[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 129 (Tuesday, July 30, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5200-S5201]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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  SENATE RESOLUTION 291--EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE SENATE THAT THE 
 FEDERATION INTERNATIONALE DE FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION SHOULD IMMEDIATELY 
  ELIMINATE GENDER PAY INEQUITY AND TREAT ALL ATHLETES WITH THE SAME 
                          RESPECT AND DIGNITY

  Mr. LEAHY (for himself, Ms. Baldwin, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Brown, Ms. 
Cantwell, Mr. Carper, Ms. Cortez Masto, Ms. Duckworth, Mr. Durbin, Mrs. 
Feinstein, Mrs. Gillibrand, Ms. Harris, Ms. Hassan, Ms. Hirono, Ms. 
Klobuchar, Mr. Markey, Mr. Menendez, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Reed, Mr. 
Sanders, Mrs. Shaheen, Mr. Tester, Mr. Van Hollen, and Mr. Whitehouse) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions:

                              S. Res. 291

       Whereas the Federation Internationale de Football 
     Association (referred to in this preamble as ``FIFA'') 
     awarded $400,000,000 to the 32 teams that competed in the 
     2018 Men's World Cup, but only awarded $30,000,000 to the 24 
     teams that competed in the 2019 Women's World Cup;
       Whereas FIFA awarded $38,000,000 to the team that won the 
     2018 Men's World Cup, but only awarded $4,000,000 to the team 
     that won the 2019 Women's World Cup;
       Whereas FIFA awarded $4,000,000 more in prizes to each team 
     that lost in the first round of the 2018 Men's World Cup than 
     to the team that won the 2019 Women's World Cup;
       Whereas FIFA awarded $358,000,000 to the 32 teams that 
     competed in the 2014 Men's World Cup, but only awarded 
     $15,000,000 to the 24 teams that competed in the 2015 Women's 
     World Cup; and
       Whereas FIFA awarded $35,000,000 to the team that won the 
     2014 Men's World Cup, but only awarded $2,000,000 to the team 
     that won the 2015 Women's World Cup;
       Whereas FIFA awarded $348,000,000 to the 32 teams that 
     competed in the 2010 Men's World Cup, but only awarded 
     $10,000,000 to the 16 teams that competed in the 2011 Women's 
     World Cup;
       Whereas FIFA awarded $30,000,000 to the team that won the 
     2010 Men's World Cup, but only awarded $1,000,000 to the team 
     that won the 2011 Women's World Cup;
       Whereas the 2019 Women's World Cup tournament garnered an 
     estimated 1,000,000,000 viewers worldwide;
       Whereas the 2019 Women's World Cup highlighted the need to 
     eliminate the existing gender pay disparity in prize award 
     structure in athletic competitions that has persisted for 
     decades;
       Whereas the unfair and unjust prize award allocation system 
     used by FIFA sends a terrible message to women and girls 
     around the world about the value of their contribution to 
     sports;
       Whereas, in 2007, Wimbledon finally implemented an equal 
     prize payment structure for all athletes, regardless of 
     gender; and
       Whereas gender should not determine the amount of a prize 
     award that a person or team receives in an athletic 
     competition: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) urges the Federation Internationale de Football 
     Association to immediately eliminate gender pay inequity and 
     to treat all athletes with the respect and dignity those 
     athletes deserve;
       (2) supports an end to the unfair and unjust practice of 
     gender pay inequity in the workplace, including athletic 
     competitions and related prize awards;
       (3) urges all other local, State, Federal, and 
     international organizations to eliminate gender pay inequity; 
     and
       (4) instructs the Secretary of the Senate to submit a copy 
     of this resolution to the President of the Federation 
     Internationale de Football Association.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, earlier this month, fans across the 
country--and around the world--watched as the U.S. Women's National 
Team made history, winning its second consecutive World Cup title, and 
fourth title overall. The players, coaches, and support staff of the 
Women's National Team are role models to athletes young and old, male 
and female. They played through the tournament with the tenacity, 
skill, and commitment that is the hallmark of any champion.
  These women--world class athletes--have consistently demonstrated 
their dedication to excelling in the sport and to representing our 
nation on the world stage. Their success on the soccer field is 
remarkable in itself, but many of these women have used their voices to 
speak out and speak up against a glaring disparity that disadvantages 
them, and countless women across our country and around the world: 
equal pay.
  This is not a new issue, and it's shameful that it is one that has 
not been rectified. What the players of the U.S. women's soccer team 
want is pretty simple: to be treated no different than their 
counterparts on the men's team. Earlier this year, the players filed a 
lawsuit against the U.S. Soccer Federation, arguing that disparities in 
pay between the men's and women's teams constitute discrimination on 
the basis of gender. But even if this lawsuit improves U.S. Soccer pay 
practices, much of the pay disparity will remain, due to policies of 
the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). For 
example, FIFA awarded $38 million to the winner of the 2018 Men's World 
Cup, but will award only $4 million to the U.S. women's team for their 
win this year. Men's teams also earn more from FIFA for losing a World 
Cup qualifying game than women's teams earn for winning all of them and 
becoming world champions.
  Today I am reintroducing a resolution that I first introduced in 
2015, after the U.S. Women's National Team won its third World Cup. 
This is a simple, straightforward, and commonsense resolution. I am 
calling on FIFA to immediately eliminate gender pay inequity and treat 
all athletes with the same respect and dignity, regardless of gender. 
Yet in 2015, Senate Republicans

[[Page S5201]]

inexplicably objected to its adoption. I'm still waiting for an 
explanation as to why.
  I'm proud that this resolution is cosponsored by Senators Sheldon 
Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Richard Durbin (D-Ill.), 
Mazie Hirano (D-Hawaii), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Robert Menendez 
(D-N.J.), Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Richard 
Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Tom Carper (D-Del.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Chris 
Van Hollen (D-Md.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Edward Markey (D-Mass.), 
Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Maria Cantwell 
(D-Wash.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Jon 
Tester (D-Mont.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), and 
Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.).
  Equal pay for equal work should not be a political football. All 
women, including the women of the U.S. National Team, deserve to be 
paid for the job they do, not based on their gender. Equal pay should 
not still be up for debate in 2019.
  When time expired on the game clock during the World Cup championship 
game, chants of ``Equal Pay!'' echoed throughout the stadium in France. 
I am proud to join in that chorus today.

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