[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 153 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 153

 Expressing the sense of the Senate that changes to athletics policies 
    issued under title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 would 
 contradict the spirit of athletic equality and the intent to prohibit 
   sex discrimination in education programs or activities receiving 
                     Federal financial assistance.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 22, 2003

  Mrs. Murray (for herself, Ms. Snowe, Mr. Daschle, and Mr. Kennedy) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
               on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Expressing the sense of the Senate that changes to athletics policies 
    issued under title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 would 
 contradict the spirit of athletic equality and the intent to prohibit 
   sex discrimination in education programs or activities receiving 
                     Federal financial assistance.

Whereas title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.), 
        also known as the ``Patsy Takemoto Mink Equal Opportunity in Education 
        Act'' (referred to in this resolution as ``title IX''), prohibits 
        education programs or activities, including athletic programs or 
        activities, that receive Federal financial assistance from 
        discriminating on the basis of sex;
Whereas prior to 1972 and the enactment of title IX, virtually no college 
        offered athletic scholarships to women, fewer than 32,000 women 
        participated in collegiate sports, and women's sports received only 2 
        percent of college athletic dollars;
Whereas the regulation implementing title IX was submitted to Congress, multiple 
        hearings were held, and the regulation became effective July 21, 1975, 
        with specific provisions governing athletic programs and the awarding of 
        athletic scholarships;
Whereas according to the Department of Education's 1979 Policy Interpretation, 
        which interprets the application of title IX and its implementing 
        regulations to athletics, an educational institution may demonstrate 
        compliance with title IX's requirement that it allocate athletic 
        participation opportunities on a nondiscriminatory basis to male and 
        female athletes by meeting 1 of the criteria in a 3-part test, by 
        demonstrating--

    (1) that intercollegiate level participation opportunities for male and 
female students are provided in numbers substantially proportionate to 
their respective enrollments at the institution;

    (2) a history and continuing practice of program expansion responsive 
to the developing interests and abilities of members of the 
underrepresented athletes' sex; or

    (3) that the interests and abilities of the members of the 
underrepresented athletes' sex have been fully and effectively accommodated 
by the present program;

Whereas the 1979 Policy Interpretation and its 3-part test have been in place 
        for over 2 decades and have been supported by both Republican and 
        Democratic administrations;
Whereas 2 out of 3 educational institutions comply with the second or third 
        criterion of the 3-part test;
Whereas the Office for Civil Rights of the Department of Education issued a 
        Clarification of Intercollegiate Athletics Policy Guidance in 1996 
        regarding the 3-part test--

    (1) confirming that educational institutions can comply with title IX's 
requirement of nondiscriminatory allocation of athletic participation 
opportunities by meeting any single part of the 3-part test;

    (2) setting out specific examples for compliance to guide the 
institutions; and

    (3) confirming that there are no strict numerical formulas for 
determining title IX compliance;

Whereas the 1979 Policy Interpretation and the 1996 clarification provide 
        educational institutions with ample and fair guidance on compliance with 
        title IX and provide flexibility to the institutions so that they may 
        determine for themselves how best to comply with the law;
Whereas the enforcement mechanism of title IX, the 3-part test, has been upheld 
        as legal and valid by each of the 8 United States Courts of Appeals to 
        consider it;
Whereas since the beginning of title IX implementation, men's participation in 
        intercollegiate sports has increased from 220,178 to 231,866, and 
        women's participation in those sports has increased from 31,852 to 
        162,783, an increase of more than 400 percent;
Whereas the number of girls participating in athletics at the high school 
        varsity level has increased from 294,015 in 1972 to 2,784,154 in 2001, 
        an 847 percent increase;
Whereas sex discrimination in athletics persists, despite the strides made under 
        title IX, with, for example, female athletes receiving only 42 percent 
        of the college athletic participation opportunities nationwide, even 
        though female students make up 56 percent of the college population, and 
        female athletes receiving $133,000,000 fewer athletic scholarship 
        dollars per year than their male counterparts;
Whereas nothing in title IX or its policies requires educational institutions to 
        reduce men's athletic participation opportunities to come into 
        compliance with participation requirements and 72 percent of colleges 
        and universities that have added women's teams have done so without 
        cutting any teams for men;
Whereas recommendations made by the Commission on Opportunity in Athletics for 
        changes to the athletics policies issued under title IX would seriously 
        weaken title IX's protections and result in significant losses in 
        athletic participation opportunities and scholarships to which women and 
        girls are entitled under current law; and
Whereas those recommended changes to the title IX athletics policies would allow 
        an educational institution that fails to equally accommodate its male 
        and female students to be in compliance with title IX without having to 
        fully demonstrate that discrimination does not exist in the 
        institution's athletic programs: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that--
            (1) changes to athletics policies issued under title IX 
        would contradict the spirit and intent of title IX's mandate to 
        provide equal opportunities in athletics;
            (2) the current title IX athletics policies, namely, the 
        1975 regulations issued under title IX, and the 1979 Policy 
        Interpretation, as clarified in the 1996 Clarification of 
        Intercollegiate Athletics Policy Guidance, should remain 
        unchanged and be enforced vigorously to eliminate the 
        continuing discrimination against women and girls in athletics; 
        and
            (3) if the Department of Education changes the current 
        title IX athletics policies, Congress will respond with 
        legislation to restore the policies and preserve the right to 
        equal opportunities in athletics, as mandated by title IX.
                                 <all>