Executive Session

Floor Speech

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Mrs. GILLIBRAND. Mr. President, I rise to speak in opposition to the nomination of Carlos Muniz to be the general counsel at the Department of Education. One of the most important responsibilities that the Department of Education has is to uphold title IX and fight back against gender discrimination in all its forms. This is an enormous responsibility, but it is also an urgent one.

Thousands of men and women have survived sexual assaults on college campuses, and they are demanding that the Education Department and their universities take these crimes seriously. But over the last year, we have heard over and over again that Secretary DeVos has let down these survivors. Instead of working to uphold and even strengthen title IX, she has used her position to weaken title IX. We should not be arming her with more staff who are determined to carry out that plan, but that is what Mr. Muniz will do if he is confirmed.

Mr. Muniz's nomination sends a cynical message to survivors of campus sexual assault all over our country--that the Education Department is not taking survivors seriously and that they are not interested in protecting a law that is supposed to keep our students safe.

If this nominee is confirmed, I have no doubt that he is going to accelerate Secretary DeVos's attack on title IX. This is an insult to the thousands of students who have suffered through sexual assaults on their college campuses. Mr. Muniz has spent his career on the wrong side of this issue, and he has made it clear through his actions that he does not respect the important role title IX actually plays in protecting our students and keeping our campuses safe.

The general counsel of the Education Department should work to uphold and strengthen our anti-discrimination laws, but I fear this nominee is going to do the exact opposite. I urge all of my colleagues to do what is best for our students and join me in opposing this nomination.

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