U.S. House committee passes Parent Bill of Rights and transgender ban in schools

WASHINGTON – Tapping into ideological divides over education, a U.S. House committee advanced early Thursday morning a bill that would bar transgender girls from female sports teams at schools and another bill, by a Louisiana congresswoman, that would give American parents an avenue to complain about and possibly cancel some courses being taught in public schools.

Voting along party lines, the House Education and Workforce Committee, which has 25 Republicans and 20 Democrats, approved both the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act of 2023, H.R. 734, and the Parents Bill of Rights Act, H.R. 5, after a 16-hour hearing.

Before voting to report the two bills favorably, the committee considered proposals to change the language of the legislation. H.R. 5 had about 25 proposed amendments offered by Democratic members, many of which attempted to protect the teaching of histories of minorities. Democratic proposals were rejected on party-line votes.

“The Biden administration is orchestrating a radical culture shift in America’s schools that is fundamentally changing what students are exposed to in the classroom and on the field,” said House Education committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx, R-Boone, North Carolina. 

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson, said Wednesday that the Parents Bill of Rights Act could be considered by the full House as early as March 20.

Though neither bill is likely to progress in the Democratic-dominated U.S. Senate, Scalise said H.R. 5 was a key plank in the GOP’s Commitment to America campaign platform and would probably clear the lower chamber before the new Congress completes its first 100 days.

Republican U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow, a former University of Louisiana Monroe administrator and professor, was assigned by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Bakersfield, California, to sponsor H.R. 5. She attended a meeting McCarthy held with angry parents shortly after a parental rights theme proved successful for a Republican underdog, Glenn Youngkin, in the November 2021 race for Virginia governor.