Parents Bill of Rights Act
Floor Speech
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Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts. Mr. Chair, I thank the gentleman from Virginia for yielding, and I include in the Record a letter from the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, Washington, DC, March 23, 2023.
Support the Rights of All Students and Parents Support H. Res. 219, Oppose H.R. 5
Dear Member of Congress: On behalf of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 230 national organizations to promote and protect the civil and human rights of all persons in the United States, and the 228 undersigned organizations, we urge you to support the rights and inclusion of all students and parents in our public school system by supporting H.Res. 219, the Bill of Rights for Students and Parents, and opposing H.R. 5, the Parents Bill of Rights Act. As the civil and human rights community, we have fought for more than 100 years for the rights of all students and parents to attend and be fully included in well- resourced public schools that prepare them for their futures. The Bill of Rights for Students and Parents sets forth a vision respecting and honoring the dignity and worth of every child--a vision supported by the overwhelming majority of parents in the country. In contrast, H.R. 5 seeks to undermine the relationship between parents and teachers, to facilitate book banning, and to make our most marginalized children less safe.
During this time in which proponents of discrimination and exclusion are creating policies and legislation to harm students and undermine the learning environment for everyone, support for developing supportive, inclusive, safe, and responsive public schools could not be more important. In a recent national survey, 80 percent or more of parents said that it was very or extremely important that their child be honest, ethical, hardworking, helpful to those in need, and accepting of people who are different from them. It is these parental values that are reflected in H.Res. 219. No matter our color, background, or zip code, we want our kids to have an education that imparts honesty about who we are, integrity in how we treat others, and courage to do what's right.
Similarly, 80 percent of parents want to protect the ability of young people to have access to books from which they can learn about and understand different perspectives and help them grow into adults who can think for themselves. H.Res. 219 recognizes this near-universal view that censorship and book banning ``undermine the education of all students, take choices away from all students and their families, and limit the opportunities of parents, families, and children to access an education and think critically about the world around them.''
H.R. 5 seeks to create detrimental harm to our most marginalized children, erase the complicated and difficult history of our Nation, and damage parent and teacher relationships. Instead of promoting the values and priorities that the overwhelming majority of parents from all backgrounds and neighborhoods share, the bill would undermine important public health and child well-being data by effectively eliminating anonymous surveys of students; would harm those most vulnerable LGBTQ+ youth who are unable to come out to even their own parents by forcibly outing them, would embolden a small group of activists who are using book bans to selectively stamp out the perspectives of Black people, LGBTQ+ people, and other historically marginalized groups, and would bog schools down with reporting and commenting requirements that bear no relationship to proven parent and family engagement practices.
We ask that you strongly support H.Res. 219, strongly oppose H.R. 5, and reject attacks on the rights of all students and parents to attend and be fully included in well- resourced public schools that prepare them for their futures. If you have any questions, please reach out to Liz King, senior program director at The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. Sincerely,
National (133): The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights; A Way Home America; AACTE (American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education); Act To Change; Advocacy Institute; Advocates for Youth; All4Ed; American Association of University Women; American Atheists; American Civil Liberties Union; American Humanist Association; American School Counselor Association; Apiary for Practical Support; Arab American Institute (AAI); Asian Americans Advancing Justice I AAJC; Athlete Ally; Autistic Self Advocacy Network; Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law; Bend the Arc: Jewish Action.
Campaign for Our Shared Future; Campus Pride; Care in Action; Catholics for Choice; Center for American Progress; Center for Applied Transgender Studies; Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP); Center for LGBTQ Economic Advancement & Research (CLEAR); CenterLink: The Community of LGBT Centers; Collective Power for Reproductive Justice; Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates; Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund; EducateUS: SIECUS In Action; Education Leaders of Color (EdLoC); Education Reform Now; Empowering Pacific Islander Communities; End Rape On Campus; Equal Rights Advocates.
Equality Federation; Equity Forward; Evaluation, Data Integration, and Technical Assistance (EDIT) Program; Family Equality; Feminist Campus; Fenway Institute; First Focus Campaign for Children; FORGE, Inc.; Girls Inc.; GLAAD; GLBTQ Legal Advocates and Defenders (GLAD); GLSEN; Grandmothers for Reproductive Rights; Hindu American Foundation; Hispanic Federation; Houston Area Urban League; Human Rights Campaign; Human Rights First; If/When/How: Lawyering for Reproductive Justice; Impact Fund.
In Our Own Voice: National Black Women's Reproductive Justice Agenda; Indivisible; interACT: Advocates for Intersex Youth; Interfaith Alliance; Japanese American Citizens League; Juvenile Law Center; KIPP Public Schools; Labor Council for Latin American Advancement; Lambda Legal; LatinoJustice PRLDEF; Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law; Lawyers for Good Government; League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC); Matthew Shepard Foundation; MomsRising; Movement Advancement Project; NARAL Pro-Choice America; National Association of School Psychologists; National Black Justice Coalition; National Center for Learning Disabilities.
National Center for Lesbian Rights; National Center for Parent Leadership, Advocacy, and Community Empowerment (National PLACE); National Center for Transgender Equality; National Center for Youth Law; National Council of Asian Pacific Americans; National Disability Rights Network (NDRN); National Domestic Workers Alliance; National Education Association; National Employment Law Project; National Hispanic Media Coalition; National LGBT Cancer Network; National Organization for Women; National Urban League; National Women's Law Center; New American Leaders Action Fund; New Generation Equity; Oregonizers; People For the American Way; PFLAG National; Physicians for Reproductive Health.
