Statement in Opposition to H.R. 5

Congressman Tom McClintock

 

M. Speaker:

 

There are some fundamental principles we should all be able to agree on.

 

Don’t hurt other people; respect the right of doctors to do no harm; respect the right of parents to protect their children.  

 

The bill before us today could have affirmed the right of every adult to declare their own gender consistent with these principles.  Unfortunately, it violates these principles in the most fundamental ways.

This bill harms people in so many ways, destroying safe spaces for women, undermining women-owned businesses, intimidating the free exercise of conscience, but let me focus on just one aspect: destroying women’s sports.  Wherever these laws are imposed, biological males have begun to dominate women’s competitions.  

 

Listen to 16-year old Selina Soule of Connecticut.  She tells the story of qualifying for the prestigious Middletown Invite.  “Eight of us lined up at the starting line … but when six of us were only about three quarters into the race, two girls were already across the finish line…What just happened?  Two boys identifying as girls happened.  Fair is no longer the norm. The chance to advance, the chance to win has been all over for us … I missed the chance to compete in the New England championship this past season because of this.”  She goes on to say, “The CAAC won’t listen to my voice, but I hope Congress will…HR 5…will endanger women and girls of all ages, by opening up every sports team in the country to any male who self-identifies as female.  This policy will take away our medals, records, scholarships and dreams.”

We know this will happen because it already has.  And we know it’s the intent of the bill because Congressman Steube offered an amendment that “Nothing in this act may be construed to require a biological female to face competition from a biological male in any sporting event.”  The Democrats voted it down on a party-line vote.  Sorry Selina.  If you’re looking for fairness from this majority, you’ve come to the wrong place.

 

This bill could have protected the professional judgment of doctors, but it doesn’t.  At our hearing on May 1, the bill’s author said, “What HR 5 does is to ensure that transgender people, including young people, are not denied care because of their gender identity.”  What is care for gender identity?  Cross sex hormones, puberty blockers and surgery.   Refuse to provide it – on the self-diagnosis of a child – and you’ve broken the law.

 

Indeed, Johns Hopkins University, that pioneered sex re-assignment surgery, stopped the practice because they saw the long-term harm it did to their patients.

 

And we know that’s the intent of the bill, because I offered an amendment that “Nothing in this Act shall be construed to require health care providers to affirm the self-professed gender identity of a minor” and the Democrats voted it down on a straight party-line vote.  

 

Listen to one anguished parent, Elaine, tell her story: “Let me explain to you how this works.  If you take your child to a clinic to seek help, affirmative care means the … professionals must accept a child’s professed gender identity…Under “conversion therapy” bans, questioning a child’s professed gender identity is now illegal.  So, if a little boy is 5 years old and believes he is the opposite sex, affirmative care means going along with his beliefs.  Parents are encouraged to refer to him as their “daughter” and let him choose a feminine name.  Teachers are told to let him use the girls’ bathroom at school.  Therapists will reassure parents that social transition is harmless and reversible.  Is it really harmless to tell a child who still believes in the tooth fairy that he is the opposite sex?  … If a 10-year-old girl is uncomfortable with her developing body and suddenly insists she is a boy, affirmative care means blocking this girl’s puberty with powerful drugs.”

 

We know this will happen because it already has.  And we know this is the intent of the bill because Congressman Mike Johnson offered an amendment that “Nothing in this Act or any amendment made by this Act may be construed to deny a parent’s right to be involved in their minor child’s medical care.”  The Democrats voted it down on a party-line vote.  

 

Elaine goes on to say: “I am speaking out because I love my daughter.  And it is because of her that I know what I have told you is true. She has been a victim of “gender affirming” medical procedures, and I was powerless to stop doctors from harming her.”  Sorry, Elaine.  The House majority doesn’t care and isn’t listening.