Providing for Consideration of H.R. Parents Bill of Rights Act
Floor Speech
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Mrs. HOUCHIN. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 241 and ask for its immediate consideration.
The Clerk read the resolution, as follows: H. Res. 241
Resolved, That at any time after adoption of this resolution the Speaker may, pursuant to clause 2(b) of rule XVIII, declare the House resolved into the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union for consideration of the bill (H.R. 5) to ensure the rights of parents are honored and protected in the Nation's public schools. The first reading of the bill shall be dispensed with. All points of order against consideration of the bill are waived. General debate shall be confined to the bill and shall not exceed two hours equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Education and the Workforce or their respective designees. After general debate the bill shall be considered for amendment under the five- minute rule. In lieu of the amendment in the nature of a substitute recommended by the Committee on Education and the Workforce now printed in the bill, it shall be in order to consider as an original bill for the purpose of amendment under the five-minute rule an amendment in the nature of a substitute consisting of the text of Rules Committee Print 118-2. That amendment in the nature of a substitute shall be considered as read. All points of order against that amendment in the nature of a substitute are waived. No amendment to that amendment in the nature of a substitute shall be in order except those printed in the report of the Committee on Rules accompanying this resolution. Each such amendment may be offered only in the order printed in the report, may be offered only by a Member designated in the report, shall be considered as read, shall be debatable for the time specified in the report equally divided and controlled by the proponent and an opponent, shall not be subject to amendment, and shall not be subject to a demand for division of the question in the House or in the Committee of the Whole. All points of order against such amendments are waived. At the conclusion of consideration of the bill for amendment the Committee shall rise and report the bill to the House with such amendments as may have been adopted. Any Member may demand a separate vote in the House on any amendment adopted in the Committee of the Whole to the bill or to the amendment in the nature of a substitute made in order as original text. The previous question shall be considered as ordered on the bill and amendments thereto to final passage without intervening motion except one motion to recommit.
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Mrs. HOUCHIN. Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentlewoman from Pennsylvania (Ms. Scanlon), pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume.
During consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purpose of debate only.
Last night, the Rules Committee met and reported out a rule, House Resolution 241, providing for consideration of H.R. 5.
The Parents Bill of Rights is to be considered under a structured rule with 2 hours of debate, equally divided and controlled by the Chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Education and the Workforce, or their designees, and provides for one motion to recommit.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this rule and in support of the underlying legislation. The Parents Bill of Rights would secure a fundamental right parents should always be guaranteed: their right to make informed decisions about their children.
As my first time managing a floor debate, I couldn't think of a better bill to focus on. Our families in Indiana and across the country deserve debate on H.R. 5, and we plan to deliver.
As a mother of three children in school, I know how important it is for parents to know what is happening in the classroom. Unfortunately, this bill is necessary because school districts across the country have failed to deliver basic transparency.
That became painfully obvious to parents during the pandemic. Our living rooms became classrooms. Parents came to realize exactly what their children's days looked like.
Many parents were surprised and disappointed by what they were learning about their children's educational experiences.
Like many of my colleagues, I prefer that most decisions regarding education be made at the State and local level, and this bill does not change that.
The actions over the past few years have compelled us to stand up and to act. There has been example after example of this becoming a bigger problem.
In one example, a father from Virginia had to learn his daughter was assaulted in the high school bathroom from his child, not the school.
Stories like this one shouldn't become the new normal.
As I said in the Rules Committee during the hearing about the bill just last night: ``Sending a child to public school does not terminate parental rights at the door.''
I worked in child services. I have cared for children in foster care. When foster parents are caring for their children who are in the custody of the State, they can't give those kids a haircut without getting permission from the child's biological parents. Shouldn't the same rules apply to the students' safety and well-being in our schools?
Yet, parents are left pleading. They are left to plead for information; to plead for the safety of their kids in public restrooms; to plead for the quality of their kids' education; and to plead for anyone who would listen to help restore their parental rights.
This bill would restore transparency, consultation, and notification requirements to existing law. In doing so, it would give parents the right to obtain critical information more easily from school administrators, boards, and teachers to make informed decisions regarding their children's education.
The bottom line: It gives power back to parents.
