short, this long overdue legislation will provide millions of LGBTQ Americans explicit protections from being denied medical care, fired from their jobs, or thrown out of their homes simply because of who they are. Much of the history of the United States is about expanding the definition of who is understood to be included when the Declaration of Independence says ``all men are created equal.'' When these words were first written, that phrase did not include Black and Latino men; it did not include Native Americans; it did not include women; and it did not include LGBTQ individuals. Once again, we have an opportunity to continue our march toward justice and to enshrine in our Nation's laws protections for marginalized communities to ensure that everyone can fully participate in key areas of life and to provide them resources in the face of discrimination. Today, I expect we will hear arguments asking us to pick and choose which of our Nation's children deserve our support, to pick which of our children are valuable enough to have a right to live their lives to the fullest. But that is a false choice and one designed to pit rights for some against rights for all. There is no question that all our children, including those who are transgender, deserve the freedom to choose their own path. Many of the protections codified by this bill already exist throughout the country, whether through court decisions or in State laws. In those places, women still have rights, religious freedom is still protected, parents are still involved in their children's healthcare, and doctors are still free to exercise their professional medical judgment. And trans athletes from high schools to the Olympic trials sometimes win and sometimes lose, just like everyone else. But the ability to have a job, to receive medical care, or to rent a home should not depend on who someone is, where they happen to live, or who represents them. LGBTQ people should not have to worry that a future Supreme Court could rip away their existing protections. They deserve the same protections as other communities that have historically faced discrimination, and that requires action from Congress. For decades, the LGBTQ community has been telling us their stories of outrageous discrimination. Madam Speaker, to my colleagues, I say that it is far past time we stop asking them to come to the Capitol just to defend their existence. To the LGBTQ community and, in particular, the trans youth and athletes who I expect will hear themselves demonized on the floor today: We see you, we appreciate you, we value you, and we will continue to fight for you. I thank the gentleman from Rhode Island (Mr. Cicilline), for his tireless leadership in introducing this bill and helping to shepherd it through the legislative process. Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this landmark legislation. Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 5, the ``Equality Act,'' which amends the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and other core civil rights statutes, to explicitly prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. The bill would also strengthen non-discrimination protections for women and others. In short, this long overdue legislation will provide millions of LGBTQ Americans explicit protections from being denied medical care, fired from their jobs, or thrown out of their homes simply because of who they are. Much of the history of the United States has been about expanding the definition of who is understood to be included when the Declaration of Independence says, ``all men are created equal.'' When these words were first written, that phrase did not include black and Latino men; it did not include Native Americans; it did not include women; and it did not include LGBTQ individuals. Once again, we have an opportunity before us to continue our march toward justice--to enshrine in our nation's laws protections for marginalized communities to ensure that everyone can fully participate in key areas of life, and to provide them recourse in the face of discrimination. Today, I expect we will hear arguments that will ask us to pick and choose which of our nation's children deserve our support--to pick which of our children are valuable enough to have a right to live their lives to the fullest. Despite what we will hear, that is a false choice--one designed to pit rights for some against rights for all. There is no question that all our children--including those that are transgender--deserve to have the freedom to choose their own path. The Equality Act seeks to make our civil rights laws inclusive of all people who have historically faced discrimination. Not only does it provide explicit protections for the LGBTQ community, it also expands protections for women and people of color. Under the Equality Act, women will finally be protected from discrimination in public accommodations and federally funded programs. By expanding the existing definition of public accommodations under the Civil Rights Act, the Equality Act also increases protections for people on the basis of race, color, religion, and national origin. People of color should not need to fear being targeted and discriminated against while shopping, just because of the color of their skin. Muslim people should not need to fear being targeted while flying, just because of their religion. And LGBTQ people and women should not need to fear being denied services in public spaces and services simply because of who they are. At long last, this legislation provides them with legal recourse if they face such discrimination. Many of the protections being codified by this bill already exist across all 50 states following the Supreme Court's ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County in 2020, and we know that more than 20 states have had some version of the protections before us today even before the Supreme Court's ruling. In those places women still have rights, religious freedom is still protected, parents are still involved in their children's healthcare, and doctors are still free to exercise their professional medical judgment. And trans athletes, from high schools to the Olympic trials, sometimes win and sometimes lose, just like everyone else. Opponents of the Equality Act argue that it undermines women's rights. That assertion is false. The Equality Act simply ensures that all women, including trans women, are included in female institutions and programs. When it comes to athletics, the Equality Act ensures that LGBTQ students--including women and girls who are lesbian, bisexual, or transgender--will have the same opportunity to participate in sports as their peers. Trans women and girls have been participating in sports consistent with their gender at all levels for years, and we have not seen any dominance by trans athletes. Young people who are trans are competing in sports for the same reasons as their peers who are not transgender--including to be part of a team and to challenge themselves--and they deserve the same opportunities as their cisgender peers. That is why the Women's Sports Foundation, National Women's Law Center, and hundreds of athletes in women's sports and other women's rights groups have consistently voiced their strong support for inclusion of transgender women and girls in women's sports and have opposed efforts to exclude them. Women's sports can play a critical role in women's development and equality and including all women and girls in women's sports strengthens women's sports. Similarly, single-sex institutions like women's and men's colleges have played an important and historic role in making our nation's higher education system the strongest and most diverse in the world. To be clear, nothing in the Equality Act should be construed to prohibit or otherwise limit or affect the ability of single-sex colleges to maintain their single-sex status. Moreover, it is not Congress's intention to alter in any way Title IX or the scope or availability of its exemptions as they currently stand. In addition, the Equality Act will not undermine services like single-sex homeless shelters or single sex-facilities. It will simply ensure that these facilities do not discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. Arguments that providing transgender people access to facilities consistent with their gender identity will undermine women's safety have no basis in reality. Laws protecting LGBTQ people from discrimination do not authorize anyone to engage in abusive or harassing behavior. That is why over 300 domestic violence and sexual assault organizations, including the National Alliance to End Sexual Violence, the National Center on Domestic and Sexual Violence, and the National Center for Victims of Crime, have signed onto a National Consensus Statement of Anti-Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence Organizations in Support of Full and Equal Access for the Transgender Community. Transgender people experience shockingly high rates of sexual and physical violence, and the real risk of violence occurs when transgender people are barred from using the appropriate facilities. The idea that transgender people need explicit protections from discrimination is not new. Dozens of states provide nondiscrimination protections in public accommodations on the basis of gender identity, and in those states we have not seen the parade of horribles that Equality Act opponents raise. The request to pit people's rights against each other is not based on the real-world outcomes--for which ample evidence exists to the contrary--but a continued resistance to advancing rights for those different from so many of us here in Congress. The ability to have a job, to receive medical care, or to rent a home should not depend on who someone is, where they happen to live, or who represents then politically. LGBTQ people should not have to worry that a future Supreme Court could rip away their existing protections, and they deserve the same protections as other communities that have historically faced discrimination. And that requires action from Congress. For decades, the LGBTQ community has been coming here over and over to tell us their stories of outrageous discrimination. To my colleagues, I say, it is far past time we stop asking them to come to the Capitol just to defend their existence. To the LGBTQ community--and in particular the trans youth and athletes who I expect will hear themselves demonized on the floor today--we see you, we appreciate you, we value you, and we will continue to fight for you. I thank the gentleman from Rhode Island, Representative David Cicilline, for his tireless leadership in introducing this bill and helping to shepherd it through the legislative process. I urge my colleagues to support this landmark legislation. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. NADLER. Madam Speaker, I object.

Mr. NADLER. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Rhode Island (Mr. Cicilline), who is a distinguished sponsor of this legislation.

Mr. NADLER. Madam Speaker, I include in the Record a number of documents. Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Washington, DC, February 25, 2021. House of Representatives, Washington, DC. Dear Representative: On behalf of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law (hereinafter ``Lawyers'' Committee''), a nonpartisan civil rights organization formed at the request of President John F. Kennedy to enlist the private bar in providing legal services to address racial discrimination, we urge you to vote for the Equality Act (H.R. 5). The Equality Act would clarify that LGBTQ+ people are protected against discrimination in access to credit. housing, education, and employment under federal law, as well as to strengthen public accommodation antidiscrimination for all people. The Lawyers' Committee strongly believes that the Equality Act is an essential step in fulfilling our nation's commitment to civil rights for all people. Unfortunately, discrimination is a persistent problem for millions of people in the LGBTQ+ community, particularly for those who also identify as people of color. Everyone in America, regardless of who they are, is entitled to equal rights and should be free to pursue career and educational opportunities and live their daily lives free from discrimination. Black Americans and other people of color continue to face persistent discrimination while engaging in commonplace transactions, errands, and tasks, such as shopping and accessing transportation like taxis and car services. The Equality Act would finally make this discrimination illegal, as it strengthens the public accommodations provision in the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Congress must act now to pass the Equality Act to clarify and strengthen federal civil rights protections so everyone across the country can engage in public life without the fear of harassment or discrimination because of who they are. As Congress considers this important bill, we are committed to ensuring the Equality Act does solely what it was intended to do: clarify and strengthen existing federal civil rights protections for everyone in America. We strongly oppose any effort to weaken any existing federal civil rights law the Equality Act would amend. We urge you to vote for final passage of the Equality Act because no one in our country should be discriminated against for who they are. It is time for Congress to clarify and strengthen federal civil rights protections for all Americans. Respectfully submitted, Damon T. Hewitt, Acting President & Executive Director, Executive Vice President, Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. Erinn D. Martin, Policy Counsel, Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.

Mr. NADLER. Madam Speaker, how much time do we have left?

Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I now yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentlewoman from Pennsylvania (Ms. Dean).

Mr. NADLER. Madam Speaker, I now yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Stanton).

Mr. NADLER. Madam Speaker, I now yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from New York (Mr. Sean Patrick Maloney).

Mr. NADLER. Madam Speaker, I now yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentleman from New York (Mr. Jeffries).

Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I now yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentlewoman from Washington (Ms. Jayapal).

Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield the balance of my time to the gentlewoman from Pennsylvania (Ms. Dean), and I ask unanimous consent that she may control that balance.

Mr. NADLER. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Quigley).

Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I now yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentlewoman from California (Ms. Waters).

Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Wasserman Schultz).

Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I now yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from California (Mr. Takano).