Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues Desk
Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues Bills
2 bills in the Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues desk, ordered for current relevance and readability.
Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority IssuesHR-28-119Latest action: Jan 15, 20253 readersPassed Chamber
Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act of 2025
Sponsored by W. Steube
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 prohibits sex discrimination in education programs and activities at institutions receiving federal funding. Currently, the Department of Education enforces Title IX's athletics provisions through guidance and case-by-case determinations, allowing schools flexibility in how they define sex for purposes of athletic eligibility. This approach has led to varying policies across states and institutions, with some schools permitting transgender athletes to compete on teams consistent with their gender identity, while others maintain eligibility based on sex assigned at birth. This bill amends Title IX to require that sex be recognized solely on the basis of reproductive biology and genetics at birth for all athletic program eligibility determinations. Schools and universities receiving federal funds must prohibit anyone classified as male at birth from participating in athletic programs designated for women or girls. The bill defines athletic programs broadly to include all activities provided conditional on team participation. However, it permits males to train or practice with women's teams provided no female loses a roster spot, practice opportunity, competition slot, scholarship, or admission benefit. The Comptroller General must conduct a study documenting the psychological, developmental, and sociological effects on girls of allowing males to participate in women's sports, including impacts on roster spots, scholarships, and admission opportunities. The study findings go to Congress. Schools must implement these eligibility rules immediately upon enactment to maintain Title IX compliance and federal funding. The bill creates no new funding mechanism but ties compliance to existing federal education dollars, making enforcement through the Department of Education's existing Title IX oversight structure.
Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues
Latest updateJan 14, 2025
Passed/agreed to in House: On passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 218 - 206, 1 Present (Roll no. 12). (text: CR H126)
Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues
Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority IssuesHR-40-119Latest action: Jan 3, 20250 readersIn Committee
Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans Act
Sponsored by Ayanna Pressley
Currently, no federal commission exists to systematically examine slavery's historical impact on African Americans or to develop reparations proposals. While various scholars, advocacy organizations, and state-level efforts have studied these issues, the federal government has not established a formal, comprehensive mechanism to document slavery's institution, trace post-Civil War discrimination, or assess its ongoing effects on living African Americans. This gap means that potential remedies—whether educational, legislative, or compensatory—lack an official federal foundation or recommendations to Congress. This bill establishes the Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans in the legislative branch. The commission comprises 15 members: three appointed by the President, three by the Speaker of the House, three by the Senate President pro tempore, and six subject-matter experts appointed by the commission's director and approved by the initial nine members. The commission must identify and compile evidence of slavery from 1619 to 1865, analyze federal and state government support for slavery, study discriminatory laws and practices after emancipation (including redlining and unequal education), examine lingering effects on African Americans today, and recommend remedies addressing compensation, formal apology, elimination of discriminatory policies, and forms of satisfaction and healing. The commission must submit its findings and recommendations to Congress within 18 months of its first full meeting. Members must have expertise in African-American studies and reparatory justice and cannot be sitting members of Congress or federal, state, or local government employees. The bill does not specify funding amounts or sources, leaving appropriations to future congressional action. The commission's recommendations will inform potential legislative action on reparations but do not themselves authorize or implement any remedies—Congress would need to act separately on any proposals the commission advances.
Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues
Latest updateJan 3, 2025
Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues