House Approps Republicans Attack Women, Minorities In Annual Spending Bill [View all]

[BeckyDem]

JUly 5. 2023

WASHINGTON, D.C. – House Appropriations Republicans have loaded up the majority-drafted annual spending bills with dozens of poison pill policy riders that attack women, people of color, immigrants, and LGBTQ+ Americans – opening a new front in their escalating culture war. The Clean Budget Coalition, which is tracking the poison pills added to federal spending bills, has repeatedly called on Congress to remove all of these harmful measures. They include:

Fourteen new poison pills targeting abortion rights, contraception, and women’s health. This is in addition to the Hyde Amendment barring federal funding for abortion and six other Hyde-like legacy poison pills that have been carried over from past budget cycles;
Seven new poison pills that block diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility efforts;
Four new poison pills that attack immigrants detained by ICE;
Two new poison pills that ban funding for drag queens;
Two new poison pills that ban pride flags at covered facilities;
Six new poison pills that ban Critical Race Theory;
Five new poison pills that prohibit gender-affirming health care; and
Three new poison pills that require continued federal funding for contractors and other organizations that discriminate against or oppose same-sex marriages.

“Why are MAGA Republicans attacking drag queens in the federal budget? Why are they even mentioning Critical Race Theory? Why are they blocking contraception and gender-affirming health care? The answer is simple: to appease their increasingly radical authoritarian base,” said Lisa Gilbert, executive vice president of Public Citizen and co-chair of the Clean Budget Coalition. “Instead of drafting spending bills that ensure people are safe, healthy, and housed, Republicans are attempting to use them to criminalize peoples’ identities. They’re trying to roll back more than 60 years of progress toward freedom and equality for everyone.”
https://cleanbudget.org/house-approps-republicans-attack-women-minorities-in-annual-spending-bills/