Vicky Hartzler: “I appreciate Mr. Duncan offering this amendment which would strike section 237 from the underlying legislation because…”

“I appreciate Mr. Duncan offering this amendment which would strike section 237 from the underlying legislation because without this amendment, a February 2015 HUD notice, which is no longer applicable under this administration and which requires the placement of transgender persons in single-sex emergency shelters, would become law. Should this notice become Federal law, it would offer no protections for women facing harassment in the shelters' showering or sleeping areas. This bad policy is at the heart of the California emergency shelter lawsuit. Nine women were sexually harassed by a male by birth, a trans individual, while using the showering facilities. The women's shelter confessed that they would rather allow the abuse to continue than lose Federal grant funding. The shelter went as far as threatening the nine women out of the shelter if they continued to refuse to shower with their attacker. This is preposterous. We should not codify this notice. Instead, HUD must review and strengthen its resolution and notices governing shelters and housing so that these examples do not become the new normal. Mr. Chairman, I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting Mr. Duncan's amendment.”