Providing for Consideration of H.R. Parents Bill of Rights Act
Floor Speech
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Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, let me get something straight here: Republicans keep saying, as they just did, that nothing in this bill has anything to do with banning books. We keep hearing it over and over and over. We have heard the same thing in State after State as Republicans have passed bills like this.
Now, we have over 1,600 books--and more every month--pulled from the shelves. They are banned. Democrats put forward amendments to prevent politicians from banning books. They all voted ``no.'' Democrats put forward six amendments to prevent censorship. They all voted ``no.'' Now they are trying to pretend like they have no idea why we would be concerned about book bans. Give me a break.
I am a parent. My wife, Lisa, and I have gone to countless parent- teacher conferences when our kids were in public school. Both of my sisters are public school teachers. I know how hard they work to involve parents in their kids' education. Don't lecture us. We are parents. We know what this is about. It is about banning books.
This bill is going to be weaponized by far right groups and used to threaten schools with legal action if they don't pull books off the shelves. It is going to force teachers to decide between staying silent and teaching something that certain politicians in their State don't like. It is already happening, for God's sake.
Ask the teacher in Iowa who was told that they cannot teach that slavery was wrong.
Ask the teacher in Texas who was told that they have to teach the opposite perspective on the Holocaust.
Ask the teacher in Florida who was fired for exposing a book-banning spree at the hands of Ron DeSantis that would make the Chinese Communist Party blush.
I have a few books that Republicans want to ban--too many to go through now, but let me recite a few. ``The Life of Rosa Parks.'' ``Who was Sojourner Truth?'' ``Biography of Nelson Mandela.'' ``The Story of Harvey Milk.''
Now, do you notice any pattern here? They want to ban books about Black and Brown people, and they want to ban books about LGBTQI+ people. It is sick. It is hateful. What is wrong with them, Mr. Speaker?
If you don't like a book, don't let your kid read it. But you don't get to tell the rest of us parents what our kids should be allowed to read. Talk to your kids' teachers. Run for school board. Don't take away money from schools that fall on the wrong side of the MAGA culture wars.
We gave Republicans dozens of chances to amend this bill and make it better to address the actual issues that our schools face. They voted ``no'' on all of them. Get this, they voted ``no'' on getting lead pipes out of schools. They voted ``no'' on that. They care more about getting Rosa Parks out of our schools than lead pipes. I think that says it all.
Never in my life did I think I would see such a reprehensible, disgraceful bill come to the floor. We should trust parents and teachers and students to think for themselves without having toxic MAGA culture wars shoved down their throats by Republicans in Congress.
Vote ``no'' on this awful rule and on this awful bill.
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