Supporting Commonsense American and Family Values
America is a nation founded on a framework of values centered around personal liberty, freedom, and community. In recent years, many of our timeless American values have come under attack, as politicians and bureaucrats in Washington have spent valuable time and resources on programs and initiatives that undermine the value of life, fail to protect our children, and push a dangerous woke agenda.
Our Constitution is a pro-life document that recognizes the inherent value in life, individual rights, and freedom. However, in recent years we have seen these values come under attack with the DOJ’s unwillingness to prosecute attacks on pro-life pregnancy centers and increasingly dangerous rhetoric from the left endorsing radical policies such as abortion on demand, up until the moment of birth. We have seen this firsthand in New York with multiple, violent attacks on CompassCare in Amherst, NY by proabortion extremist group Jane’s Revenge. As a mother, I recognize the sanctity of life and the significant role pro-life facilities, groups, and individuals play in our society. That is why as a member of the Pro-Life Women's Caucus, I have worked closely with organizations such as the Susan B. Anthony List and National Right to Life to fiercely advocate for pro-life policies. To protect our freedoms as a whole, we must protect the life of those most vulnerable.
There has also been a widespread push to undermine women’s sports. Many radical left-wing groups willfully ignore clear biological and athletic differences between men and women to allow biological men in women sports. The Biden Administration's recent executive order requiring the inclusion of transgender, biological male athletes in women's sporting reinforces this incorrect theory, undermining women’s access to leadership and educational opportunities.
We have also witnessed efforts to promote radical gender ideologies and gender affirming care on children, risking lifelong physical harm with no scientific evidence supporting its use. These groups work to criminalize parents who do not force their children to undergo mutilating surgeries and ignore real issues by abusive individuals, like child sexual assault and child exploitation.
Lastly, the Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) movements have become a disease on our society and national cohesion. These theories teach individuals that our constitutional rights are inherently racist and certain Americans are racist simply based on their race and ethnicity. They also seek to undo our expectation of merit, advocating for opportunities not to be distributed based on skill or work ethic, but someone’s victimhood status. These theories undermine our ability to work together as one people to debate and solve common problems and build future prosperity. It is imperative we enact policies to relegate CRT and DEI to the dustbin of history.
I am backing a comprehensive plan that protects the rights of the sanctity of life, defends women’s rights, protections our nation’s children, and bans radical and racist ideologies like CRT and DEI. Together, we can work to protect life and the core values that our country was founded on.
- Introduced H.R. 7052, the Unborn Child Support Act: This bill allows pregnant women to collect child support during the woman’s pregnancy. Child support is designed to give single parents the support they need to raise a child. However, women are not able to receive child support payments to pay for necessary expenses during the pregnancy, such as medical expenses. This important bill ensures that women are supported throughout their pregnancy and have the resources they need to carry the child to term.
- Co-led H.R. 6918, the Supporting Pregnant and Parenting Women and Families Act: This bill prohibits the Biden administration administration’s attempts to limit states’ ability to use Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funds for pregnancy resource centers. Pregnancy resource centers provide valuable resources to pregnant women, such as pregnancy testing and sonograms. It is vital that pregnancy centers continue to be able to effectively support mothers and their babies which is why I co-led this bill and supported its passage through the House of Representatives. I urge my Senate colleagues to expeditiously take up this legislation and send it to President Biden for his signature.
- Cosponsored H.R. 461, the Protecting Individuals with Down Syndrome Act: This important legislation would make it illegal to perform an abortion solely on the basis of a Down Syndrome diagnoses. Discriminatory abortion based on an individual’s genetic code is a reprehensible, disgusting practice that must be brought to an end.
- Cosponsored H.R. 431, the Life at Conception Act: This bill makes it clear that all unborn children are entitled to the same Constitutional rights as any individual, ensuring that our most vulnerable are protected. Importantly, this bill makes it clear that this bill does not allow any woman to be prosecuted for the death of their unborn child. This bill will ensure protection for the sanctity of life and uphold Constitutional rights for all.
- Cosponsored H.R.26, the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act: This legislation codifies legal protections for babies after a failed abortion attempt and guarantees these children the same care as any other newborn. The bill would work to reverse the Biden Administration and left-wing extremists’ agenda to refuse to protect all children’s right to life. I was honored to support this bill when it passed the full House of Representatives and look forward to working with my colleagues to get this signed into law.
- Cosponsored H.R.7, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of 2023: For years, the bipartisan Hyde Amendment has ensured that taxpayer dollars cannot be used to fund abortions, yet in recent years the Biden Administration has acted to bypass this principal to push their pro-abortion agenda. This commonsense bill codifies a ban on taxpayer dollars being used for abortions and stipulates that abortions may not be provided in a federal health care facility or by a federal employee. The legislation includes exemptions in instances of rape, incest, or where a physical disorder, injury, or illness endangers a woman's life unless an abortion is performed. I strongly supported this bill when it passed the full House of Representatives and will continue working to end taxpayer funding for abortion.
- Cosponsored H.R.128, the Defund Planned Parenthood Act of 2023: This legislation restricts federal funding for Planned Parenthood Federation of America Inc. or any of its affiliates or clinics for one year and transfers the funding to proven community health centers, which provide high quality care to underserved Americans. We should not allow funds for women’s health care to be co-opted by pro-abortion advocacy groups such as Planned Parenthood.
