Whereas 40 years ago, on June 23, 1972, title IX of the
Education Amendments of 1972 (in this preamble referred to as title
IX
)(20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.) was signed into law by the President of the
United States;
Whereas Representatives Patsy T. Mink and Edith Green led
the successful fight in Congress to pass this legislation;
Whereas, on October 29, 2002, title IX was named the
Patsy Takemoto Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act
in
recognition of Representative Mink’s heroic, visionary, and tireless leadership
in developing and passing title IX;
Whereas title IX prohibits discrimination on the basis of
sex in the administration of any education program receiving Federal financial
assistance, including sports, and bars sexual and sex-based harassment,
discrimination against pregnant and parenting students, and the use of
stereotypes and other barriers to limit a person's access to a particular
educational field;
Whereas remarkable gains have been made to ensure equal
opportunity for women and girls under the inspiration and mandate of title
IX;
Whereas title IX has increased educational opportunities
for women and girls, including their access to professional schools and
nontraditional fields of study, and has improved their employment
opportunities;
Whereas title IX has increased opportunities for women and
girls in sports, leading to greater access to competitive sports and building
strong values such as teamwork, leadership, discipline, work ethic,
self-sacrifice, pride in accomplishment, and strength of character;
Whereas, while title IX has been instrumental in fostering
40 years of progress toward equality between men and women in educational
institutions and the workplace, there remains progress to be made;
Whereas, in the 2010-2011 school year, girls were provided
1,300,000 fewer opportunities to play high school sports than boys;
Whereas, in 2010, at the typical Division I Football Bowl
Subdivision school, 51 percent of the students were women, but female athletes
received only 28 percent of the total money spent on athletics, 31 percent of
the money spent to recruit new athletes, and 42 percent of the total athletic
scholarship funds;
Whereas research shows that more than 8 out of 10
successful businesswomen played organized sports as children;
Whereas, for girls who engage in sports, 80 percent are
less likely to have a drug problem and 92 percent are less likely to have an
unwanted pregnancy;
Whereas title IX seeks to protect students from sexual
harassment and defend pregnant and parenting students from
discrimination;
Whereas stereotypes and discriminatory barriers in the
fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics persist and
contribute to the low numbers of women and girls in those fields;
Whereas, in 2009, women comprised only 19 percent of
students receiving baccalaureate degrees in physics, 18 percent of students
receiving baccalaureate degrees in computer science, 16 percent of students
receiving baccalaureate degrees in engineering and engineering technologies,
and 22 percent of students receiving master’s or doctorate degrees in
engineering and engineering technologies; and
Whereas, while title IX has resulted in significant gains
for women and girls in education, the law’s full promise of equal educational
opportunities for all women and girls has not yet been fulfilled: Now,
therefore, be it
That the Senate—
(1)celebrates the
accomplishments resulting from the passage of title IX of the Education
Amendments of 1972, also known as the Patsy Takemoto Mink Equal Opportunity in
Education Act, in increasing opportunities for women and girls in many facets
of education, including the magnificent accomplishments of women and girls in
sports;
(2)reaffirms the
commitment of title IX to ending all discrimination against women and girls in
elementary, secondary, and higher education, and to equal opportunities for
women and girls in athletics; and
(3)recognizes the
continued importance of title IX in providing needed protections for women and
girls.