WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala), and several Republican colleagues today issued a clear rebuke of U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona’s proposed changes to Title IX and condemning the Biden administration’s plan to force schools to allow biological males to compete against females.
“The Biden administration’s endorsement of biological men playing women’s sports hurts America's daughters and granddaughters,” said Risch. “There are clear biological differences between women and men, girls and boys, and allowing males to compete in this way not only disadvantages female athletes – it sets back decades of gains for women under Title IX.”
“Our female athletes have dedicated countless hours and resources to excel in their chosen sports and are now being sidelined by biological males competing in women’s sports,” said Crapo. “Title IX was implemented to preserve fairness for women. This rule violates that intent and ignores the pleas of athletes, parents and coaches to keep opportunities open for girls and women.”
“Our comment sent to Secretary Cardona echoes what most Americans already know to be true: forcing schools to allow biological males to compete against young women is unfair, unsafe, and wrong,” said Tuberville. “Last year, a record number of parents, coaches, and athletes responded to a proposed change to Title IX because they care about the future of female athletes. Sadly, the Biden administration ignored their concerns and plowed ahead with a policy that’s deeply out-of-touch with the majority of the country. I dedicated my career to being a coach and mentor because I care about our country’s young people. I will not give up the fight to save women’s sports.”
The senators submitted a comment to Secretary Cardona in response to his department’s proposed rule change, “Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Sex in Education Programs or Activities Receiving Federal Financial Assistance: Sex-Related Eligibility Criteria for Male and Female Athletic Teams.”
“Congress made clear that its intention in passing Title IX was to prohibit discrimination against women participating fully in all aspects of athletic and academic opportunity at institutions that received federal financial assistance,” wrote the senators. “This proposed rule uses weakly-associated case law and polarizing social concepts to broaden the definition of women and girls to include individuals who identify as women, and in so doing, the intent of the law is destroyed and women are marginalized yet again.”
The full comment submitted by the senators can be found HERE. In addition to Senator Tuberville, the comment submitted to Secretary Cardona was signed by U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Roger Marshall, M.D. (R-Kan.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss., and Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.).
Senator Risch, Crapo, and Tuberville introduced the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act of 2023 in March to counteract the Biden administration’s rule. Democrats in the Senate blocked the swift passage of the legislation, even though a clear majority of Americans support its provisions.
Specifically, 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.
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