As the Republican Education and the Workforce Committee members have said, the Parents Bill of Rights contains five basic principles: That parents have the right to know what their children are being taught; that parents have the right to be heard; that parents have the right to see the school budget; that parents have the right to protect their children's privacy; and that parents have a right to keep their children safe.
Now, these goals are hard to fight against, but we have heard critics say this bill is somehow politicizing education or that bureaucrats know better than parents or that we are encouraging the banning of books.
Let me be clear. Nothing in this bill has anything to do with banning books or even that parent engagement is somehow a better model than parental rights. That is simply not true.
Instead, this bill provides an opportunity to ensure our kids are prepared to contribute to this great country of ours. It aims to strengthen parent-teacher partnerships where they exist and close information gaps where parent-teacher partnerships could be improved.
While there are many challenges in our schools, one we should all be able to agree on tackling is that administrators, educators, and parents should be on the same page. The first step in achieving that goal is improving our parents' access to information about their kids' experiences.
One example of this is an amendment I was able to offer during the markup a few weeks ago. The amendment required notification of parents when a student isn't reading at grade-level proficiency by the end of the third grade. Our child literacy rates are falling behind, and the more parents know, the more they can help, the better.
In the end, by passing the Parents Bill of Rights, we are one step closer to what everyone wants, providing our students with the best learning experience inside and outside of the classroom and giving parents a proper say in their children's future.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this rule, and I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. Speaker, we have heard about things embedded in this legislation. I want to reiterate this is a bill that says that parents have the right to know what their children are being taught, parents have the right to be heard, parents have the right to see the school budget and spending, parents have the right to protect their child's privacy, and parents have a right to keep their children safe.
We have also heard our colleagues talk about how well school boards work, and for large swaths of the country, I am sure that is true. Just because things work well in some places does not mean they work well in all places. Tell that to Mr. Scott Smith who was arrested at a school board meeting in Loudoun County, Virginia, when he questioned whether the school might be trying to cover up his daughter's sexual assault by a gender fluid student.
We have heard that this bill pits parents against teachers and against each other. We have heard a lot of those types of comments. The very fact that they characterize this bill as pitting someone against another when I have just stated the facts of what is in the bill should be a red flag.
I sat through a 16-hour markup until the early hours of 2:30 or 3 a.m. in this morning. We did hear dozens of amendments, but what I heard were dozens of chances to empower bureaucrats over empowering parents.
Republicans are proud to stand up for parents on behalf of students.
This is not politics over parents. It is parents over politicians and bureaucrats. We want what parents all across America want: schools to teach reading, writing, arithmetic, and science with the utmost transparency. Parents want to be involved and informed without having to file 200 freedom of information requests only to be sued by the NEA and the school board, such as Nicole Solis.
Mr. Speaker, we made a commitment to America, and delivering for parents is an important part of that promise.
We must empower parents to be in the driver's seat with respect to their children's education. This isn't about banning books or politicizing education.
How parents having a right to be informed about and involved in decisions regarding their own children's academic experience is being misconstrued by some is lost on me.
Mr. Speaker, we did have a robust committee markup on this bill that I was part of. We were in committee markup, hearing and debating amendments on this bill, from 10:00 in the morning until 2:30 in the morning. In those many amendments, what I heard over and over again was: there is nothing to see here and that this bill is not necessary and that most schools in America are doing just fine.
Well, most schools, Mr. Speaker, are not all schools. Our parents have a fundamental right to know what is happening in the classroom without having to file a public records request to find it. If things are going so well that our colleagues across the aisle believe that this bill is not needed, then they should stand and join Republicans in support of parents across America.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this rule and the underlying bill.
The material previously referred to by Ms. Scanlon is as follows: An Amendment to H. Res. 241 Offered by Ms. Scanlon of Pennsylvania
At the end of the resolution, add the following:
Sec. 2. Immediately upon adoption of this resolution, the House shall proceed to the consideration in the House of the resolution (H. Res. 178) affirming the House of Representatives' commitment to protect and strengthen Social Security and Medicare. The resolution shall be considered as read. The previous question shall be considered as ordered on the resolution and preamble to adoption without intervening motion or demand for division of the question except one hour of debate equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Ways and Means or their respective designees.
Sec. 3. Clause 1(c) of rule XIX shall not apply to the consideration of H. Res. 178.
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