[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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