Cspan your unfiltered view of politics. Up next to house panel looks at the trumpet ministrations actions towards genderbased protections in education, the workplace and healthcare. This labor subcommittee hearing is chaired by donna michi oregon. We are meeting to your testimony on the basis of sex , examining the administrations attacks on genderbased projections. This is a completely virtual hearing and i ask that all microphones for members participating remotely be kept muted as a general rule to avoid unnecessarily background noise. Witnesses will be responsible for muting themselves when theyare recognized to speak or when they wish recognition. Pursuant to House Resolution 1965 and its accompanying resolution members are required to leave their cameras on for the entire time they are in an official proceeding. Even if they step away from the camera. This is an entirely remote hearing and as such the committees hearing room is officiallyclosed. Members who choose to sit with their hearing room must wear headphones to avoid feedback, echoes and distortion resulting from more than one person on a platform sitting in the same room as has been reported by other committees. Also expected to adhere to social distancing and safe healthcare guidelines including the use of masks both before and after their presence in the hearing room. Although a rollcall is not necessary to establish a quorum in official proceedings conducted remotely the district will call the role to help make clear who is present at the start of the proceeding so at thistime i ask the clerk to call the role. Miss bonamici. [rollcall] chairwoman bonamici this concludes the rollcall. Im not sure you heard me because i think i was muted. This is virginia fox. Thank you. I want to welcome mister klein to the subcommittee and his firsthearing. So Opening Statements pursuant to Committee Roll 7b Opening Statements are limited to the chair and Ranking Member and this will allow us to hear from our witnesses sooner and provide all members with adequate time to ask questions. I recognize myself for the purpose of an Opening Statement. In the last four years the Trump Administration has taken many actions that erode civil rights protections for women and lgbtq individuals. Today will we will discuss the effects of these actions on our schools and facilities. One of the most wellknown attacks is his changes to the rulesimplementing title ix. Under title ix in the education amendment of 1972 , schools have a responsibility to provide equal access to education for all students as part of title ixs requirements, schools receiving federal funding including institutions of Higher Education and k12 schools must take certain steps to addressSexual Misconduct that inhibits students safety oraccess to education. Title ix is a necessary tool for protecting students rights. At a time when one in five women experience Sexual Assault , in may secretary divorce finalized a harmful rewrite of the title ix rule. Problems with the divorce title ix ruleinclude but are not limited to the following. The rule makes it harder for Sexual Assault survivors to receive justice by increasing the burden of proof beyond what other civil rights laws require and forcing survivors to indoor life crossexamination. These changes are likely to keep current survivors from reporting incidences ofSexual Harassment which are already severely underreported. Another part of the rule is how the incident is reported to the wrong person and it significantly narrows the definition of Sexual Assault to one that will excuse large swaps of Sexual Misconduct under title ix. Furthermore only schools found to be of deliberately indifferent will be in considered in violation of title ix. This rule is too burdensome for survivors and fails to hold institutions accountable for protecting students. There is no appropriate time for the federal government to erect barriers to justice for survivors of Sexual Assault. For the administrations decision to finalize this rule in the middle of the pandemic was a stunning display of callousness. I want to accept my profound opposition to the education departmentsrefusal to hold its efforts to restrict the rights of transgender students. In Clayton County to Supreme Court recently held a prohibition against dissemination on the basis of sex , prohibit discrimination against lgbtq individuals. Although the decision was under title vii because of the context of employment title ix was essentially modeled on title vii. There is no rational reason why on the basis of sex could be interpreted differently. In fact one of the Supreme Court held it is impossible to discriminate against a person whos either gay or transgender without discriminate against an individual based on. Despite the language the department continues to ignore the holding in that case. That case for the United StatesSupreme Court and as we see the Trump Administration is also threatening to strip funding from Connecticut Schools that allow Transgender Athletes to compete according to their gender identity. This is cruel and harmful as cashstrapped schools face unprecedented challenges related to covid19 the federal department is coursing these goals and harming transgender students. We must condemn this behavior in the strongest possible terms and the department should resend its