Speaker X (00:11):
Excuse me. Okay. [inaudible 00:00:08].
(00:11)
Students are allowed to [inaudible 00:00:12].
(00:12)
Not fair.
Speaker Johnson (00:20):
Hey, good to see you.
(00:22)
Hello. Welcome to the Capitol everybody. Good afternoon. This is a great day for women in America. Yes, that's an applause [inaudible 00:00:32]. House Republicans have yet again stood up for women. This is a commitment that we have made because it comports with what is right and what is common sense. We know from scripture and from nature that men are men and women are women and men cannot become women. It's sad that we have to say that. It's a matter of biology. It's how we're made. And if we try to ignore that or to undo it, we do so at our peril and to the detriment of our daughters.
(01:03)
Across the country female athletes like Riley Gaines and Paula Scanlan and Payton McNabb have had to compete head-to-head against biological men. It's just not right. Around the world it's estimated that more than 700 female athletes have been displaced by males in their women's sporting events, and that has resulted in more than 1000 estimated medals records and scholarships intended for women going to men.
(01:30)
My own daughters competed in sports as they were growing up, and I can only imagine the anger I would feel as a dad if they had their trophy stolen from them. But that's indeed what many women are facing today. And it's not just anger, it's fear. Biological men competing against women also poses a threat to the safety of our girls. It's dangerous, it's unfair, it's a rejection of reality and it is just plain wrong.
(01:57)
But today, the House voted to uphold common sense again. We voted to require all schools receiving federal funds to uphold the original meaning of Title IX and keep biological men out of women's sports. Last Congress we voted on this legislation as well. We will note that not one single Democrat joined us. Today was an improvement, it's bipartisan. We had two Democrats join us. Yes. But it's shameful, there should have been many, many more. In fact, I would argue that every member of this body should have voted for common sense and to protect women, and for some reason, for politics I guess, they chose not to.
(02:36)
The American people sent a clear message in November. They want us to return to common sense, but it appears that some of our friends in the other party are ignoring that plea. This Congress, we have the power of a Republican Senate and we will have Donald J. Trump return to the White House in less than a week. That is going to be a sea change around here, and we can't wait. And together we're making good on our campaign promises. We couldn't have done it without Greg Steube, my colleague from Florida who's behind me here, who's been pressing this issue for so many years and providing great leadership. We're grateful for that leadership, and it's good to see the hard work rewarded on a day like this.
(03:11)
I'll now turn it over to Riley Gaines, who really needs no introduction here. She's in Congress as much as members of Congress now, and she's… Where is she? Oh here she is. She knows firsthand the dangers of allowing biological men to compete in women's sports, of course, and why this legislation is so necessary. I'm a big fan of hers. I'm so grateful for her courage and her moral clarity and her voice on this very important issue. Riley Gaines, everybody.
Riley Gaines (03:34):
Thank you so much. Thank you, thank you.
(03:38)
Well, thank you. Hello, my name is Riley Gaines. I am an ambassador for Independent Women's Voice. I'm the vice chair of Athletes for America with America First Policy Institute, and I'm a former collegiate swimmer from the University of Kentucky.
(03:52)
First, and let me echo Speaker Johnson's gratitude for the people who stand alongside me, behind me, their leadership on this issue, how they have stood firm, the flack that you all have taken. I know it's not easy, but nonetheless it's necessary and I would argue that it's urgent. And so I thank you all . I'm thrilled with the passage of H.R. 28, the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act. But truthfully, I'm mad. I'm mad that this is something we have to do. I'm mad that we as women have to beg for equal rights. I'm mad that we have to beg for privacy in areas of undressing. And I'm mad that we have to beg for safety on the court or on the field or walking in the streets at night for that matter.
(04:38)
Here's some of the things, let's just go through a couple of the things we heard on the House floor today from Democrats. We heard of things like genital exams. We heard that girls will be asked to show what's in their underwear. We heard that they have to show internal and external anatomy inspections, Taliban-like enforcers, hire predators to peek at girls, on and on and on. Weird fear-mongering about predators. But that's what Democrats do best. If you don't know what they're up to, just look at what they're accusing the right of.
(05:13)
Another thing they said, there's only a few girls who have been injured at the hands of a boy. It's such a small percentage. I heard that this bill is a waste of time. And let me tell you the message I received when I heard that, is that I am a waste of time. Girls around the country, just like me, are a waste of time. Your daughters are a waste of time to all House Democrats except the two who voted in favor of the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act.
