Congresswoman Urges Congress to Pass Her AI Civil Rights Act to Eliminate AI Discrimination

“We Must Not Have AI Innovation Without AI Protections”

Video (YouTube)

WASHINGTON – Yesterday, in a House Financial Services Committee hearing, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07) discussed the need for new civil rights protections in the age of artificial intelligence (AI). Congresswoman Pressley highlighted how AI innovation without proper regulation could exacerbate discrimination, and called for passage of the AI Civil Rights Act, her bill with Senator Ed Markey and Congresswoman Yvette Clarke to help eliminate AI discrimination.

The AI Civil Rights Act would prevent companies from using biased and discriminatory AI-powered algorithms to help make critical decisions in Americans’ lives, ensure algorithms are tested before and after deployment, and increase transparency of complex algorithms used for critical decisions.

A transcript of the Congresswoman’s question line and exchange with witnesses is available below, and the video is available here.

Transcript: Pressley Calls for New Civil Rights Protections in the Age of AI

December 10, 2025

House Financial Services Committee

REP. PRESSLEY: AI is everywhere, our phones, our classrooms, our hospitals, our bank loans and job applications, every facet of our lives. 

And that is why we must ensure that AI works for everyone, and that instead of deploying biased AI, which can create harm or compound existing harms.

It needs to benefit everyone—all people, regardless of race, gender, income level, medical conditions, or other parts of our identity. 

Mr. Stevens, should we prohibit the use of AI that discriminates on the basis of race, gender or other factors? Just a yes or no.

MR. NICHOLAS STEVENS: Especially in housing, I believe yes. Fair housing, make sure that we eliminate all forms of racism, different, disparate impact, that kind of thing.

REP. PRESSLEY: Okay, I’ll ask the question of everyone, just for the purposes of the record. So just yes or no, should we prohibit the use of AI that discriminates on the basis of race, gender, or other factors? Yes or no? 

MS. JEANNETTE MANFRA: Yes.

MR. TAL COHEN: Again, we apply three principles. We try to promote transparency, liquidity….

REP. PRESSLEY: Yes or no?

MR. COHEN: ..integrity in our markets and as a highly regulated institution, we are making sure that we prevent that in our in our algorithm.

REP. PRESSLEY: Mr. Stevens, yes or no. Again.

MR. STEVENS: Yes.

REP. PRESSLEY: Ms. Whitmore?

MS. WENDI WHITMORE: Yes.

REP. PRESSLEY: And Mr. Branch?

MR. JOSHUA BRANCH: Yes. 

REP. PRESSLEY: Okay. Thank you. We need, urgently, civil rights laws for the 21st Century in the age of AI, which is why I’ve joined with Senator Markey and also with Congresswoman Yvette Clark to introduce the AI Civil Rights Act. 

It’s urgent, because the truth is that we are already behind. People are already being exploited and discriminated against with the use of algorithms. 

Now let’s take an issue like housing, for example, which, in my opinion, is a human right. Everyone deserves more than just shelter. They deserve to have a home. It’s safety, it’s dignity, it’s health, it’s mobility.

In 2025 the Trump administration has gutted the key agencies that protect against housing discrimination, the CFPB and HUD Fair Housing enforcement offices. They are even trying to undo consent orders that are already in place, like the Townstone discrimination case in Chicago. 

This gap in civil rights protections is an opening for continued discrimination. One study found that mortgage lenders are 80% more likely to reject Black applicants compared to white applicants with the same qualifications. 

Mr. Branch, should we have additional oversight tools, such as assessments to test the algorithms out before companies can use AI on the public? Yes or no? 

MR. BRANCH: Yes. 

REP. PRESSLEY: Do any of our witnesses other than Mr. Branch disagree with that? Okay, let the record reflect that no one disagreed. 

We know that bias exists in our nation. We see the inequities all around us. 

I represent the Massachusetts 7^th—a vibrant, diverse, dynamic district and one of the most unequal in the country, where in a three-mile radius from Cambridge, home to MIT, Harvard and AI advancement, to Roxbury, the Blackest part of my district, life expectancy drops by 30 years, and median household income by $50,000.

Now that is the result of intentional lawmaking, which is why I believe we have to be just as intentional in undoing the harms and charting an equitable path forward. Because AI is trained on data that is already biased and by humans that have biases, it can replicate and exacerbate these harms unless we have oversight and prevent it. 

We must not allow AI innovation without AI protections.

In a world of artificial intelligence, we really cannot lose sight of what is real, and that is the people, the people and their livelihoods and their lives. 

If Republicans are serious about protecting our elders from fraud and consumers from discrimination, then Congress must pass the AI Civil Rights Act. 

Thank you and I yield back.

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