[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 76 (Tuesday, May 9, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E972]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                         IN SUPPORT OF TITLE IX

                                 ______


                        HON. CAROLYN B. MALONEY

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                          Tuesday, May 9, 1995
  Mrs. MALONEY. Mr. Speaker, today the Subcommittee on Post-Secondary 
Education, Training and Lifelong Learning held oversight hearings on 
title IX and its effect on college sports. These hearings are 
particularly timely in view of the recent district court ruling that 
Brown University violated title IX when it eliminated its women's 
gymnastic and volleyball teams. Title IX has had an impact that goes 
beyond the limited effect of expanding women's opportunities to 
participate in sports at the college level. It has also expanded 
opportunities for women to attend college through sports scholarships 
and to develop skills they will use after college, such as teamwork, 
responsibility and self-confidence.
  Since title IX became law in 1972, participation of women in sports 
at the secondary and college level has increased dramatically. Much of 
that growth has come since Congress passed the Civil Rights Restoration 
Act in 1988, requiring compliance with title IX by any college that 
receives Federal funds for any purpose. Women now comprise 37 percent 
to 43 percent of athletes in college sports. Women have come a long 
way, be we still have a long way to go to achieve parity with the men's 
sports programs.
  Sports have long been used as a vehicle for young men from 
disadvantaged backgrounds to attain higher education. Since the 
enactment of title IX, sports have opened doors for their sisters as 
well. Top high school women athletes are actively recruited by 
colleges. As the competition for positions on the best teams increases, 
the level of play increases. Better equipment and better coaching, made 
possible through title IX, enables women athletes to improve their game 
to a level thought impossible just a few years before. By offering 
women opportunities in a variety of sports, more women choose to become 
involved in sports. Those who are not interested in field hockey or 
tennis, can try rugby or hockey or volleyball. Greater variety 
encourages greater participation.
  The excitement surrounding women's achievement in sports in some 
cases has equaled that of their male counterparts. This year the 
undefeated University of Connecticut's women's basketball team played 
to a sellout crowd of over 18,000 in Minnesota, winning the NCAA 
basketball championship in a come from behind victory that thrilled 
sports fans of both sexes. Women's ice hockey has reached a level of 
play sufficient to permit women goalies, such as Manon Rheaume and Erin 
Whitten, to be recruited by the National Hockey League's minor league 
teams. I believe that more women would choose to participate in sports 
if there were more opportunities for women to continue their athletic 
careers after college. Men's star basketball players can look forward 
to lucrative careers in the National Basketball Association. The women 
must hope for a place on one of the teams playing women's basketball in 
Europe if they wish to continue to play ball seriously. This year women 
baseball players can hope to be selected by the new professional 
baseball league will begin competition in Southern France, Italy and 
Spain. The enormous profitability of women's ice skating, not to 
mention the sellout crowds for NCAA basketball, demonstrates that there 
is an audience for women athletes.
  Participation in sports provides women with something beyond mere 
achievement in the athletic realm. They acquire confidence and 
assertiveness which works to their advantage in their careers. Those 
who participate in sports such as basketball, baseball or even rugby 
report a heightened sense of teamwork and responsibility. Title IX has 
given rise to a growth in the number of young women who achieve the 
kind of training that only sports can provide.
  Title IX does not require schools to eliminate men's teams in order 
to offer women's teams. That is not to say that schools do not use 
title IX as a convenient excuse when men's teams are dropped. We should 
look beyond the reasons schools give for cutting men's teams and focus 
instead at the many benefits colleges receive from the inclusion of men 
and women in their athletic programs.


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