U.S. Senators Katie Britt, Tommy Tuberville Introduce Legislation to Preserve Title IX, Protect Women’s Sports
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Katie Britt (R-Ala.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), and 29 of their Senate Republican colleagues reintroduced the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, or S. 9, to preserve Title IX protections for female athletes.
For the past four years, the Biden administration has undertaken an unprecedented assault on Title IX through rulemaking at the Department of Education. This legislation would reverse the harmful Department of Education rule that forces schools to allow males to share private spaces with females and compete in women’s sports—or risk losing their funding.
“For daughters like mine and generations to come, we’ve got to protect women and girls in sports,” said Senator Britt. “I appreciate the leadership of Senator Tuberville in introducing this commonsense legislation. This is about fighting for girls and women to have the opportunity to compete safely and fairly.”
“President Trump ran on the issue of saving women’s sports and won in a landslide,” said Senator Tuberville. “70% of Americans agree—men don’t belong in women’s sports or locker rooms. I have said many times that I think Title IX is one of the best things to come out of Washington. But in the last few years, it has been destroyed. While I’m glad that the Biden administration ultimately rescinded the proposed rule, Congress has to ensure this never happens again. I am welcoming my first granddaughter this spring and won’t stop fighting until her rights to fairly compete are protected. I hope every one of my colleagues will join me in standing up for our daughters, nieces, and granddaughters by voting for this critical bill.”
The Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act would:
- Ensure Title IX provisions treat gender as “recognized based solely on a person’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth” and
- Ban recipients of federal funding from operating, sponsoring, or facilitating athletic programs that permit a male to participate in a women’s sporting event.
The legislation is endorsed by Independent Women’s Voice, Concerned Women for America, and Heritage Action for America.
U.S. Senators Jim Banks (R-Ind.), John Barasso (R-Wyo.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Ted Budd (R-N.C.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W. Va.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), John Kennedy (R-La.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Cindy Lummis (R-Wyo.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), and Roger Wicker (R-Miss) joined as additional original cosponsors.
Read the full text of the legislation here.
BACKGROUND:
In March, Senator Britt participated in a roundtable event with Senators Tuberville, Lummis, and Hyde-Smith, along with former ESPN broadcaster Sage Steele, on the importance of preserving Title IX in women’s sports.
Senator Britt questioned Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona regarding the Biden-Harris Administration’s Title IX rulemakings. She has also cosponsored Senator Hyde-Smith’s resolution to establish a Women’s Bill of Rights.
Senators Britt and Blackburn have previously introduced a resolution to recognize October 10 as “American Girls in Sports Day.” The resolution affirms that “Title IX is under attack by the Biden Administration,” “recognizes the importance of Title IX in protecting biological women in sports,” and “calls on sports-governing bodies in the United States and abroad to protect biological women and girls in sports.
Additionally, in the 118th Congress, Senator Britt was a cosponsor of Senator Laphonza Butler’s (D-Calif.) bipartisan resolution recognizing February 7 as “National Girls & Women in Sports Day” to highlight the achievements of women athletes and bring attention to the value they add to sports and our communities.
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