[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 125 (Thursday, September 12, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1606-E1607]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            SUPPORT GROWS FOR SPORTS AND NON-VIOLENCE SUMMIT

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. BERNARD SANDERS

                               of vermont

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 12, 1996

  Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased that this week the House is 
considering Monitoring of the Student Right to Know and Campus Security 
Act of 1990.
  As you know, the Student Right to Know and Campus Security Act 
requires colleges in receipt of Federal funding to report to students, 
faculty and prospective students once a year on the number of crimes 
reported in a number of categories, including murder; sex offenses, 
forcible or nonforcible; robbery; aggravated assault; and burglary. 
This law helps assist students in taking appropriate steps to protect 
themselves from becoming victims, and it assists families and students 
in making the most appropriate decisions about the schools they may 
wish to attend.
  On February 6, 1996, ABC news reported that at Clemson University 100 
students met with the football coach to discuss their safety on the 
campus following the arrest of the 9th Clemson football player this 
year. Since January, more than 50 college athletes in 13 States have 
been charged with assault, theft, trespassing, burglary, sexual 
assault, and drunk driving.
  I was pleased to hear the remarks of the chairman of the Economic and 
Educational Opportunities Committee, Mr. Goodling, expressing his 
concern over violence among athletes at universities. In his remarks 
Chairman Goodling appealed to all the presidents of colleges and 
universities to:

       Stand tall and be firm against those who would pressure 
     them, be they coaches on the campus or alumni. There is no 
     excuse for some outstanding athlete to go free after 
     battering women or committing rape or breaking laws in 
     relation to alcohol and other drugs. To use the excuse that 
     you are trying to save that individual cannot be used when 
     you are thinking about the other thousands who are there:

  Mr. Speaker, several months ago, Representative Connie Morella and I 
wrote to the national sports associations with concern over a growing 
number of reported acts of violence against women by professional and 
college athletes. We have since met with representatives of the 
National Football League, Major League Baseball, the National 
Basketball Association, the National Hockey League, the National 
Athletic Association and other major sports associations to discuss our 
desire to have these organizations join with us in our national effort 
to eradicate violence against women.
  This August, Representative Morella and I introduced a sense-of-
congress resolution calling for a national summit on sports and 
nonviolence to help develop a national campaign to eradicate domestic 
violence. Our legislation addresses three realities of American 
society: first, that we have an epidemic of domestic violence in this 
country; second, that America has a fascination with sports, from the 
Olympics to the Super Bowl to the Final Four; and third, that 
professional and collegiate athletes are viewed as sports heroes by 
Americans.
  Sports leaders, as role models, are often emulated both on and off 
the field, and we are asking that our national and collegiate sports 
leaders make it a top priority to help publicly condemn domestic 
violence and sexual assault and join us in a national awareness 
campaign. As role models, these sports leaders can send a strong 
message that the rough and tumble, hard-nosed competition stops when 
players leave the field and that there is no excuse for domestic 
violence and sexual assault.
  I am pleased to report that since the introduction of that resolution 
we have received letters of support from numerous individuals and 
organizations, including: American College of Nurse Midwives; American 
Psychological Association; AYUDA; Larry Brown, Coach, Indiana Pacers; 
Catholics for a Free Choice; Jacquelyn Campbell, director of doctoral 
studies,

[[Page E1607]]

Johns Hopkins School of Nursing; Center for the Study of Sports and 
Society; Center for Women Policy Studies; Community Anti-Drug 
Coalitions of America; DC Rape Crisis Center; Domestic Violence 
Advocacy Project; Joseph Glass, Team Sports; Britt King, head women's 
basketball coach, University of DC; Lee McElroy, director of athletics, 
American University; Older Women's League; National Association of 
Social Workers; National Coalition Against Sexual Assault; New Waves: 
Empowering Women and Confronting Abuse; NOW Legal Defense and Education 
Fund; Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape; Thomas Penders, Head 
Basketball Coach, University of Texas; Rhode Island Coalition Against 
Domestic Violence; National Urban League; U.S. Department of Justice; 
Office of Justice Programs; Vermont Network Against Domestic Violence 
and Sexual Assault; Women's Research and Education Institute; YWCA of 
the USA; and the Violence Policy Center.
  I also want to congratulate the College Football Association, who, in 
cooperation with the Liz Claiborne Foundation and the Center for the 
Study of Sport in Society, plans to launch an ``Athletes Against 
Violence'' program this October, where college football players will 
break the code of silence about relationship violence and, through a 
series of public service announcements, convey the message that 
relationship violence should not be tolerated. The College Football 
Association is also encouraging coaches to consider inviting their 
players to participate in the annual Take Back the Night candlelight 
march conducted on college campuses during the month of October 
(Domestic Violence Awareness Month).
  The concept of a National Summit on Sports and Non-Violence 
initiative is generating a great deal of support and I would encourage 
my colleagues to join me and Representative Morella in our efforts by 
cosponsoring House Concurrent Resolution 199.

                          ____________________