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Lawmaker says amendment requiring museum to focus on "biological women" prompted Democratic withdrawals
Summary
The House lawmaker said a recently added amendment to the Smithsonian American Women's History Museum bill that uses the phrase "biological women" caused Democrats to withdraw support, and cited varying cosponsor counts while defending the amendment as "common sense."
The lawmaker described an amendment added to the Smithsonian American Women's History Museum bill that reads, in his rendition, that the museum "shall be dedicated to preserving, researching, and presenting the history, achievements, and lived experiences of biological women in The United States." He said the insertion of the word "biological" prompted Democratic members to "run for the hills" and framed the reaction as evidence of partisan overreach.
The speaker credited Representative Nicole Malliotakis of Staten Island for leading work on the measure and cited a number of cosponsors, giving an initial figure of "almost maybe 270, 280" and then stating "230 bipartisan cosponsors is the actual number right now." The lawmaker used the discrepancy to suggest the bill had broad support until the amendment was added.
The transcript records no debate with named opponents or a formal action on the museum bill; the lawmaker's remarks characterize the political reaction rather than recording any vote or change in text within this session.