- Introduced H.Res.536, Supporting the designation of the week including June 23, 2023, as "National Women's Sports Week" to celebrate the anniversary of the passage of title IX and the growth of women's sports: This resolution recognizes the incredible strides that Title IX provided for women’s rights and women’s sports and designates the week of June 18 through June 24 as National Women’s Sports Week. Women’s sports help young women and girls develop confidence, initiative and leadership skills, and athletic opportunities for women must be protected!
- Cosponsored H.J.Res. 165, Title IX CRA: This CRA would overturn the new Biden administration rule on Title IX which redefines “sex” to include gender identity, forcing schools to allow biological men to compete in women’s sports. This radical proposal would strip away all the protections for women’s sports that generations of women fought so hard to gain. I will never support attempts to allow biological men in women’s sports and strongly supported this CRA’s passage through the House.
- Cosponsored H.R. 9218, the Defining Male and Female Act of 2024: This commonsense bill would definite the terms “male” and “female” in U.S. law. As the Democrats try to redefine words like “male” and “female” to include individuals that do not meet that biological definition, it is crucial that Congress makes it clear that a man is a man and a woman is a woman.
- Cosponsored H.R.734, the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act of 2023: This legislation prohibits school athletic programs from allowing individuals whose biological sex at birth was male to participate in programs that are for women or girls. Under this bill, federally funded education and athletic programs that allow individuals of the male sex to participate in programs or activities that are designated for women or girls would be in violation of Title IX. This bill would make sure women are guaranteed the athletic opportunities provided to them by Title IX that generations of women have fought for.
- Cosponsored H.Res.115, Establishing a Women's Bill of Rights to reaffirm legal protections afforded to women under Federal law: This resolution expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that (1) for purposes of federal law, a person's sex means the person's biological sex at birth; and (2) distinctions between the sexes are justified in certain settings, laws, and policies. The bill reaffirms and clarifies the definition of “sex” to help reverse the endangerment of spaces and resources dedicated to women.
- Introduced H.R. 8810, the Ensuring Legal Representation for Child Welfare Act: This legislation requires states to provide children legal representation during judicial proceedings involving child abuse or child neglect to ensure the child has a representative acting in their best interest. Often, children in these cases do not have a representative of their own to advocate for the child’s best interests in these proceedings.
- Introduced H.R. 7051, the Parity for Child Exploitation Offenders Act: This legislation would ensure parity in penalties for repeat offenders of child exploitation statutes, such as sex offenses or possession of child sexual assault materials. Currently, repeat offenders of these statutes receive an enhanced penalty for repeat offenses, however, certain crimes charged under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) do not receive this enhanced penalty, despite being the exact same crime. The Parity for Child Exploitation Offenders Act ensures that repeat offenders of child exploitation laws, regardless of how they are charged, are fully enforced and these abusers face the consequences of their heinous actions.
- Co-led H.R. 8077, the Closing Bankruptcy Loopholes for Child Predators Act: This bill would ensure that organizations that are sued for abuse cannot abuse the bankruptcy system to stop discovery proceedings. Under current law, when an organization declares bankruptcy, all discovery actions for non-bankruptcy related proceedings are halted, meaning child sexual abuse survivors cannot receive the justice they deserve. This bill ensures that discovery will proceed and allow child sexual abuse survivors to submit a victim impact statement as part of the organization’s bankruptcy proceedings.
- Cosponsored H.R. 5636, the Protect Children’s Innocence Act: This legislation would make performing gender transition surgeries on minors a Class C felony. Performing these genital mutilation surgeries on our children is unconscionable, and we must hold individuals performing these dangerous surgeries on our children accountable.
- Cosponsored H.R. 8005, the Child Exploitation and Artificial Intelligence Expert Commission Act of 2024: This bill works to combat the use of AI to commit child exploitation crimes, such as the production of child sexual abuse materials (CSAM). As AI becomes increasingly accessible and its capabilities expand, we must work to ensure that individuals are not abusing this technology in vile manners, like the production of CSAM. By re-evaluating our current legal framework and establishing an expert commission to study this growing problem, Congress can better combat this crisis.
- Cosponsored H.R.8706, the Dismantle DEI Act of 2024: This comprehensive bill would eliminate taxpayer funding for DEI initiatives, including DEI offices, positions, grants, and trainings. We cannot allow our government to continue wasting taxpayer dollars on racist DEI initiatives that discriminate against individuals.
- Cosponsored H.R. 3278, the Working to Address Recruiting and Retention to Improve Our Readiness (WARRIOR) Act: This legislation stops the Armed Forces from imposing woke diversity quotas and other policies that distract from the military's core purpose; well-trained and military ready forces, which should always be the top priority. The bill works to reverse woke initiatives that put far-left politics ahead of our nation's military recruiting, retention, and readiness. Federal funds should never be used to promote critical race theory or other woke ideologies in the military.
- Cosponsored H.R. 1229, the Stop CRT Act: This commonsense bill will ban federal funds from being used to promote and teach Critical Race Theory (CRT). For America to succeed, we must encourage citizens to work together to debate and advocate for solutions to advance the common good. However, CRT’s cultivation of racial animus and labeling of our Constitution and national ideals such as life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness as inherently racist dismantles our core values. Our educational system must promote constructive debate and national solutions, not division based on race.
- Supported key provisions within the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2025: The NDAA provides guidance on how military funding can be spent and makes changes to the policies and organization of United States defense agencies. During its passage through the House, I supported provisions that rein in the Biden Administration’s woke policies, such as unnecessary funding for DEI education and wasting taxpayer dollars on sex reassignment surgeries and gender hormone treatments.