(05:41)
But to Speaker Johnson's point, the American people spoke on November 5th. The common sense everyday Americans who intuitively know that men and women are different, we reject this notion. While I certainly believe people turned out to the polls to embrace Donald Trump, to embrace his cabinet picks to embrace the America first agenda. More so, truthfully, I believe that people turned out to the polls on November 5th to reject absurdity. And that is entirely and thoroughly what the Democratic Party has become, absurd. Whether it's feeling like you have to refer to Latino individuals as LatinX, believing that men can become women, believing that men can breastfeed, believing that tampons belong in boys' bathrooms, entirely and thoroughly absurd.
(06:34)
I'm here today for one reason. Of course, I'm not here to speak on the policy, anything like that, I'm here to debunk every single thing you heard from the House Democrats today. I'm here to tell you that this isn't a hypothetical situation. No, it's reality. My story by now is seemingly well-known, so I won't get into it. I could spend hours sharing the feelings and the emotions. The specifics behind watching a man steal a woman's national title. The feelings of humiliation and violation of having to strip down to nothing, fully unclothing yourself inches away from where a six-foot-four man simultaneously fully exposed himself, stripping down to nothing, exposing his male genitalia, non-consensually might I add, which we use to properly label as some form of voyeurism or sexual harassment, indecent exposure. Now it's seemingly celebrated.
(07:33)
Last fall leading up to the election, the Independent Women launched the Riley Gaines Stand with Women Scorecard. It was a first-of-its-kind resource that tells Americans who stands with women and who does not. The scorecard had a pivotal impact delivering a 90% win rate for those who were Riley Gaines approved. I was honored to put my name to such a significant effort. No more hiding behind these phrases and taglines that the Democrats use saying they're for women's rights. Go back and look at who voted in support of the Laken Riley Act. Look at who voted in support of protecting women and girls in sports. And if they were no on one or both, then they do not get to say they support women.
(08:21)
Men do not belong in women's sports. And with the House passage of the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, we are one step closer as a nation to making sure that not one more male athlete is able to take a trophy, a roster spot, playing time, resources or an opportunity to compete from a woman. The American people, again, we believe that women's sports are for women. I cannot believe we have to say this, but unfortunately we do. It matters.
(08:52)
Last thing I'll say, if you're curious how you are representative voted, your senator, any federal elected official, how well they stand with women, you can check that out at RileyGainesScorecard.com. Again, appreciate you guys and appreciate the leadership of the people here standing beside me today. So thank you.
Speaker 4 (09:09):
Thank you, Riley, and thank you for all of your advocacy on this and all of the women athletes, a lot of them that we have here today that have supported this for years. I've worked on this for years and I want to thank the Speaker for bringing this to the floor so quick into new Republican Congress.
(09:29)
This is the type of thing that even moderate independent women are appalled that their daughters are actually in locker rooms with biological men. And it polls overwhelmingly popular that we want to have and protect women's sports. Yet the Democrats have for years tried to allow biological women to compete in our nation's women's collegiate activities and they'll say to you and they send it on the floor in the debate that we just had, this never happens. I had a constituent, Emma Weyant, who was refused a title in a swimming Olympic competition because of a male athlete who used to compete in men's swimming and then decided he wanted to identify as a woman and he was allowed to do that.
(10:13)
Just what Riley said, it's absolutely absurd that we have to actually pass a bill that says only women can be in women's sports. But I've been honored to be in part of the fight. I'm honored that we actually got it done today in a bipartisan fashion. And I call on every senator and I call on the Senate to, one, quickly bring this bill up for a vote and for every senator to support this piece of legislation to show that we actually do support and stand with women athletes in our country.
(10:40)
Thank you very much and I'll turn it over to Ms. Miller.
Ms. Miller (10:46):
Thank you. Good afternoon. It's great to be here to celebrate the passage of this bill and to be able to represent women. I'm the mom of five daughters and currently so far have nine granddaughters. So this is all about how we're going to treat our women and girls. So I want to applaud my House colleagues for passing this critical legislation to protect our girls. And I also want to thank Speaker Johnson for his leadership in making this bill one of the first priorities of the 119th Congress.
(11:20)
The American people spoke loud and clear in November. They do not want men in women's sports or locker rooms. And we are following through with the mandate given to us. It sickens me knowing that confused and predatory men can take away years of hard work from our girls and enter their sports and their locker rooms. Title IX was a hard fought victory and we must not allow the left to erase 50 years of equal rights in one fell swoop.
