serve our country by moving to codify Trump's ban on trans
servicemembers.
  There are thousands of trans people who are willing to die to protect
our country, but Trump, Vance, Hegseth, and House Republicans want to
ban them from serving, or even the freedom for kids to participate in
sports without being subjected to invasive and traumatizing exams to
determine their gender before they can put on a jersey.

                              {time}  1820

  I would like to see some of my colleagues experience what a
transvaginal ultrasound feels like. For a kid who is a survivor of
sexual assault or trauma, or even one who is not, it is incredibly
painful and traumatizing.
  These actions are all part of a larger pattern we are seeing at the
State level, across the country, by this administration, by House and
Senate GOP leadership, and even by our activist Supreme Court, to
attack and villainize LGBTQ Americans.
  I want to be clear. The NDAA amendments do absolutely nothing to
strengthen our military readiness or improve the lives of everyday
Americans. Like everyone else, LGBTQ people want to afford childcare
and housing, and have access to healthcare, and be able to contribute
to an economy that works for all of us.
  I look forward to a day where Members of Congress drop this bizarre
and personal vendetta against queer and trans people and get back to
working on real issues: to lower costs, ensure we all have healthcare
and housing and childcare, and make America the country we know it can
be.
  Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms.
Wasserman Schultz), vice chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus.
  Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for
yielding to me.
  Mr. Speaker, as we close out Pride Month, I am proud to join my
Equality Caucus colleagues this evening in standing up for the LGBTQ+
community and recognizing their invaluable contributions to our Nation.
  My south Florida district is home to one of the most diverse and
vibrant LGBTQ+ communities in the entire country. It is a privilege to
fight for them every single day here in Washington and push back
against the heinous smear campaign driven by extremist, rightwing,
culture warriors.
  Unfortunately, Florida is a national staging ground to roll back the
rights and dignity of the LGBTQ+ community. From the repulsive ``Don't
Say Gay'' law, to some of the more vicious trans attacks, Florida is
ground zero for hate.
  It hasn't stopped. Earlier this year, funding for the AIDS Drug
Assistance Program, or ADAP, which assists low-income Floridians living
with HIV and AIDS to afford their medication and insurance premiums,
was slashed.
  Over 12,000 Floridians braced themselves to be kicked off of this
lifesaving program.
  I proudly led all of my Florida Democratic colleagues in demanding
the Governor and the Department of Health and Human Services reverse
these changes, and many organizations and leaders rallied to restore
this vital funding as well.
  Thankfully, it brought some relief. The Federal Government
established a temporary special enrollment period for Florida ADAP
patients to switch health plans.
  Last month, Florida lawmakers averted these disastrous ADAP cuts in
its fiscal year 2027 budget.
  Let me be clear. This was an entirely preventable crisis created by
Governor DeSantis to harm Florida's LGBTQ+ community. It is an utter
disgrace, and I will always call it out.
  I am proud to be a founding member and vice chair of the Equality
Caucus and an original cosponsor of the Equality Act, to expand the
Civil Rights Act, to ban discrimination based on sex, sexual
orientation, and gender identity.
  These attacks are relentless. As a senior House appropriator, I will
always lead the charge against hateful, anti-LGBTQ+ policies and riders
that peddle hate and do nothing to make life more affordable for
Americans.
  As ranking member of the Appropriations Committee Military
Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Subcommittee, I
was able to end the ban on Pride flags from flying at VA facilities.
  Several weeks ago, Republicans advanced a partisan Labor-H funding
bill out of the House Appropriations Committee that decimates domestic
HIV and AIDS research and prevention programs across the Federal
Government.
  It even eliminates funding for the Ending the HIV Epidemic Initiative
championed by President Trump himself in his first term.
  This callous indifference shown by my Republican colleagues is
astonishing, and that is why we must relentlessly fight the never-
ending hate because it has no place in this country.
  Mr. Speaker, thanks to brave freedom fighters, LGBTQ+ rights have
come a long way. It was only 11 years ago that the Supreme Court upheld
the constitutional right to marriage equality for same-sex couples.
Yet, now, almost a decade later, insidious and hateful forces try to
chip away at this and other landmark gains made by gay, lesbian, and
transgender individuals, but we won't let them take us back.
  Instead, we will recommit ourselves to building a future and a
country that is welcoming, inclusive, and treats everyone, regardless
of sexual orientation or gender identity, with the respect that they
rightfully deserve.
  Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I thank the Congresswoman from Florida for
her wonderful remarks.
  Mr. Speaker, I now yield to the gentlewoman from Wisconsin (Ms.
Moore).
  Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin. Mr. Speaker, I rise on the last day of Pride
Month as more than an LGBTQI ally. I am an accomplice. I am an enabler,
because I want to enable people to be cradled by the e pluribus unum,
to be embraced by our American values of freedom, liberty, and
equality. I want to advocate for people to bring their authentic selves
to our roundtable of a more perfect Union. I want people to stand in
the glow of our enlightenment after 250 years of this Nation being a
democracy.
  Despite the sadistic efforts that have been made in this Congress to
diminish and limit LGBTQI people, every single appropriation bill
riddled with insults and humiliation, none of them have come to
fruition. None of them have become law.
  Why is that? That is because this is America, y'all. It is because we
hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal. It
is a standard that we have lived by throughout this constitutional
democracy. Let me tell you, after everything we have been through, the
flag still stands.

  Mr. TAKANO. Congresswoman Gwen Moore, thank you and happy Pride to
you.
  Mr. Speaker, I now yield to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Tonko).
  Mr. TONKO. Mr. Speaker, I thank Representative Takano for yielding
and for bringing us together for this Special Order hour.
  Mr. Speaker, this Pride Month we are at a pivotal moment, a moment
that demands our attention, outrage, and, yes, action.
  Across the country, we are witnessing a barrage of dangerous
policies, executive actions, hateful legislation, and vile rhetoric,
all designed to strip away rights, sow fear, and erase hard-fought
progress.
  This administration and its supporters have continued a calculated
and relentless strategy to erase, stigmatize, and endanger LGBTQ+
people, especially trans youth.
  Today, the Supreme Court issued an incredibly disappointing ruling,
upholding discriminatory anti-transgender sports bans in West Virginia
and Idaho.
  This decision is dehumanizing and has nothing to do with fairness or
safety in sports. Trans kids deserve to have access to the same
opportunities as their peers. Trans kids deserve to feel like they
belong. When recognition of existence is pulled back, people cannot
love freely, and histories are erased, our country is worse off.
  Kids trying to live safely and authentically are not a threat.
Transgender servicemembers deserve to serve openly. Families seeking
care and support are not political pawns. The providers committed to do
no harm are not extremists.
  I stand with the LGBTQ+ community in my district and across our great
Nation. I will fight any actions that limit their right to live safely,
freely, and fully as oneself.
  Pride is more than a celebration. It is a declaration, a declaration
of resilience and a reminder of the power of