[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 13 (Wednesday, February 9, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Page S1196]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 NATIONAL GIRLS AND WOMEN IN SPORTS DAY

 Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to 
National Girls and Women in Sports Day.
  Tomorrow evening the Louisiana State University women's basketball 
team, which is currently ranked No. 1 in the Nation, will take on the 
fifth ranked University of Tennessee's Lady Volunteers. On Friday, 
LSU's lady gymnastics team, ranked third in the Nation, will face the 
women of the University of Georgia, ranked seventh nationally.
  While I mention these two sporting events to highlight the 
achievements of the lady Tigers, I am also citing them to show how far 
women's sports have come in the past 35 years. Girls and women in 
sports today are leading our high schools, our colleges and 
universities, and our society. Seimone Augustus, the 6' 1" guard for 
LSU's women's basketball team, is now a candidate to receive the Player 
of the Year Award for 2005. Last year, Carly Patterson of Baton Rouge, 
LA, became the first American woman since Mary Lou Retton to win the 
women's all-around competition for gymnastics.
  In an age in which one in six girls are obese and heart disease is 
the number one cause of death among American women, it is important 
that we encourage our girls to participate in athletics and other 
physical activities. And the benefits that girls receive from 
participating in sports are far more than physical. Through sports, 
young girls learn leadership, self confidence, teamwork, and a host of 
other skills that they will use through their entire life. It is 
important that we, as a society, support these girls and women in their 
athletic endeavors.
  Aside from just praising the fine women sports teams of Louisiana, I 
would like to offer special thanks to the organizations that are 
members of the coalition for National Girls and Women in Sports Day: 
the American Association of University Women, Girl Scouts of the USA, 
Girls Incorporated, the National Association for Girls and Women in 
Sports, the National Women's Law Center, the Women's Sports Foundation, 
and the YWCA USA.
  Introducing our young women to athletics and encouraging their active 
participation in such events, is an important task, and one I look 
forward to doing with my own daughter. Today I commend the achievements 
of all girls and women throughout this country that participate in 
sports, and ask that my colleagues join me in honoring the National 
Girls and Women in Sports Day.

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