Rep. Summer Lee Joins Colleagues in Reintroducing AI Civil Rights Act to Eliminate Algorithmic Discrimination and Protect Civil Rights
WASHINGTON, DC – DECEMBER 2, 2025 — Today, Congresswoman Summer L. Lee (PA-12) joined Rep. Yvette Clarke (NY-11), Rep. Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), Rep. Ayanna Pressley (MA-07) and Senator Ed Markey (D-MA), along with a growing coalition of civil rights advocates, to reintroduce the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Civil Rights Act — comprehensive legislation to 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.
“I represent neighborhoods that know what it feels like to be overpoliced, underinvested, and overlooked. If artificial intelligence is shaping people’s lives, then we must mitigate the harm it causes. This legislation puts up the necessary guardrails in an age of disinformation and misinformation. I’m grateful to Representatives Yvette Clarke, Pramila Jayapal, and Ayanna Pressley for co-leading this effort and for Senator Ed Markey for his partnership on this bill. We can and should be innovative with our technology, but never at the cost of our civil rights,” said Rep. Lee.
“The AI Civil Rights Act represents a bold new front in our ongoing battle to protect the rights, dignity, and safety of every American. From developers to deployers, this legislation will place strict, strong, and unambiguous guardrails on the creation and use of artificial intelligence. I am deeply grateful to Senator Ed Markey for his steadfast leadership in introducing this critical bill. Together, we are making it very clear that innovation must never come at the expense of civil rights or justice,” said Rep. Clarke.
“As AI innovation grows, it is incumbent on us all to prioritize the safety, rights, and opportunity of all people—especially the Black, brown, and marginalized communities who disproportionately bear the burden of biased and discriminatory systems,” said Rep. Pressley. “We cannot allow AI to be the latest chapter in America’s history of exploiting marginalized people. That is why the AI Civil Rights Act is necessary—to invest in an approach rooted in equity that safeguards all of our civil rights and liberties.”
“This legislation comes at an inflection point for our country. Artificial intelligence has become a part of our everyday lives and grown into a projected $244 billion industry. A major risk of this new technology is the biases and discrimination that are built into algorithms – denying people housing or jobs based on race or gender. Our bill would place critical guardrails to ensure that the technologies of the future do not harden the injustices of the past,” said Rep. Jayapal.
“We must address AI-powered bias and discrimination in the AI age,” said Senator Markey. “Under the AI Civil Rights Act, America would show leadership in AI—not just technological leadership, but moral leadership. We cannot abandon our principles in reckless pursuit of technological superiority. Otherwise, we risk building a future where innovation races ahead, but justice falls behind. I am grateful for Congresswomen Clarke, Pressley, Jayapal, and Lee for their partnership on the AI Civil Rights Act. We will not allow for AI to stand for accelerating injustice.”
“The Lawyers’ Committee is proud to work in partnership with Senator Markey, Representatives Yvette Clarke, Summer Lee, Ayanna Pressley, and Pramila Jayapal as they introduce the AI Civil Rights Act to help ensure that AI systems are fair and equitable, as they become a large part of our daily lives. Most AI tools are built using data that reflects generations of racial discrimination, redlining, and segregation. Algorithms built on information about a troubled past can create new models that replicate these traumas as if they should be the norm for the future. So, increased transparency and accountability in the development and deployment of these technologies are critical steps for combating algorithmic bias. The Lawyers’ Committee has been on the front lines of this issue, litigating in the courts and leading policy debates focused on the impacts and opportunities of emerging technology for Black people and other communities of color. We all deserve technology that works for us, not against us. Adopting appropriate human-centered guardrails is both logical and a critical need. We know that with fierce defenders of civil rights and democracy in Congress like the sponsors and co-sponsors of the AI Civil Rights Act, we can make that ambition a reality,” said Damon Hewitt, President and Executive Director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.
“Technologies, including AI systems, are only innovative if they help people. AI should be a tool that works for all of us, no matter where we come from, the color of our skin, our age, or how much money we have. But every day, qualified people are unjustly locked out of jobs, housing, education opportunities, and health care, or are wrongly jailed or imprisoned because of AI systems that discriminate. AI is powerful, so when it discriminates it can supercharge bias,” said Maya Wiley, President and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. “The AI Civil Rights Act offers a way forward towards fairness and accountability by helping us see how AI is working, ensuring better accuracy, and holding companies that create and use AI accountable for protecting our rights. We are grateful for Senator Markey and Congresswoman Clarke’s commitment to creating a strong pro-civil rights federal standard that ensures we can all reap the benefits of the AI revolution.”
