Press Releases

WASHINGTON – Today, Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) delivered the following statement, as prepared for delivery, at the Committee's markup of H.R. 618, the Improving Access to Workers’ Compensation for Injured Federal Workers Act; H.R. 8606, the Never Again Education Reauthorization and Study Act of 2024; H.R. 8648, the Civil Rights Protection Act of 2024; H.J. Res. 165, a Congressional Review Act resolution to nullify the Biden administration’s Title IX rule; H.R. 6816, the Promoting Responsible Oversight To Eliminate Communist Teachings (PROTECT) for Our Kids Act;  H.R. 5567, the Combating the Lies of Authoritarians in School Systems (CLASS) Act; H.R. 8649, the Transparency in Reporting Adversarial Contributions to Education (TRACE) Act; H.R. 7227, the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act of 2024; and H.R. 8534, the Protecting Student Athletes' Economic Freedom Act:

"The Committee is meeting today to consider a collection of nine significant legislative proposals. These bills underscore the Committee’s commitment to the education, safety, and security of our children and our communities.

"Seeing as we have a packed agenda before us, I will quickly introduce each bill and highlight its importance, though without respect to the particular order in which the pieces of legislation will be considered.

"On the agenda is Rep. Mary Miller’s (R-IL) Title IX Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution of disapproval.

"This resolution does nothing more than reinforce a biological and common-sense reality that we all know deep-down is true. Women should be safe in intimate spaces, and men should not compete in women’s sports.

"Sex differences are biological, an inescapable fact acknowledged by most Americans. The Biden rule to allow men to intrude into women’s spaces and take opportunities away from women is deeply unsettling and, frankly, unnatural.

"Moreover, the rule sets an uneasy precedent. Where does the destruction and erasure of women’s spaces end? The softball field? The locker room? The bathroom? The prison cell? We should reject this aberration of an executive action and instead support Rep. Miller’s CRA resolution that would strengthen Title IX protections for young females.

"We will also consider a tranche of three bills aimed at protecting American values and interests from foreign interference.

"I want to thank Republican Study Committee Chair Kevin Hern (R-OK) for introducing the first of the three, the PROTECT Our Kids Act or H.R. 6816. This bill addresses the urgent need to safeguard children from undue foreign influence by proposing a cut to all K-12 funding from the Chinese Communist Party.

"Building on the PROTECT Our Kids Act, the Combating the Lies of Authoritarians in School Systems Act, or the CLASS Act, authored by Rep. David Joyce (R-OH) and Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), would require the disclosure of all foreign funding to K-12 schools. Under this bipartisan bill, K-12 schools would send the name, country, amount, and other pertinent foreign funding details to the Secretary of Education.

"We will also be marking up a bill introduced by Rep. Aaron Bean (R-FL), the Transparency in Reporting of Adversarial Contributions to Education (TRACE) Act, H.R. 8649. This bill would enshrine parents’ right to know about any foreign government funding and influence that could potentially be impacting their K-12 child’s education. Parents will have the right to review curricula provided by foreign governments and be informed of any contracts or financial agreements with foreign entities of concern. This transparency empowers parents—a key theme of the Committee’s work.

"These three bills act like bricks in a wall. Together, their individual nuances will help fortify a solid legislative structure to combat malignant foreign influence.

We will also be marking up a pair of bills as part of the Committee’s ongoing effort to stamp out antisemitism.

"First, H.R. 8648, the Civil Rights Protection Act of 2024, was introduced by Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-OR). This bill requires institutions to be transparent about their Title VI investigations and establishes minimum standards for these processes. It also outlines additional requirements for the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights when investigating Title VI claims, ensuring thorough and fair investigations of discrimination based on race, color, or national origin.

"Moving on, we will mark up H.R. 8606, the Never Again Education Reauthorization and Study Act of 2024, introduced by Rep. Buddy Carter (R-GA). October 7 was the worst day in Jewish history since the Holocaust, and H.R. 8606 will ensure that the lessons of history are not forgotten in these troubling times. First, the bill commissions a study on Holocaust education in public schools. Moreover, it will extend the United States Holocaust Museum’s efforts to disseminate Holocaust education resources through Fiscal Year 2030.

"Also on the agenda is H.R. 7227, the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act, which establishes a commission to investigate and address the historical impacts of Indian boarding school policies. This commission will be a bipartisan effort to unearth the jarring history of Indian boarding schools and their potential violations of American Indian rights.

"We will mark up H.R. 8534, Rep. Bob Good’s (R-VA) Protecting Student Athletes’ Economic Freedom Act. This bill safeguards the economic freedom of student athletes from misclassification by NLRB bureaucrats. Athletes deserve the freedom to play the sport they love and receive a high-quality education at the same time. Reclassifying these athletes as employees could undermine that freedom and threaten their academic journeys, turning the sports they love into a chore instead.

"The final item on the agenda is H.R. 618, the Improving Access to Workers’ Compensation for Injured Federal Workers Act, sponsored by Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI). Rep. Walberg has been a consistent fighter for workers’ rights, and this bill builds on that legacy by extending access to the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act program to services performed by physician assistants and nurse practitioners. The absence of these services is a glaring gap in the current federal workers’ compensation system, and this bill presents an opportunity to rectify the law with medical reality. A physician is not always available or necessary for many medical services. The bill would increase access to care for federal workers, especially in rural areas, so that they can receive treatment and get back to work faster.

"Together, these nine bills express the commitment of the Committee to enhancing the safety, security, and rights of students, parents, and workers across our nation.

"I’ve often said that no Committee speaks to issues impacting everyday Americans quite like the Committee on Education and the Workforce, and today’s wide-ranging markup, from K-12 education to federal workers’ compensation, is more proof of just that."

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