Democrat at House hearing on banned books: 'This is the US Congress'

Source: The Hill

Democrat at House hearing on banned books: ‘This is the US Congress’

BY LYDIA MCFARLANE - 10/19/23 3:41 PM ET

Rep. Aaron Bean (R-Fla.) started Thursday’s House Education subcommittee hearing on book bans with a warning.

“Before getting started, I would like to make a disclaimer that we are going to be handling some very sensitive, mature issues today. We will be discussing wildly inappropriate books that are accessible in school libraries,” he said.

The hearing of the subcommittee on elementary and secondary education, chaired by Bean, reflected similar debates playing out in school board hearings across the country, where proponents of book bans often point to sexual content to make their point.

Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D-Ore.), the committee’s ranking member, reminded the witnesses, all but one whom supported book bans, of the setting for Thursday’s discussion.

“I’ll note that this is the U.S. Congress and not a school board meeting,” she said.

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Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4265446-banned-books-hearing-congress/