efforts to signal transgender students. The Trump Administrations recordon removing civil rights protections against gender bias in the workplace is equally indefensible. During the president s first year he turned his back on lgbtq workers by erasing workforce protections and in 2017 administration reversed an obama era policy clarifies transgender workers are protected from discrimination under the Civil Rights Act. The next day the department of justice issued guidance that gave federal agencies license to discriminate against lgbtq workers in a memo that stated the doj would face a position for title viis prohibition including transgender status. In response the house passed the equality act. The proposal to secure lgbtq rights and prohibit discrimination. As i mentioned the Supreme Courts decision made clear that federal civil rights protections on the basis of sex covers Sexual Orientation and gender identity. That decision contains some potential loopholes that could be used in an attempt to justify discrimination its an important but incomplete step for providing lgbtq workers the protections they deserve and thats why they did the equality act. Another concern is the administrations limits on the equal Employment Opportunity commission. This was an effort to obscure genderbased pay discrimination as well as race discrimination and provide cover to employers that failed to provide equal pay for equal work. The decision to end a collection of pay data as an unprecedented setback for the enforcement of title vii and executive order 11426 and the equal pay act. Another consequence of the Trump Administrations genderbased attacks is an area healthcare. As we continue to invoke the pandemic the administration continues to restrict access to healthcare physically administration has tried to roll back and obama rule strengthen antidiscrimination provisions in the Affordable Care known as section 1557. That is designed to prohibit discrimination against patients on the basis of race, color, National Origin or disability. On june 19 time when our nation eclipsed more than 2 million conference covid19 cases in the hundred 14,000 confirmed deaths, a number that has sadly risen since june administration removed the explicit provisions protected against discrimination based on pregnancy and pregnancy termination and resort and out dated interpretation of sex discrimination that excludes gender identity and in other words rule that was meant to guarantee proper care for women and lgbtq people was contorted in a way that means they can be denied care in the middle of a Global Pandemic. Although the rollback of section 1557 was put on hold it still looms as a threat to thehealth and wellbeing of millions of americans. We are in challenging times. Millions of americans have lost their job, Health Insurance and thousands have lost their life. This nation deserves better. I witnesses for being here today and i look forward to the discussion i now yield to mister klein for an Opening Statement i appreciate the opportunity to serve with you on the subcommittee and im looking forward to continuing the great work that this subcommittee has done in previous efforts. Prior to coming to congress i was proud to serve as the prosecutor locally in Domestic Violence cases to ensure justice was done. Additionally during my time as a delegate in the Virginia State house i authored several bills to increase protections for such victims and their families and since i arrived in congress ive worked across the aisle to introduce legislation alongside congresswoman mcbeth to allow fundings allotted for the Family Protection services act to be accessed by removing certain requirements during the pandemic. This committee has created protections or when, students and workers alike so they can work and learn in environments free from discrimination. I know i speak for all my colleagues when i say no one should be denied an opportunity is of unlawful dissemination. Thats why my republican colleagues and not support legislation that aligns with protections on existing civil rights laws. These ensure the fairness i mentioned earlier in classrooms and workplaces across the country. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for my colleagues on the other sideof the eye. The majority will cherry pick who does and does not deserve protection. Democrats underminestudents like under title ix. In 2011 the Obama Administration issued guidance that created significant controversy and confusion. Many criticized the guidance for undermining Due Process Rights and denying public review from affected stakeholders. Multiple court cases have struck down procedures that resulted from the guidance. The Trump Administration has addressed past wrongdoings by taking 24,000 Public Comments into consideration while an acting rule that defined the responsibilities of institutions to respond to allegations of Sexual Harassment under title ix. Open the goal of the departments rule despite the fact that the rule is rooted in our deepest legal traditions to require schools to take all allegations of Sexual Harassment including Sexual Assault seriously and support and protect survivors during every step of the process. This rule will ensure all students can pursue education refrom discrimination and Sexual Violence and we hope to survivor to ensure