Planned Parenthood Federation of America; Plume Health; Public Advocacy for Kids (PAK); Public Citizen; Public Justice; Red Wine & Blue; Reproductive Rights Coalition; School Board Partners; Sexual Violence Prevention Association (SVPA); SIECUS: Sex Ed for Social Change; Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF); SPAN Parent Advocacy Network; SPLC Action Fund; Stand for Children; Tahirih Justice Center; The Advocates for Human Rights; The Arc of the United States; The Education Trust; The Personal Stories Project; The Sikh Coalition.
The Workers Circle; TransAthlete; True Colors United; Trust Women; UnidosUS; Unitarian Universalist Association; United State of Women (USOW); URGE: Unite for Reproductive & Gender Equity; VoteProChoice; Voto Latino; Wayfinder Foundation; We Testify; Whole Woman's Health; Whole Woman's Health Alliance; Woodhull Freedom Foundation; YWCA USA.
State/Local (96): A Woman's Choice of Charlotte; A Woman's Choice of Greensboro; A Woman's Choice of Jacksonville; A Woman's Choice of Raleigh; Acadiana Queer Collective; Aces NYC; Action Together New Jersey; African American Office of Gay Concerns; AIDS Foundation Chicago; Alliance for Quality Education; Arkansas Black Gay Men's Forum; Avow Texas; Bans Off Miami; Black Californians United for Early Care and Education; Carolina for All; Central Florida Jobs with Justice; Chicago Abortion Fund; Chicago Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights; Cobalt.
Democrats for Education Reform DC (DFER DC); Democrats for Education Reform Massachusetts; Democrats for Education Reform New York; Detroit Disability Power; DFER Colorado; Disability Law Center; Donald Patton; Dutchess County Progressive Action Alliance; Education Reform Now; Education Reform Now CT; Education Reform Now Texas; Equality California; Equality Illinois; Equality South Dakota; Equality Virginia; Equality Maine; Faces of Fallen Fathers; FL National Organization for Women; Florida Council of Churches; Florida Health Justice Project.
Forever Caring Evonne; Gender Justice; GLSEN New Mexico; Greater Milwaukee Urban League; Greater Orlando National Organization for Women; Illinois Families for Public Schools; Independent Voters of Illinois-Independent Precinct Organization; Indivisible DuPage; Indivisible Georgia Coalition; Indivisible Miami; Jane's Due Process; JASMYN, Inc.; Lafayette Citizens Against Censorship; Latino Memphis; Learning Rights Law Center; Los Angeles LGBT Center; Louisiana Citizens Against Censorship; Louisiana Coalition for Reproductive Freedom; Louisiana Progress; Louisiana Trans Advocates.
Maine Parent Federation; Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition; Mazzoni Center; Memphis Urban League; Michigan Alliance for Special Education; Michigan Education Justice Coalition; Missouri Health Care for All; NASD; National Council of Jewish Women St. Louis; NJ Community Schools Coalition; North Carolina Justice Center; OutFront Minnesota; OutNebraska; Parent Education Organizing Council; Paterson Alliance; Paterson Education Foundation; PAVE (Parents Amplifying Voices in Education); Pride Action Tank; Pro Choice Missouri; Pro-Choice North Carolina.
Progress Florida; Queer Northshore; Rad Family, a project of North Jersey Pride; Reproductive Freedom Acadiana; Save Our Schools NJ; SHERo Mississippi; Silver State Equality- Nevada; Solid Foundation Youth Outreach; Southern Echo Inc.; St. Tammany Library Alliance; The Ezekiel Project; The Parents' Place of MD; The Urban League of Philadelphia; The Womxn Project; Urban League of Greater Pittsburgh; Urban League of Middle Tennessee; Virginia Coalition of Latino Organizations.
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Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts. Mr. Chairman, I am the proud mom of three. Altogether, I have 36 cumulative school years under my belt, and I served on a school board for 6 of those fighting for parents and for kids.
I speak from experience when I call on this Chamber to oppose the GOP's politics over parents act. Once again, the majority is showing us how out of touch they are with American families. They are obsessed with wokeism, even as they struggle to define what that even means, but let me tell you, parents in this country are wide awake.
They wake up every day and do the best they can to provide for their families. They wake up and they want great schools where every single child can learn and excel. Parents want affordable childcare. They know that is the beginning of a great education. Right now parents are spending nearly a quarter of their family budget on childcare and that is when they can find it at all.
Congress had a chance to cut those costs for families. Every single House Republican voted no. That is politics over parents. Parents know that building a better future means teaching our country's history. They know we have to address our teacher shortage, but demonizing educators, banning books like ``To Kill a Mockingbird,'' that is politics over parents.
Parents know that taking care of a sick child shouldn't cost them their paychecks. They should not have to send that child to school sick because they don't have paid leave. The United States remains one of the only developed countries in the world without paid family leave. Every single House Republican voted against this basic benefit. That is politics over parents.
Moms and dads want schools and communities to be safe. They do not want their children shot while they are in school. Just yesterday, Denver families faced the horror of yet another school shooting. House Republicans refuse to enact commonsense reforms. Why? Politics over parents.
How about something as basic as feeding our children? Nope. House Republicans voted against the child tax credit. They voted to slash food stamps and eliminate free school lunches. Once again, politics over parents.
Then there is the shameless hypocrisy of talking about parents' rights as the GOP strips away American's rights to decide if and when they are going to have children.
At every turn, House Republicans have undermined the rights, freedom, and well-being of our Nation's families. Let's say ``yes'' to parents and ``no'' to this shameful bill.
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