Ensuring Every Student Feels Safe, Seen, Supported

Floor Speech

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Ms. TOKUDA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to voice my deep concern and disappointment with the passage of H.R. 28.

As a mother of teenagers in public schools, I am appalled that instead of addressing urgent challenges, like the youth mental health crisis, gun violence in our schools, and the growing teacher shortage, this legislation diverts our attention to dangerous and divisive policies.

H.R. 28, under the guise of protecting fairness in sports and safety in schools, risks undermining the rights and dignity of girls and young women. Let me be clear: This bill threatens the very foundation of Title IX, the landmark legislation that, for over 50 years, has protected millions from gender-based discrimination in education.

Patsy Mink, the trailblazing Congresswoman who championed Title IX, understood the deep injustices women face in education and beyond. As a woman and a Japanese American, she fought so that her daughter and all future generations could pursue their dreams without fear of prejudice or exclusion. They fought this hard fight, and for us, this bill betrays her legacy and all of her efforts by turning back the clock on these hard-won rights.

Growing up, I experienced firsthand the pain of being bullied for the way I looked and being judged for not fitting traditional expectations of what a girl should look or act like.

I remember vividly being told by the school administrator: ``Tuck in your shirt, boy.'' I was just a middle schooler, tall for my age, wearing my hair short, and pants, not dresses. The shock and humiliation of that moment stayed with me, and it fuels my resolve that no child should ever be made to feel ashamed of being authentically who they are.

Our students already face incredible pressures and challenges. Instead of making their lives harder by policing their identities and questioning their worth, we should be supporting them, fostering environments where they can grow, thrive, and succeed as their true, authentic selves.

Transgender girls are girls. Transgender women are women. If we truly want to protect girls and women, we must stand for inclusion, dignity, and respect, not division and exclusion.

This isn't just about a policy. It is about our values. It is about ensuring that every student feels safe, seen, and supported. That is how we protect our children. That is how we honor the spirit of Title IX.

Let's move forward with solutions that uplift and unite our schools, not tear them apart.

In Solidarity With Those Impacted by California Wildfires

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Ms. TOKUDA. Mr. Speaker, over the past 10 days, our Nation has watched with horror and sadness the harrowing scenes coming out of southern California, as these fires tore through homes, neighborhoods, and communities.

On behalf of my constituents who know the terror and trauma of wildfire all too well, I rise today in solidarity with our California and Los Angeles ``ohana,'' ``family,'' and I am outraged over the callous and heartless remarks that conditions should be applied to their aid.

Within days of our Maui fires, teams from CAL FIRE were by our side on the ground to help deliver relief and organize the cleanup.

In our hour of greatest need, they stood by us without expectation of any reward. They simply stepped up for their fellow Americans. They showed us in Hawaii aloha.

That is what we need to do as a nation, as one people. We help each other out in our times of need, regardless of where we come from, our beliefs, or how we vote. We as Members of Congress pledge to do this every single day when we convene for business: one nation, unconditionally, under God.

Now, in California's time of greatest need, the President-elect, the Speaker, and other colleagues here in the House want to impose policy conditions on Federal disaster aid.

Mr. Speaker, this will endanger innocent lives and delay the ability of our fellow Americans to rebuild and recover from this disaster.

Never before in our history has the Federal Government imposed conditions on disaster aid for its own citizens.

This is just more than unprecedented. To deny our fellow Americans the help they need after losing loved ones, their homes, and their businesses in their darkest hour because of political differences, it is not just cruel; it is immoral. It is un-American. It is not who we are as a country.

It is an affront to our most basic values, one that transcends any law or policy and lives at the core of our faith. We should do to others as we would do to us. We must love our neighbor.

Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me and our fellow Americans in solidarity in delivering the aid that California desperately needs without political conditions.

In doing so, I urge my colleagues to do the right thing and stand up for our values as a Nation. Let us send the right message to the American people that their government of the people, by the people, and for the people will always stand by them unconditionally, no matter what.

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