a clear and fair procedures are in place torespond to Sexual Violence. The department of education title ix rule delivers on this promise. The majority has consistently tried to roll back protections that allow religious organizations to operate in accordance with their religious beliefs. A slab of proposed rule announced last year by the department of labor to protect religious liberties. Religious organizations have been discouraged from seeking federal contracts because of uncertainty requiring religious organizations read the department of labors proposed rule clarifies the protections given to religious organizations that contract with the federal government will want rightly consider Supreme Court decisions regarding the religious freedom of employers which are by limitations on the government to infringe on the free exercise of religion and not only does this proposed rule protect religious liberty and also benefits the contracting system and taxpayers are encouraging additionally qualified organizations to bid for contracts which will increase competition and provide needed goods and services that may otherwise not be available. Bottom line is all americans deserve to learn and work in an environment free from dissemination based on their sex or religion and many republicans and will continue to advocate for policies that allow students to learn and employees to work in environments free from discrimination. While i look forward to the testimony to our witnesses i like to point out the majority only allowed the minority to allow one witness. This structure will limit robust discussion today on how to best americans can pursue an education and in positive environments. I yelled back class thank you Ranking Member klein. All memberswho wish to insert written statement into the record may do so by submitting them to the committee quiteelectronically. By 5 pm on thursday, august 24. I went out introduce our witnesses. Jocelyn frey is a fellow at the center for American Progress he focuses on womens Economic Security and employment issues. Fries served for four years as assistant to president obama and director of policy and special process for first lady obama. Eliciting an issue portfolio of the first lady. Next sasha booker is an attorney in the Washington Dc Office of legal, oldest and Largest Organization dedicated to advancing the civil rights legislation for bisexual transgender people and people with hiv. Before joining lands in the legal he served as policy council at the transgender law center. Was the first openly transgender person to be appointed to an oregon state board and through 2013 she served as chair of theoregon State Hospital advisory board. Next, the harris was a senior fellow at the foundation for individual rights and education and Advocacy Group defending and sustaining the individual rights of students andfaculty members at americas colleges and universities. Miss harris has held several positions including Vice President of procedural advocacy and director of policy research. Miss harris served as counsel representing students and faculty members and finally president and ceo of the National Womens law center. She is the cofounders of the timeout Legal Defense fund which connects those experienced Sexual Misconduct in the workplace with legal and Public Relations assistance. He held many positions including senior Vice President and Vice President for education and employment. She leaves the center of antidiscrimination initiative with a focus on outcomes for women and girls in college. We appreciate the witnesses for participating today andwe look forward to your testimony. I remind the witnesses we have read your written statements and they will appear involved in the hearing record. Pursuant to Committee Role 7b and Committee Practice each of you is asked to limit your oral presentation a fiveminute summary of your written statement. I also remind witnesses pursuant to title 18 of section 1001 is illegal to knowingly and willfully falsify any statements representation writing documents or material facts presented to congress or otherwise conceal materials. Staff will be keeping track of time and use a chime to signalwhen one minute is up and when time is up entirely. There will be a short time when there is one minute left in the longer term when there is time up. For the witnesses participating remotely if you experience technical difficulties during your testimony or later in the hearing you should stay connected on the platform. Make sure you are muted with a mute button highlighted in red and use your phone to immediately call the committees id director. We will let all witnesses make their presentations before we moved to member questions and answering this question please remember to unmute your system. I will first recognize miss frey for five minutes thank you chair bonamici and other members of the subcommittee and i want to go knowledge chairman scott and Ranking Member fox. Thank you for the invitation to be here. My name is jocelyn frey and the center is a think tank devoted to progressive values improving the lives of all americans and i work with our Womens Initiative focused on expanding employment and Economic Opportunity for women. Because we believe women are integral to the economic progress of our nation now and in the future as you well