Providing for Consideration of H.R. Parents Bill of Rights Act
Floor Speech
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Mr. ROY. Mr. Speaker, let's just make sure the American people know the truth. 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. Parents have the right to keep their children safe.
That is what my Democratic colleagues are objecting to. Notice how they are objecting. Notice what they are trying to do. It is a page as old as time in the Democratic playbook--fearmongering, racial division, peddling the lies of hatred, saying that somehow the legislation that would empower parents and give parents the right to know what their child is being educated with, know what they are being told, that somehow that is going to lead to banning of books.
What they are afraid of is they are afraid of a parent being able to come in, armed with the information of what is being taught to their children, armed with what is in the library, and holding school boards accountable, holding their educators accountable. That is precisely what my Democratic colleagues do not want to occur.
They are afraid of the Sunshine going into the classroom because they know that after COVID the veil has been lifted on a corrupted education system that has for too long been indoctrinating our children with racial division and hatred. Parents are now awakened. They have seen what is occurring behind the veil because the veil was lifted.
My colleagues go around peddling the fears of banned books, completely inaccurately trying to claim that books were banned in Duval County that weren't banned, books that were either not ordered--when, in fact, there are on average 13 books about Rosa Parks in every elementary school in Duval County. That is the truth. Nobody wants to pull books about Rosa Parks. Nobody wants to pull books about Roberto Clemente.
If there is legislation passed to make sure that we stop the ridiculousness of what books are being put in front of our kids, then people go: Let's pull books and look at it to make sure what is in it, and then they decide to put those books back when they pass muster. That is what my colleagues want to say are being banned.
What they do not want to talk about are the books that my colleagues from South Carolina just talked about. They don't want to talk about ``Flamer,'' a graphic book about young boys performing sexual acts at a summer camp. They don't want to talk about that.
Who does?
A bunch of fringe leftist groups that want to stick that stuff in our schools for our kids to read.
How about ``This Book is Gay,'' a book containing instructions on the ins and outs of gay sex.
This is what we want being put in the schools for our children?
Our Democratic colleagues do not want the American people, the parents, to know this. That is what this is about. My Democratic colleagues do not want parents to know that information. They don't. They have a bill in front of them that literally gives parents the right to know that and they are opposing it and opposing it with force.
To my colleagues who say: Well, this is sticking the Federal Government into the tent of local government, I say to them: Well, welcome to the club of actually being concerned about Federal Government overreach. I agree.
So I hope they will support my amendment then that would strike all the language and block grant the dollars to the States. They don't want to do that, ladies and gentlemen, because they want to meddle. They just want to meddle the way they want to.
They don't want to have a clean elimination of the Department of Education. I support my colleague Thomas Massie's bill to do that. My Democratic colleagues do not.
My Democratic colleagues will not support a block grant to States because they want to meddle. They want to interfere. They just don't want parents to know the truth. That is a dirty little secret.
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Mr. ROY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Indiana for the time.
Mr. Speaker, again, the facts are completely irrelevant to my colleagues on the other side of the aisle--completely irrelevant.
Introduced in the Record a little while ago was a story from December, again, trying to perpetuate this myth about book banning. Again, the context here matters that we are talking about legislation in this body to just ensure that parents know what is in the libraries and what is in the curriculum. It does nothing more.
Yet, that is the great offense. They are trying to perpetuate that myth about Federal perpetuation of so-called book banning. Let me be clear. Yes. Some local jurisdictions are removing certain books-- absolutely, and God bless them for it--books about explicit sex acts. Let that hang out over the Chamber.
No, I do not want America's children to have to be subjected to that kind of terrible indoctrination in the schools--absolutely not--and parents should be empowered to stop it. Instead, they want to perpetuate this myth.
The facts are true.
``February 17, 2023--Books about Roberto Clemente and Hank Aaron from the Essential Voices collection are among approximately 10,000 books that have been reviewed and approved through the new State-required book review process.''
The fact is there was a purchase of 1,300 books from Perfection Learning.
``The current effort to review all media center and classroom library books, which is now required under State law,'' was reviewed and completed. Those books were not banned.
As I said earlier, there are, on average, 13 to 14 books about Rosa Parks per school in Duval County. Those are the facts. That is the truth. This is a complete misrepresentation designed to scare people when, in fact, we want to empower parents and provide Sunshine for the American people to protect their kids.
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