[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 26 (Tuesday, March 8, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2272-S2273]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  By Mr. LUGAR:
  S. 567. A bill to provide immunity for nonprofit athletic 
organizations in lawsuits arising from claims of ordinary negligence 
relating to the passage, adoption, or failure to adopt rules of play 
for athletic competitions and practices; to the Committee on the 
Judiciary.
  Mr. LUGAR. Mr. President. Today I rise to introduce the Nonprofit 
Athletic Organization Protection Act of 2005. I am pleased to join with 
my good friend and colleague, Representative Mark Souder, in 
introducing this measure. This legislation is based on a bill that was 
introduced in the last legislative session.
  I believe that this legislation is very important to encouraging 
health promotion in our country. The United States has invested a 
tremendous number of resources in providing our children with the 
ability to promote fitness through sports. In every town in America, 
you will find boys and girls playing America's most popular sports: 
baseball, soccer, football, and, of course, basketball. A recent study 
by the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association showed that in 2000 at 
least 36 million American children played on at least one team sport. 
Of those 36 million, 26 million children between the ages of 6 and 17, 
played on an organized team in an organized league. A study by 
Statistical Research, Inc. for the Amateur Athletic Foundation and ESPN 
found that 94 percent American children play some sport during the 
year.
  The ability for children to participate in sporting events provides 
our society many benefits that government cannot provide. Studies have 
shown that these benefits include betterment to a child's health, 
academic performance, social development and safety. The most obvious 
benefit of organized sports is physical fitness. The National Institute 
of Health Care Maintenance has identified physical activity such as 
sports as a key factor in the maintenance of a healthy body. Lack of 
physical activity, along with unhealthy eating habits, has been 
identified as the leading cause of obesity in children. The center 
notes: ``Physical activity provides numerous mental and physical 
benefits to health, including reduction in the risk of premature 
mortality, cardiovascular diseases, hypertension, diabetes, depression, 
and cancers.'' A Cooper Institute for Aerobics Research study 
indicated, ``Low fitness outranks fatness as a risk factor for 
mortality.'' By encouraging our children to participate in organized 
sports, we increase physical fitness and fight obesity.
  A second benefit in the participation of organized sports is an 
increase in academic performance. The National Institute of Health Care 
Maintenance has highlighted ``a recent large-scale analysis reported by 
the California Department of Education [has shown] that the level of 
physical fitness attained by students was directly related to their 
performance on standardized achievement measures.'' When we encourage 
our children to participate in organized sports, we increase the 
ability for them to achieve academically.
  A third benefit for young people who participate in organized sports 
is that they learn positive social development. Organized sports teach 
values of teamwork, fair play, and friendly competition. Success in 
organized sports is also a vital self-esteem builder in many children.
  These three benefits have been widely discussed on the floor of the 
Senate and we have acted to implement several programs designed to 
reduce obesity and increase fitness, educational standards and the 
social well-being of our children.
  The fourth benefit to participation in organized youth sports, 
providing a safe place to play, is a topic that has not received as 
much attention as the first three. Nonetheless, it is no less 
important. Fewer kids are simply going outside to play, due to the 
attraction of TV, video games, and the Internet, combined with parents' 
safety concerns about letting children run around outside unsupervised. 
As a result, organized sports teams are an increasingly important 
source of safe physical activity in children. The American Academy of 
Pediatrics has stated, ``In contrast to unstructured or free play, 
participation in organized sports provides a greater opportunity to 
develop rules specifically designed for health and safety.''
  One primary reason why organized sports provide such an opportunity 
for safe play is that non-profit, volunteer organizations establish 
rules to provide a safe place to play. These organizations are made up 
of professional people who are in the business of providing children a 
fun and safe avenue for athletic exercise. Organizations like the Boys 
and Girls Club, the National Council of Youth Sports, the National 
Federation of State High School Associations and others exist largely 
to establish rules in order to minimize the risk of injury our children 
face while participating in sports. No matter how well these 
organizations perform their work, however, boys and girls will be 
injured.
  Over the last several years, more and more of these rule making 
bodies have become targets for lawsuits seeking to prove that the rule 
maker was negligent in making the rules of play. These lawsuits claim 
that had a different rule been in place, the injury would not have 
happened. Indeed, these suits place rule makers into a Catch-22. A 
child can be injured in almost any situation no matter how a rule is 
written. The result has been to have more and more lawsuits.
  As a consequence, the insurance premiums of these organizations have 
risen dramatically over the past several years. In his testimony before 
the House Judiciary Committee last year, Robert Kanaby the Executive 
Director of the National Federation of State High School Associations 
testified that:
  ``Over the last three years, the annual liability insurance premiums 
for the National High School Federation have increased three-fold to 
about $1,000,000. We have been advised by experts that given our claims 
experience and the reluctance of insurers to offer such coverage to an 
organization `serving 7,000,000 potential claimants,' the premiums will 
likely increase significantly in years to come. Since we operate on a 
total budget of about $9,000,000, such an increase would be, to put it 
mildly, problematical.''
  The costs have increased to the point where it is possible that these 
organizations will cease from providing age appropriate rules and the 
safety of youth sports will decline.
  Because of this problem, I join, once again, with Representative Mark 
Souder in introducing the Nonprofit Athletic Organization Protection 
Act of 2005. This legislation will eliminate lawsuits based on claims 
that a non-profit rulemaking body is liable for the physical injury 
when the rules was made by a properly licensed rulemaking body that has 
acted within the scope of its authority. Lawsuits may be maintained if 
the rule maker was grossly negligent or engaged in criminal or reckless 
misconduct. This reasonable legislation will help sports rule makers to 
do their job. If we do not pass this legislation, it is likely that 
rule makers will eventually close their doors since they will be unable 
to afford the insurance needed to provide a safe sporting environment.

[[Page S2273]]

  No one who has participated in the debate surrounding this problem 
has disagreed that the current lawsuit culture needs reform. Instead, 
concerns have arisen that the remedy was overly broad preventing 
lawsuits against rule makers on other issue.
  To remedy these concerns, the legislation introduced today contains a 
provision that explicitly says that lawsuits involving ``antitrust, 
labor, environmental, defamation, tortuous interference of contract law 
or civil rights law, or any other federal, state, or local law 
providing protection from discrimination'' are not barred by this bill. 
This provision was worked out between the civil rights groups, 
including the National Women's Law Center and the National Federation 
of State High School Associations, in an effort to alleviate this 
concern.
  As many of my colleagues know, I am a runner. I enjoy the activity 
and the positive effect that running and athletics have played in my 
life. I would hope that my nine grandchildren will be able to have an 
opportunity to participate in organized sports and that lawsuits 
against rule makers for allegedly faulty rules will not prevent these 
organizations from functioning properly. I look forward to the 
consideration and passage of the Nonprofit Athletic Organization 
Protection Act of 2005 during the 109th Congress.
                                 ______