Speak Out Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. McCLINTOCK. Madam Speaker, what a strange world the woke are creating. Their open borders policy has produced an epidemic of child sex trafficking. They use taxpayer dollars to transport unaccompanied minors across the country. These children are then delivered to those claiming to be friends or family and then abandoned. The Biden administration has now lost track of 45,000 children that it has turned over to so-called sponsors in this manner.

Now, the Democrats won't even discuss the sex trafficking crisis that they have created, let alone do anything about it, because to condemn it is to acknowledge it, and they won't even do that. Yet, they bring a bill to the floor today to virtue signal their opposition to sexual harassment in the workplace. Specifically, it voids certain confidentiality clauses in cases involving sexual harassment.

Now, let's be clear, no civilized person condones such behavior, and several States have already passed laws similar to the measure before us today. That is where the Constitution rightly places such questions--with the States.

Federalism allows a State to try something out. If it works, other States copy it. If it doesn't, they can avoid it. This bill imposes the same standards across the country.

Now, what could possibly go wrong? Well, first, it references a study that includes among the definitions of sexual harassment a microaggression--I believe that is the word the woke use--such as misgendering.

The mere allegation of sexual harassment, without the necessity of any kind of proof, invalidates the nondisclosure agreement if the parties reach their agreement before the dispute arose. This bill doesn't define ``dispute,'' so we don't even know when exactly it will apply.

If an employee accidentally refers to a colleague by a pronoun that has just changed, should this really be grounds for publicly pillorying the employer for sexual harassment? The woke excel at targeting those they disagree with in such a manner. This makes it possible for them to do so under a wide range of circumstances.

Second, if the mere allegation of sexual harassment can void a nondisclosure agreement, would someone simply throw in such an allegation in order to air their real grievances? Remember, this bill voids the confidentiality clause entirely, even though those clauses can cover information unrelated to sexual misconduct.

Third, where do such confidentiality carveouts stop? Are references in the workplace to political ideology, religious beliefs, or cultural preferences, already branded as microaggressions by the woke, to be added one by one?

We know this bill is just the beginning. The White House said as much this week.

Perhaps these are questions best left to the States. Perhaps our time is best devoted to protecting the countless children that the crime cartels are sexually exploiting with their active assistance of the Democrats' open border policies.

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