[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 103 (Monday, June 14, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4507-S4508]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            AMATEUR ATHLETES PROTECTION AND COMPENSATION ACT

  Mr. MORAN. Madam President, I am on the floor this afternoon to 
discuss the issue of student athletes having greater control over their 
name, image, and likeness.
  Over the years, intercollegiate athletics have become a staple in 
American culture and higher education. No other country in the world 
has a sports college model that compares to ours, which affords 
thousands of young adults each year the opportunity to leverage their 
athletic ability into a quality education and continue playing the 
sport they love. But over the years, college athletics have grown into 
an increasingly profitable, billion-dollar industry, and the rules 
surrounding athlete compensation have not kept pace.
  Now, individual States have created laws that will guarantee an 
amateur athlete the ability to profit off their name, image, and 
likeness without fear of being reprimanded. Again, I highlight that 
individual States have made those decisions and are creating laws. 
Nineteen States have now passed NIL legislation, and of those 19, 6 
will go into effect in less a month--July 1, just, really, a few days 
away.
  As more and more States continue to pass their own legislation, we 
are quickly headed for a system of inconsistent State laws that will be 
cumbersome and in some cases unworkable for athletes and the schools to 
navigate. Intercollegiate athletics are an inherently interstate 
matter. Our model makes certain the best teams and the best athletes 
compete against one another no matter their geographic location. This 
requires a single Federal standard that all schools and all athletes 
can operate under.
  College sports and the opportunities they provide student athletes 
will be dramatically harmed if we are unable to pass a Federal 
standard. Each year, we will have States introducing or updating their 
NIL laws in order to gain just a bit more of an advantage in attracting 
athletes to their institutions.
  We have already seen this begin to play out. Following California's 
passage of the first State NIL law in September 2019, there has been a 
rush of action by 18 other States to quickly follow suit, hoping to 
remain competitive as athletic departments recruit athletes to their 
States' schools. The floodgates will fully open on July 1--only 16 days 
away--when State NIL laws begin to take effect.
  The time to act is now. There is a compromise to be found to both 
empowering amateur athletes to profit from their name, image, and 
likeness and guaranteeing greater protections, while at the same time 
maintaining the integrity of our one-of-a-kind collegiate model that 
has provided millions

[[Page S4508]]

of people the opportunity to get a quality education. We can accomplish 
both of these goals and provide college athletics with the certainty 
that it needs.
  In February, I introduced the Amateur Athletes Protection and 
Compensation Act--my proposal to accomplish this necessary balance. My 
legislation would create a single set of guidelines that would enable 
amateur athletes to profit from their name, image, and likeness by 
prohibiting conferences, schools, and athletic associations, like the 
NCAA, from rendering an amateur intercollegiate athlete ineligible on 
the basis of receiving that NIL compensation. It would also codify 
serious athlete protections like extended healthcare coverage for 
athletic injuries or illness and scholarship guarantees.
  I understand this legislation is not perfect in everyone's eyes. It 
is not perfect in its current form, but it offers not only the quickest 
but the best path towards enacting meaningful Federal legislation on 
issues of amateur athletic name, image, and likeness.
  When I say it may not be perfect, there are certainly things that we 
can negotiate to improve, and it is not the extreme on either side of 
this issue, but it is something that a broad set of Senators, Members 
of the House, and a President could come behind and certainly is 
perhaps the only piece of legislation that has a chance of being 
enacted anytime soon. I recognize there are many ideas on what should 
and should not be included in an NIL bill, and I welcome those 
conversations with my colleagues.
  I strongly encourage the U.S. Senate, the Commerce Committee, and my 
colleagues on that committee to act quickly on this urgent matter and 
join us in this legislation to make progress on this important issue. 
The time is short, but if we work together, we can accomplish a goal 
that is needed in this country and accomplish it by the time that it is 
needed to occur.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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