[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 129 (Friday, August 4, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1641-E1642]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


  DEPARTMENTS OF LABOR, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, AND EDUCATION, AND 
               RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 1996

                                 ______


                               speech of

                             HON. VIC FAZIO

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, August 2, 1995

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 2127) making 
     appropriations for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human 
     Services, and Education, and related agencies, for the fiscal 
     year ending September 30, 1996, and for other purposes:

  Mr. FAZIO of California. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of the 
amendment offered by the 

[[Page E 1642]]
gentlelady from Hawaii, Congresswoman Mink, which would strike the 
provision of this bill prohibiting enforcement of title IX requirements 
with respect to gender equity in intercollegiate athletic programs.
  Enforcement of title IX--with respect to athletics--ensures that our 
sons and daughters have an equal chance to take part in sports while 
they are in school. It is that simple. This enforcement takes into 
consideration the fact that different sports have unique differences 
that are justifiable--that some aspects of athletics programs do not 
have to be the same for men and women. The key is that the needs of 
male and female athletes are being met equally.
  But the language in this bill would halt title IX enforcement. The 
net effect would be that intercollegiate athletic opportunities for 
female students--hampered as they already are--would be limited even 
more.
  I know that today, nearly three decades after my own college athletic 
experiences, all of my daughters--each one of them a better athlete 
than her father--have been denied the access that I had to college 
sports. Women in college today still do not have the access and 
opportunity that men do. But title IX enforcement ensures that young 
women like my daughters would not be denied the same opportunity as 
their male counterparts to compete in college athletics.
  All of our children should have an equal opportunity to participate 
in intercollegiate sports. I therefore urge my colleagues to support 
Congresswoman Mink's amendment, which would ensure that we continue to 
work toward guaranteeing that our sons and our daughters have their 
athletic interests and abilities encouraged and supported.


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