[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 83 (Tuesday, June 21, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Page S6907]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  THIRTY-THIRD ANNIVERSARY OF TITLE IX

  Ms. CANTWELL. Mr. President, I rise today to mark the 33rd 
anniversary of the enactment of title IX, a law that has opened doors 
to educational opportunities for countless women and girls across 
America.
  Prior to passing title IX, roughly 295,000 girls participated in high 
school sports, and only about 25,000 played sports at the college 
level. When President Nixon signed the educational amendments of 1972 
into law 33 years ago, skeptics claimed the law would do little to 
change women's participation in sports.
  They could not have been more wrong. Recent data show that nearly 2.6 
million high school girls and over 135,000 women in college participate 
in organized sports, constituting more than 40 percent of all high 
school athletes.
  In Washington State, women at public colleges and universities 
represented less than one-third of most schools' athletes less than 15 
years ago. Today, women represent 48 percent of athletes at public 
institutions of higher education in our State. As the numbers of girls 
participating in sports has increased, there has been a decrease in the 
number of girls who drop out of school, smoke, drink alcohol or have 
unwanted pregnancies. What's more, adolescent girls that participate in 
organized sports enjoy improved physical and mental health throughout 
their lives.
  Today, 1 in every 2.5 girls participates in athletics, which is an 
800-percent increase in participation rates since the enactment of 
title IX. Yet attempts to weaken title IX persist. Last March, the 
Department of Education issued a policy guidance that would weaken 
Title IX. The new clarification would allow institutions to avoid 
offering sports opportunities to women if a sufficient number of the 
student body failed to respond to an e-mail survey expressing interest 
in the program. This allows universities to use what may be highly 
questionable, potentially inaccurate e-mail survey results to prove 
that the interests and abilities of the underrepresented sex have been 
accommodated, as title IX requires.
  I am deeply concerned that this policy guidance represents the 
current administration's repeated attempts to diminish the enforcement 
of this very important law and believe that e-mail surveys will likely 
underestimate the need to expand athletic opportunities for women. The 
growth of opportunity for women and girls should not hang on the 
outcome of such informal means of data collection.
  Our Nation has taken great strides toward equity, and title IX has 
played a significant role in that success. Millions of girls have 
access to opportunities that their mothers never knew. However, there 
is still much to be done before we can say that males and females are 
treated equability in education. Further progress hinges on our 
continued commitment to the principles of title IX and proper 
enforcement of the law.

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