In an amendment vote held earlier this session, a whopping 420 members of the House ended up voting opposite Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.).
The question was whether to amend an underlying bill to provide — should it all be implemented — parents “the right to timely notice of any major cyberattack against their child’s school that may have compromised student or parent information,” according to info on Congress.gov.
During an initial portion of Congressional proceedings when the House held a voice vote on the amendment, nobody even offered any remarks in opposition, though they had the opportunity to do so. That lack of commentary from anyone who was against the measure means it’s unclear, for now, why Gaetz was in opposition, as were just four other members of the chamber, which has 435 seats. During the initial period of the discussion, the member rising to speak other than the individual who sponsored the amendment reiterated time and again that they supported the proposal as it stood, though they asked a few questions regarding implementation.
The whole thing was meant to amend a legislative proposal known as the Parents Bill of Rights Act, which fit right into the longstanding GOP interest in trying to turn ostensible concern about schooling into political points. The GOP proposal included the claimed right for individual parents to “inspect the books and other reading materials in the library of their child’s school,” a summary said, showing where they were going. The legislation would have also blocked unilateral school action meant to accommodate transgender or gender non-conforming children seeking to socially transition, meaning become known by different pronouns and present themselves in a different way. Like with other GOP pushes from the House this session, there’s not much of a clear opening for movement, considering Democrats continue to hold the Senate and obviously the White House.
