Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Gender And Schools topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
House Education Committee approves bill barring use of ESEA funds to ‘advance radical gender ideology’
Summary
The House Education and Labor Committee voted to report HR 2617, the Say No to Indoctrination Act, after adopting an amendment in the nature of a substitute. The bill would bar use of Elementary and Secondary Education Act funds to teach what the bill drafters called "radical gender ideology." The final committee tally was 18 yeas, 12 nays.
The House Committee on Education and the Workforce on May 20 approved HR 2617, the Say No to Indoctrination Act, advancing the bill to the full House by an 18-12 recorded vote after the committee adopted an amendment in the nature of a substitute.
The bill, introduced by Representative Owens (sponsor), would amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to prohibit the expenditure of ESEA funds to "teach or advance concepts related to gender ideology," language the sponsor said echoed President Trump’s January 20 executive order on gender. "There are only 2 sexes, male and female," Representative Owens said in explaining the amendment in the nature of a substitute. "A boy is a boy, and a girl is a girl."
Supporters said the bill protects parents and prevents federal funds from underwriting what they called an "ideological" approach to instruction. Representative Miller (R-Ill.) said schools should teach "basic human biology" and praised the bill’s sponsor. Opponents said the bill would harm vulnerable students and interfere with local control of curriculum. Representative Takano (D-Calif.) called the measure a threat to students who already lack support, saying, "Public school did not make me gay. God made me gay," and urged colleagues to reject the bill.
Committee debate focused on contrasting views of federal role and student safety. Proponents argued the federal government should not fund instruction that, in their view, replaces biological sex with self-assessed gender identity. Representative Owens told the committee the measure "effectively codifies the January 20 Trump executive order on gender as it pertains to K–12." Opponents pressed that the bill would force schools to erase or stigmatize transgender and nonbinary students and distract from other education priorities such as addressing pandemic learning loss.
The committee adopted an amendment in the nature of a substitute offered by Representative Owens; the chair announced the amendment was agreed to by voice vote. Later, Representative Owens moved that the committee report HR 2617 to the House with a favorable recommendation. The clerk recorded the roll call: 18 yeas, 12 nays; the motion to report carried.
Discussion: committee members raised statistics on the scope of district policies and student mental-health risks, and cited examples including Los Angeles Unified and other large districts. No further committee directions or staff assignments were recorded.
Votes at a glance: amendment in the nature of a substitute (offered by Representative Owens) — agreed to (voice vote); motion to report HR 2617 to the House — adopted, recorded vote 18 yeas, 12 nays. The committee clerk’s tally was announced by the clerk as "18 yeas and 12 nays."
