New York Democratic Rep. Hakeem Jeffries invoked the framers of the U.S. Constitution while defending a proposed change to House rules that would replace gendered language with gender-neutral terms.
The proposal, announced Friday by the Committee on Rules, would “honor all gender identities” by replacing words like father, mother, son, daughter, brother, sister, husband, wife and in-laws to gender-neutral terms like “parent, child, sibling, spouse, or parent-in-law.” (RELATED: Pelosi, Who Just Announced Elimination Of Gendered Family Terms In House Rules, Still Has ‘Mother, Grandmother’ In Her Twitter Bio)
“I guess critics would say that this is not the message from the election,” said “Fox News Sunday” guest-anchor Bret Baier, referencing the proposed rule changes. “Democrats lost a number of seats that they were thinking they were going to win. Traditionally there would be critics that say Democrats are too focused on political correctness and that this is an example of that. How would you respond to that?”
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“This is just an example of making sure that we are as inclusive as possible,” Jeffries said. “You know, the framers of the Constitution envisioned the House as the institution that was the closest to the people and in their words that would reflect the passions of the American people.”
“It’s the reason why we have two-year terms as opposed to four years of the presidency, six years in the Senate, life tenure for the Supreme Court,” he continued. “And so, I think that the rules should reflect our values as an institution that is the most inclusive as possible, that reflects the gorgeous mosaic in every possible way of the American people.” (RELATED: Cartoon Network Promotes The ‘Many Gender Identities’ Kids Can Partake In)
The new rules package will be voted on Monday when the new Congress assembles.