21st Century President Act

Mr. Speaker, let me thank the gentlewoman for yielding and let me thank the sponsor of the legislation, the 21st Century President Act.

I wanted to affirm Congressman Pocan for the leadership that he has given to an issue that many might not pay attention to, and the term is appropriate, the 21st Century President Act, which deals with criminalizing threats against former Presidents and their families as well as providing security for those individuals who may be impacted.

For example, section 879 of title 18, enacted in 1982 after the assassination attempt on then-President Ronald Reagan, makes it unlawful to threaten to kill, kidnap, or inflict bodily harm upon a former President, President-elect, or Vice President-elect or major candidate for President or Vice President or an immediate family member. In the terminology, as has been indicated, the terms are defined as ``wife,'' ``her,'' and ``widow,'' which presumes that the President of the United States will always be a man and his spouse will always be a woman.

We are very fortunate to have any number of wonderful Americans running who will have the opportunity to serve. Many women are running. Certainly, individuals from our LGBTQ community will be in the future mix for President of the United States.

I thank the gentleman from Wisconsin for bringing us into the 21st century, being enthusiastic about recognizing the importance of ensuring the safety and security of those who may be running as candidates, those who may be serving who come from the wide, vast diversity of America.

It is clear that the time has come for the language to change to a neutral term of ``spouse'' to refer to the partner of the President of the United States.

It is also important that we update our laws to welcome enthusiastically the idea that America, excitingly, will have an opportunity to elect a unique and different person to the Presidency of the United States, competent, qualified, and able to serve.

I rise to support the 21st Century President Act. The language speaks to the idea of the new and exciting opportunity for this great country.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 677, the ``21st Century President Act,'' introduced by my good friend, the gentleman from Wisconsin, Congressman Mark Pocan.

I support this legislation, which updates the current statutory provision set forth in 18 U.S.C. 879 criminalizing threats against former presidents and their families.

It does this by removing the gendered terms from the statute.

Section 879 of title 18, enacted in 1982 after the assassination attempt on then-President Ronald Reagan, makes it unlawful to threaten to kill, kidnap or inflict bodily harm upon a former President, President-elect, or Vice President-elect, or a major candidate for President or Vice President, or [an] ``immediate family'' member.

``Immediate family,'' however is defined with terms such as `wife,' `her,' and `widow'--which presumes the president will always be a man and his spouse will always be a woman.

H.R. 677, the 21st Century President Act makes an important contribution in recognition of the historic progress we have made in our country.

In 2016, the Democratic party, one of America's two major political parties, nominated a woman to be its standard bearer and nominee of President of the United States.

The change that will be made by enacting the 21st Century President Act is particularly appropriate at this moment.

Competing for the 2020 presidential nomination of their party are six women candidates and a member of the LGBTQ community.

It is clear that the time has come for the language to change to a neutral term of ``spouse'' to refer to the partner of the president.

Under current law, it is assumed that the President of the United States is male, and the spouse is female.

This accords with America's past, but does not reflect its future.

It is time for Congress to change the law.

Equality is a principle that we must always embrace and affirm, and a principle that we must always keep working to advance and secure for every American.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 677 to amend federal law to recognize that persons other than men

can and will be President, and presidential spouses will not always be female.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 677) to amend gendered terms in Federal law relating to the President and the President's spouse.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include material on the bill under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, there will be a time in this country when the President of the United States will have a husband and not a wife. In preparation for that day, I urge the House to suspend the rules and pass H.R. 677, the 21st Century President Act, which removes gender terms from current law criminalizing threats against former Presidents and their families.

Currently, we have a law that makes it unlawful to threaten to kill, kidnap, or inflict bodily harm upon a former President, President- elect, Vice President-elect, or a major candidate for President, or Vice President, or their immediate family member.

The statute, however, defines immediate family with terms such as: ``wife,'' ``her,'' and ``widow,'' which makes presumptions that will not stand the test of the future of this country.

At present, one member of the LGBTQ community and six women have declared themselves to be candidates for the Presidency. Whether or not any of these candidates is nominated or elected, it is clear that the terminology in our law is outdated and should be changed to refer to the spouse of a former President.

The words we use shape the world in which we live. We should act accordingly. I support H.R. 677, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Pocan).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee).

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, it is essential that we update our statutes when necessary. H.R. 677 does exactly that. It simply amends current law so that it is more inclusive and reflective of our society.

I thank the gentleman from Wisconsin, Representative Mark Pocan, for identifying this problem in the law and for introducing this bill to rectify it. H.R. 677 will indeed take this law into the 21st century, as the title suggests.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this commonsense measure, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the Representative for the time.

The current field of Presidential candidates looks more like American society than ever before, and we are closer than ever to the possibility that a woman or LGBT person could hold the country's highest office.

We have decades of activism by women and the LGBT community to thank for this fact, and the least Congress can do is to ensure the law recognizes the progress our country has made.

We have come a long way from 1872 when Victoria Woodhull became the first woman to seek the Presidency, decades before women won the right to vote. Today, six women, more than ever before, are running for President.

Almost 100 years after the passage of the 19th Amendment, and thanks to trailblazers like Victoria Woodhull, Shirley Chisholm, and Hillary Clinton, we are closer than ever before to having a woman in the Oval Office.

In 2012, Fred Karger, a Republican, was the first openly LGBT candidate for President, and the 2020 Democratic Presidential field includes one openly LGBT candidate.

The landmark 2015 Supreme Court decision making gay marriage legal in all 50 States means that a future President may have a spouse of the same sex.

Unfortunately, current Federal law is outdated and does not reflect the reality that we could have a female or gay President as soon as 2021.

Today's bill updates Federal law to reflect the possibility of a female or LGBT President by replacing gendered terms like ``wife'' and ``widow'' with ``spouse.'' It also replaces gender-specific pronouns when referring to the President and their spouse with gender-neutral terms.

Without this change, the law that makes it a crime to threaten to kill, kidnap, or inflict bodily harm upon the President or the President's family would fail to include a future female or gay President.

The words we use matter, and it is critically important that the law recognizes that soon we will have a President who is not a straight man.

I thank the chairman, the ranking member, and all the members of the committee for their support of this important bipartisan bill.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the 21st Century President Act.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate this. I think the bill is a good bill. It does exactly what it needs to do, and it clarifies for the future. I encourage everyone to vote ``yes,'' and I yield back the balance of my time.