Text of US HB 5812 (2016)

I 114TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 5812 To repeal executive overreach, to clarify that the proper constitutional authority for social transformation belongs to the legislative branch. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 14, 2016 Mr. OLSON (for himself and Mr. GROTHMAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To repeal executive overreach, to clarify that the proper constitutional authority for social transformation belongs to the legislative branch. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Civil Rights Uni- 4 formity Act of 2016.’’ 5 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS AND DECLARATION OF 6 PURPOSE. 7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 8 (1) Over the past half century, Congress has 9 passed numerous civil rights laws prohibiting dis- 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:23 Jul 28, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5812.IH H5812 mstockstill on DSK3G9T082PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 5812 IH crimination on the basis of ‘‘sex,’’ a designation long 1 understood to be grounded in objective biology up to 2 the present day. There is no evidence that Congress 3 or the American people ever understood the word sex 4 or gender in civil rights laws to include subjective 5 self-identification. 6 (2) For years, advocates have pressed Congress 7 to include a person’s subjective self-declared ‘‘gender 8 identity’’ in Federal civil rights laws that prohibit 9 sex discrimination. Congress has declined to do so 10 except for the Shepard-Byrd Act of 2009 and the 11 Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 12 2013 where gender identity is defined as ‘‘actual or 13 perceived gender-related characteristics’’ with ‘‘gen- 14 der’’, there referring to characteristics associated 15 with biological males and females. 16 (3) This demonstrates that when Congress 17 wants to protect sex, it does so explicitly; when it 18 wants to also elevate gender identity it does so ex- 19 plicitly; and when it does not want to elevate gender 20 identity, it can do so either explicitly or by simply 21 not disturbing the status quo. 22 (4) Despite the complete clarity of this point, 23 President Barack Obama’s administration has at- 24 tempted to effectively replace the word ‘‘sex’’ with 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:23 Jul 28, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5812.IH H5812 mstockstill on DSK3G9T082PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 5812 IH the phrase ‘‘gender identity’’ for purposes of Federal 1 antidiscrimination law and policy through a series of 2 unilateral executive actions. 3 (5) For example, on December 15, 2014, Attor- 4 ney General Eric Holder announced that the De- 5 partment of Justice would reinterpret the ban on 6 ‘‘sex’’ discrimination under title VII of the Civil 7 Rights Act of 1964 to encompass ‘‘gender identity.’’ 8 This was followed on March 27, 2015, by an Equal 9 Employment Opportunity Commission decision hold- 10 ing that declining to use a female pronoun to ad- 11 dress a male who identifies as female constituted 12 ‘‘sex’’ discrimination under title VII. 13 (6) On May 9, 2016, the Obama administration 14 sued the State of North Carolina and threatened it 15 with fines and loss of Federal funding if it did not 16 adopt the administration’s incorrect readings of title 17 VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and title IX of 18 the Education Amendments of 1972. 19 (7) On May 13, 2016, the Departments of Jus- 20 tice and Education issued a ‘‘significant guidance’’ 21 letter stating that under title IX of the Education 22 Amendments of 1972 ‘‘when a school provides sex- 23 segregated activities and facilities, transgender stu- 24 dents must be allowed to participate in such activi- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:23 Jul 28, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5812.IH H5812 mstockstill on DSK3G9T082PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 5812 IH ties and access such facilities consistent with their 1 gender identity.’’ The guidance further states that 2 schools ‘‘must treat a student’s gender identity as 3 the student’s sex’’ including in the context of ‘‘sex- 4 segregated restrooms, locker rooms, shower facilities, 5 housing, and athletic teams, as well as single-sex 6 classes.’’ In other words, the Departments consider 7 it a title IX violation if a person of the male sex who 8 self-identifies as a female is not granted unfettered 9 access to women’s or girls’ dorms, showers, locker 10 rooms, and bathrooms. This, despite assurance that 11 such a thing would never happen from the likes of 12 Ruth Bader Ginsburg who wrote in 1975 that ‘‘sep- 13 arate places to disrobe, sleep, perform personal bod- 14 ily functions are permitted, in some situations re- 15 quired, by regard for individual privacy.’’ This posi- 16 tion was codified in Federal regulations, 34 CFR 17 106.33, which state that recipients of Federal funds 18 ‘‘may provide separate toilet, locker room, and show- 19 er facilities on the basis of sex,’’ with sex obviously 20 referring to biology. 21 (8) Also on May 13, 2016, the Department of 22 Health and Human Services finalized regulations 23 that redefined the Affordable Care Act’s prohibition 24 on ‘‘sex’’ discrimination in federally funded health 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:23 Jul 28, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5812.IH H5812 mstockstill on DSK3G9T082PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 5812 IH programs and activities to cover ‘‘gender identity’’, 1 thereby opening health care professionals and insur- 2 ers to extensive liability if they decline to participate 3 in or pay for ‘‘gender transition’’ treatments or ‘‘sex 4 change’’ operations. 5 (9) The Obama administration’s actions are an 6 affront to the rule of law, the separation of powers, 7 the will of the people, language, history, safety, pri- 8 vacy, and biological realities. 9 (b) PURPOSE.—The purposes of this Act are— 10 (1) to prevent the executive branch from unilat- 11 erally rewriting Federal civil rights laws by enacting 12 or implementing any policy or undertaking any en- 13 forcement action that is based on construing the 14 term ‘‘sex’’ or ‘‘gender’’ to mean ‘‘gender identity’’; 15 and 16 (2) to ensure that gender identity is not treated 17 as a protected class in Federal law or policy without 18 the affirmative approval of the people’s representa- 19 tives in Congress. 20 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION OF POLICIES REDEFINING SEX TO 21 MEAN GENDER IDENTITY. 22 (a) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—In determining the 23 meaning of any Federal civil rights law, and of any related 24 ruling, regulation, guidance, or interpretation of the var- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:23 Jul 28, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5812.IH H5812 mstockstill on DSK3G9T082PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 5812 IH ious administrative bureaus and agencies of the United 1 States, the words ‘‘sex’’ and ‘‘gender’’ and their equiva- 2 lents shall not be interpreted to mean ‘‘gender identity’’ 3 or its equivalent, and the words ‘‘man’’ and ‘‘woman’’ and 4 their equivalents shall refer exclusively to a person’s sex. 5 (b) RULE OF INTERPRETATION.—No Federal civil 6 rights law shall be interpreted to treat gender identity or 7 transgender status as a protected class, unless such law 8 expressly designates ‘‘gender identity’’ or ‘‘transgender 9 status’’ as a protected class. 10 (c) DEFINITION OF ‘‘FEDERAL CIVIL RIGHTS 11 LAW’’.—For purposes of this Act, the term ‘‘Federal civil 12 rights law’’ means any Federal law prohibiting discrimina- 13 tion on the basis of sex or gender, including title IX of 14 the Education Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et 15 seq.), the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000a et 16 seq.), the Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 3601 et seq.), the 17 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Public Law 18 111–148), and any other Federal law or provision thereof 19 prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sex or gender. 20 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:23 Jul 28, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H5812.IH H5812 mstockstill on DSK3G9T082PROD with BILLS