WASHINGTON, DC – House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (MD) spoke on the House Floor this morning urging support for H.R. 2116, the Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair Act (CROWN) Act. Below is a transcript of his remarks and a link to the video:   “We are going to talk about hair, but this bill is about discrimination. This bill is about equality. This bill is about individual integrity. That's what this bill is about. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of this bill. I thank my friend from New Jersey, Representative [Bonnie] Watson Coleman, for putting it forward. This bill, as I just said, is not about hair. It is about hair, of course, but it's about the reaction, the inequality, the discrimination, the ‘you're not welcome here if your hair texture is different and you have to or want to fix it in a certain way’. It's about the ability of every person in our country to have access to education, economic advancement, and opportunities to get ahead. This is an issue of civil rights.   “The legislation before us would prohibit discrimination based on a person's hair texture or hair style if that style or texture is commonly associated with a particular race or national origin. My hair is different than [Representative] Barbara Lee, who’s standing next to me, but neither one of us had anything to do with that. I had no way to have the texture of my hair any way other than my genetic makeup was, nor did Barbara Lee. Why, therefore, should there be any thought that anybody would be able to discriminate on that basis? Too often styles such as locs, corn rows, twists, braids, Bantu knots, and afros are wrongly perceived as unkempt or unprofessional. In fact, many of those styles are not only central to one's culture and heritage, are also based upon convenience, based upon a way to have an easier time.   “For a long time and still today, expectations about what hairstyles are considered appropriate or professional, as the previous speaker, said have created immense pressure to conform to a beauty standard of straight hair that requires considerable time, effort, and cost. This burden falls disproportionately on Black Americans, particularly Black women and girls. At the same time, enforcing this standard sends a terrible message to young people about their belonging in society and can harm their very self-esteem.

"A survey commissioned by the Dove company found that Black women were 80% more likely to change their natural hair to fit into an office setting and 1.5 times more likely to be sent home from the workplace due to their hair than non-Black women. For children and teenagers in school, spending time conforming their hair to a different standard takes away from their time spent doing homework or getting enough sleep. I hope I never get so old that I don't remember that I really cared about did I look like the other kid in school or did I look different? Was there something – I happened to have been really skinny as a kid. I’m not too fat right now, but I was really skinny as a kid. I was self-conscious about that. When you’re a kid being self-conscious is really painful and you feel put off if somehow you're different. For children and teenagers in school spending time conforming their hair to a different standard takes away from time spent doing homework or getting enough sleep, but much more importantly, their psychological well-being.   “This legislation recognizes that natural hair, natural hair, natural hair, none of us made our nature, it was made for us, should not be a cause for discrimination or denial of opportunities. It would treat this discrimination in the same way as we already treat discrimination based on race. Nobody decides the color of their skin. It is who you are. It is what you have. And as Martin Luther King told us, it's really irrelevant. The content of character is what's – not the hue of skin but how I treat others and how others treat me. That's what we meant by all men and women are created equal. They are not created the same. We are different. But it is the character and conduct that ought to govern how we are accepted and treated. This is similar to the Title 6, Title 7, of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Fair Housing Act, and other civil rights laws. Nationwide protection is necessary so that no one is denied the simple dignity of being one's authentic self in America while having access to all opportunities this country offers – character and conduct. Our military took steps to end hair discrimination last year. If anybody thinks this isn't a real issue. Obviously the military thought it was an issue, and it was an important enough issue they took action.   “The House passed this legislation in 2020 with bipartisan support. Frankly, it is disappointing that 188 Republicans opposed this legislation last week when we brought it to the Floor under an expedited process, under suspension. This should be something that all of us as Americans, as people who honor the Declaration of Independence and that statement that reverberated around the world of a very central premise that is America: we hold these truths to be self-evident that all, we said men because we were limited in our thought pattern at that point in time, as we have grown we expanded it. Men and women of all different types and colors and, yes, sexual orientation are equal, not the same, but deserving because God has given them, God has created them, deserving of our respect and our equal treatment.

“I'm bringing this bill back to the Floor, Madam Speaker, under a Rule so we can pass it with bipartisan support today. I think it will be bipartisan. This really ought to have unanimous support since its about fairness and non-discrimination – I know that some people, oh, this is going to cause some people problems because somebody will claim you violated my rights. Yes, that's America. That's why the constitution says you have the right to redress of grievances. Yes, it may have some court. You can get around it quickly. Don't discriminate, treat people based upon their conduct and character. We must act to ensure everyone can get a job, succeed in school or work, find housing, and obtain economic security without facing discrimination simply because of their hair. Again, I want to thank my friend, Bonnie Watson Coleman, for her leadership on this bill, and I urge my colleagues to make America a little fairer, a little more hewing to that basic premise of which I just spoke. Let's pass this bill. Let's make America a little more American.”