'Spewing Hateful Rhetoric': Melanie Stansbury Blasts GOP And Witnesses In Fiery Remarks

last month

At a House Oversight Committee hearing last week, Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-NM) spoke about discrimination in work.

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Transcript

00:00very much. Chair recognizes Ms. Dainsbury from New Mexico. All right, we'll start by saying that

00:06this hearing is making America less safe for our children and LGBTQ and people of color across

00:14this country. There are over 14 million Americans in this country who currently self-identify as

00:23LGBTQ. 20% of our young people who identify as queer have taken actions to harm themselves.

00:36Hearings like this, and I'm sorry, witnesses like the ones that have been called here today

00:41who are spewing hateful rhetoric, as are my colleagues across this dais today, are making

00:48this country unsafe for our children. They are making this country a less just place by

00:58perpetrating and repeating hateful speech. Now we know here in the United States that nearly 45%

01:08of Americans who identify as LGBTQ have experienced discrimination in the workplace and about 20%

01:16actually report that they have faced physical harassment. Of the lawsuits that have been

01:22filed by the EEOC, 35% of them are based on sex, 34% are based on disability, and 17%

01:30are based on race. And of the reported cases, over 40% of Black Americans report that they

01:39experienced discrimination in the workplace. This is not some woke agenda. This, as childish

01:50Gambino says, this is America. So why is the GOP sitting here spending committee resources

02:02trying to tell us that this is just some made-up agenda? Why are they bringing folks here to

02:08perpetrate these lies and attacks on people that we know have faced systemic discrimination

02:17for generations here in this country? It's because it's being funded. It's being funded by donors,

02:25it's being funded by organizations that are trying to advance this agenda,

02:30and it's being funded and supported by candidates right here in this Congress,

02:35as well as other institutions. Now, Mr. Berry, I appreciate that you've come before this committee,

02:41but I want to ask you just a few quick yes or no questions. Is it true that you clerked for

02:47Justice Alito, yes or no? Yes. And you helped to draft Chapter 18 of the Project 2025 report,

02:55correct? I was the lead author, yes. You were the lead author. And your law firm, in fact,

03:00filed an amicus in the Students for Fair Admission case before the Supreme Court, correct?

03:05Correct. Thank you. That's right. So one of our key witnesses that's been called here today,

03:11and again, no disrespect, but is part of a larger effort in front of the courts,

03:17in front of Congress, in front of state legislatures across the country to undermine

03:22and chip away at the rights of Americans. Affirmative action, voting rights, LGBTQ rights,

03:29abortion rights, women's rights, fueling anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ legislation across the country,

03:37and making it less safe and less free for our children, for our families, and for all Americans.

03:46I represent the state of New Mexico, and I want to say that we have taken action.

03:50We have protected reproductive rights, we have protected gender-affirming care,

03:55and we have passed one of the most comprehensive voting rights pieces of legislation in the

04:00country. And I will not stand here and sit silent while I hear this kind of hate being spewed in

04:06this institution. We have to stop the hate. I yield back. Chair recognizes Mr. Burchett

04:15from Tennessee. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I ask for unanimous consent to enter into the record.

'Spewing Hateful Rhetoric': Melanie Stansbury Blasts GOP And Witnesses In Fiery Remarks

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