(11:53)
We passed this bill in 2023, but tone-deaf Democrats refused to take it up in the Senate. I'm hopeful that Leader Thune and the GOP Senate majority will act swiftly in passing it and President Trump is ready to sign it into law on day one. Thank you to each of you for your work to protect our girls, and may God continue to bless your efforts. Thank you.
Speaker 6 (12:26):
Let's just hear some examples of those that don't exist from the Democrats perspective, bloody broken and in tears, veteran boxer, Angela Carini left the ring after just 46 seconds of her Paris Olympic boxing match because as she noted, she had never been hit so hard in the face as she experienced against the male boxer who grotesquely was allowed to compete in women's competition. Carini who had won silver medals at the World and European Championships was subjected to a sanctioned act of violence against her and all women athletes. Anyone who voted against the Protection of American and Girls in Sports Act is sending a message that they approve of women athletes being battered, abused, overpowered, and left broken on the field in which they have worked so hard to compete.
(13:16)
But this isn't just about how little those who want men competing in women's sports care about the physical damage being inflicted on women athletes. This is radical movement to allow biological boys to compete against girls. It's all about erasing women entirely. The position of these radicals is so utterly immoral and bereft of any shred of sanity that we need to make sure that they're completely run out of women's sports, women's locker rooms, and driven from any position of power where they're taking actions to erase women. I'm proud to stay on the side of sanity, on the side of protecting the dignity of women athletes and on the side of the American people who are disgusted that we even have to be having this debate. This is a fight that we must and we will win on behalf of our daughters and generations of women athletes to follow. Thank you.
Speaker Johnson (14:15):
So we'll take a few questions. I got a number of experts and supporters, legal experts, ADF is here and Independent Women's Forum and all the supporters, many organizations involved in this great effort. Questions from the audience? Otherwise, this will be the easiest thing I do today. Yes, sir.
Jack (14:33):
Jack [inaudible 00:14:35] service. You lead off by saying a man is a man, and a woman is woman, and a man cannot become a woman and that's what scripture teaches. It's at least the second time I've heard you referenced that. Can you say why you think Christian scripture teaches that? I'm curious about your response to various different Christian traditions who interpret scripture differently, you can openly ordain locally transgender individuals.
Speaker Johnson (14:55):
Well, it goes back to the first book, Genesis. Male and female, he made them. I mean, this is pretty clear. I'm not sure there's another interpretation. But everybody's open to interpreting scripture however they will. But this is comports with common sense as well. So we know it from our religious tradition, which I believe is the truth. I'm a Bible-leaving Christian, make no apology about that. But whether you regard that as the truth or not, it's also nature. It's biology. And biology is not bigotry as we say. Anyone who would accuse the supporters of this legislation otherwise is ill-informed. This is to protect women and girls. It's very clear. It's been articulated well, and you've heard examples. Riley is one of the most famous. But again, it happens all the time all across the country.
(15:41)
Congress has a role to play here. We should step into this arena and it's an appropriate thing for us to do. So we make no apology for it. And this is not out of dislike or discrimination against anybody at all. This is the right thing to do and is to protect women and girls, and that's our role here.
(16:00)
Yes.
Elizabeth Mitchell (16:01):
Elizabeth Mitchell from The Daily Signal. Now that this bill has passed, what plan does the House have to further empower Trump's cabinet avoid [inaudible 00:16:10] their departments?
Speaker Johnson (16:13):
Well, it's an executive branch function. I mean, it is a big issue. I mean, probably the most famous ad of the campaign cycle was the one that the Trump administration ran on this issue and it resonates with the American people. Congressman Steube did mention it in the opinion polls, this is an 80, 90% issue or more depending on which poll you look at. Because again, it comports with common sense. It should not be a partisan issue. We should have every single member of Congress united on this. And I would challenge all of you to go ask the questions that the Democrats who voted against it, how in the world they can justify that because I don't understand the argument at all.
(16:52)
Other questions? Well, again, I want to thank all these fierce warriors and supporters who have stood strong on the issue and made the state possible. We will expect our Senate colleagues to do the right thing as well. Hopefully they will. And we get this legislation to the President's desk for signature. One more step, as we say in returning common sense to Washington. So a round of applause for all these folks and all the hard work [inaudible 00:17:20].
(17:18)
Thank you all for being here. God bless.
(17:18)
Thanks.
(17:18)
[inaudible 00:17:36].