“With corporations increasingly using AI systems to hire, fire, surveil, and make disciplinary decisions, workers need common-sense civil rights protections. The Artificial Intelligence (AI) Civil Rights Act introduced by Senator Markey and Congresswoman Clarke will do just that. It establishes critical guardrails to prevent AI discrimination, requires transparency from corporations around how they use AI, and holds corporations accountable when their AI systems perpetuate bias. This bill will be helpful in the labor movement’s ongoing fight to make sure that AI benefits workers instead of harming their jobs, rights, and freedoms,” said Jody Calemine, Director of Advocacy at the AFL-CIO.
“The AI Civil Rights Act is the bold, innovative policy we need today to ensure a just tomorrow for us all. The premise is simple: the AI tools and systems used at the most critical decision points in our lives – mediating our access to homes, employment, healthcare, and opportunities –should be demonstrated to be accessible and fair before being unleashed on the American public. With this technologically sophisticated bill, anchored in enduring American commitments to freedom, Senator Markey ushers in a new day for civil rights and digital equity,” said Alondra Nelson, Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress.
“AI is shaping access to opportunity across the country. ‘Black box’ systems make decisions about who gets a loan, receives a job offer, or is eligible for parole, often with little understanding of how those decisions are made. The AI Civil Rights Act makes sure that AI systems are transparent and give everyone a fair chance to compete,” said Cody Venzke, Senior Policy Counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union.
“Artificial intelligence is fast becoming a part of everyday life, impacting all of our major decisions from housing and employment to education and healthcare. We thank Senators Markey and Booker, and Representative Clarke, for their proactive leadership in safeguarding our civil rights. The AI Civil Rights Act ensures that AI technologies do not reinforce existing inequalities, and instead contribute to a more just and equitable society,” said the National Urban League.
The legislation is co-led in the House by Representatives Summer Lee (PA-12), Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), Yvette Clarke (NY-11), and Ayanna Pressley (MA-07) and led by Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) in the Senate. The legislation is co-sponsored by Senators Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Representatives Wesley Bell (MO-01), André Carson (IN-07), Judy Chu (CA-28), Danny K. Davis (IL-07), Chris Deluzio (PA-17), Jonathan Jackson (IL-01), Robin Kelly (IL-02), Jim McGovern (MA-02), Eleanor Holmes-Norton (D-D.C.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14), Mark Pocan (WI-02), Delia Ramirez (IL-03), Bennie Thompson (MS-02), Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12), Frederica Wilson (FL-24), Jesús G. “Chuy” García (IL-04), and Valerie Foushee (NC-04).
The AI Civil Rights Act is endorsed by the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, the AFL-CIO, National Urban League, Alondra Nelson, Distinguished Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress and former Acting Director, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, Sam Levine, Former Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, A Better Balance, Access Now, ACLU MA, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), American Federation of Teachers (AFT), Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC, Autistic Women & Nonbinary Network, Brennan Center for Justice, Center for AI and Digital Policy, Center for Digital Democracy, Color of Change, Common Cause, Common Sense, Communications Workers of America, Deaf Equality, Demand Progress, Economic Policy Institute, Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), Fight for the Future, Free Press Action, Hearing Loss Association of America, Immigrant Defenders Law Center, InnovateEDU, Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Investor Alliance for Human Rights, Japanese American Citizens League, Justice in Aging, NAACP, National Action Network, National Association of Consumer Advocates, National Education Association, National Housing Law Project, NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice, New America's Open Technology Institute, Open MIC, Oxfam America, Paralyzed Veterans of America, Seventh Generation Interfaith Coalition for Responsible Investment, Sojourners, The National Alliance to End Homelessness, The National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC), The NYU Policing Project, The Trevor Project, The Value Alliance, UnidosUS, United Church of Christ Media Justice Ministry, United Steelworkers, Writers Guild of America East (WGAE), Youth Power Project, Third Act , LGBT Tech, Consumer Federation of America, Movement Advancement Project , League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund (DREDF), The Loop Lab / The Hope Group, National Partnership for Women & Families, and Kapor Center Advocacy.
A full list of endorsement statements is available HERE.