Text of US HB 6432 (2023)

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 6432 To prohibit the use of funds to implement, administer, or enforce measures requiring certain employees to refer to an individual by the preferred pronouns of such individual or a name other than the legal name of such individual, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES NOVEMBER 15, 2023 Mr. OGLES (for himself, Ms. BOEBERT, Mr. LAMALFA, Mrs. MILLER of Illi- nois, Mr. BIGGS, Mr. HARRIS, Mr. GOSAR, Mr. WEBER of Texas, Mr. CRANE, Mr. NORMAN, Mr. CLYDE, Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana, Mr. COL- LINS, Mr. ROSENDALE, and Mr. DUNCAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Accountability A BILL To prohibit the use of funds to implement, administer, or enforce measures requiring certain employees to refer to an individual by the preferred pronouns of such indi- vidual or a name other than the legal name of such individual, and for other purposes. 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 ‘‘Safeguarding Honest 4 Speech Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:05 Nov 27, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6432.IH H6432 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 6432 IH SEC. 2. NO FEDERAL FUNDS FOR COMPELLED LANGUAGE. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi- 2 sion of law, no funds may be used for the purpose of im- 3 plementing, administering, or enforcing any rule, policy, 4 guidance, recommendation, or memoranda requiring an 5 employee or contractor of any Federal agency or Depart- 6 ment to use— 7 (1) another person’s preferred pronouns if they 8 are incompatible with such a person’s sex; or 9 (2) a name other than a person’s legal name 10 when referring to such a person. 11 (b) ENFORCEMENT.— 12 (1) IN GENERAL.—All Federal agencies and 13 Departments shall ensure that, not later than 30 14 days following a written notice from any employee or 15 contractor regarding an alleged violation of sub- 16 section (a), a formal response to the notice is issued 17 to the employee or contractor. 18 (2) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.—In the case 19 that the formal response in subsection (a) does not 20 represent a satisfactory outcome for a federal em- 21 ployee or contractor, any employee or contractor ag- 22 grieved by a violation of subsection (a) may com- 23 mence a civil action against the Federal agency or 24 Department responsible for the alleged violation. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:05 Nov 27, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6432.IH H6432 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 6432 IH (3) RELIEF.—In any action under this sub- 1 section, the court may award appropriate relief, in- 2 cluding— 3 (A) temporary, preliminary, or permanent 4 injunctive relief; 5 (B) compensatory damages; 6 (C) punitive or exemplary damages, which 7 may not exceed $100,000; and 8 (D) reasonable fees for attorneys. 9 (4) STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS.—An action 10 under this subsection shall be brought not later than 11 one year after the date on which the alleged viola- 12 tion of subsection (a) occurred. 13 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 14 (1) SEX.—The term ‘‘sex’’ means sex recog- 15 nized based solely on a person’s reproductive biology 16 and genetics at birth. 17 (2) PERSON.—The term ‘‘person’’ means an in- 18 dividual. 19 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:05 Nov 27, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H6432.IH H6432 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB