[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 42 (Monday, March 6, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S647-S648]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                                Title IX

  Mr. TUBERVILLE. Madam President, since coming to Washington 2 years 
ago, I have learned a lot about the Senate and about how Washington 
works. Politics can, at times, be like a game. While we may be on 
different teams politically, we should all be focused on winning for 
all American people. If there is one thing I know about in my last 40 
years as a coach and educator, it is trying to win and how to win.
  Fifty years ago, we discovered a winning strategy for all of American 
female athletes. It was called title IX, probably one of the most 
successful pieces of legislation that has ever come out of this body. 
Signed into law in 1972, title IX's 37 words empowered women to win by 
leveling the playing field and providing them access to the same 
opportunities as young men.
  I believe those words are worth repeating today to remind this body 
of their importance:

       No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, 
     be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, 
     or be subjected to discrimination under any educational 
     program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.

  Those sometimes on the left argue that allowing males to compete 
against females makes sports more inclusive. I don't believe that. The 
opposite, to me, is true. Forcing females to compete against males 
destroys the level playing field created by law. It would exclude young 
women from the safety and fairness that they deserve. Title IX's 
success would be undone if this continues to happen, and that success 
that title IX is and has been is undeniable.
  Since its enactment, participation in female sports has increased by 
more than 600 percent. Think about that now. In 50 years, because of 
title IX, the participation in women's sports has increased 600 
percent, and the number of female college graduates in the United 
States increased dramatically from 8 to 40 percent. You don't see 
things like that happen. Title IX has afforded many women the 
opportunity to receive athletic scholarships and become our engineers, 
our doctors, our lawyers, and our leaders, without the burden of having 
college debt.
  Sadly, title IX is being attacked by activists who care more about 
politics than what is best for women and girls. The U.S. Department of 
Education is caving--is giving in--to progressive activists and moving 
ahead with plans to force schools to allow biological males to share 
locker rooms and compete in women's sports. This irrational and 
unprecedented move comes despite record numbers of educators, parents, 
and athletes who have voiced their concerns about the disastrous impact 
that this would have on female athletes of all ages.
  The Department of Education, President Biden, and my colleagues on 
the left in Congress have ignored those concerns because they care more 
about appeasing activists and the progressive left than actually 
protecting young women. I just can't understand this. It is shameful.

  Beginning next year, coaches will be forced to decide between opening 
up locker rooms to biological males or face dire consequences. Allowing 
biological males to compete against young women is unfair, it is 
unsafe, and it is wrong. We can't look Americans in the eye and 
honestly say we support female athletes if we stand by as they are 
forced into uncomfortable settings they do not deserve, and we can't 
tell young women we want them to succeed if we allow the radical left 
to push them to the sidelines of their sports and take away their 
future opportunities for scholarships and fair competition. It is not 
the American way.
  If you visited my hometown of Auburn, AL, on a Friday night over the 
past few months, you would see an arena--thousands of people--full of 
excited young girls watching the Auburn gymnastics team. Many of them 
dream of becoming Olympic gymnasts--gymnasts just like Suni Lee, who is 
an Olympic Gold medalist.
  Others make the trip to the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa to 
see the World Games and to see Montana Fouts on the mound, aspiring to 
one day become a star softball pitcher at a higher level.
  Our girls and young women should be able to continue to dream and 
compete. Taking away their title IX protections by twisting the law 
could strip those opportunities for female athletes across our great 
country.
  Since 2003, biological men have won 28 women's sports titles. Let me 
read that again. Since 2003, biological men have won 28 women's sports 
titles. We have all heard from athletes like Riley Gaines, the college 
swimmer who, this past year, bravely spoke out after being forced to 
share a locker room and the awards podium with a swimmer who had the 
unfair advantage of swimming in a male body.
  Over the weekend, we learned that a judge in Minnesota has ordered 
the U.S.A. power lifting teams to allow biological men to compete 
against female power lifters.
  Where will this end? When will we step up and say enough is enough? 
Congress must act to save title IX and make sure competition is safe 
and fair for everyone, including girls and women. This is why, last 
week, I reintroduced the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act. 
This legislation would require institutions to recognize an athlete's 
gender solely based on what it is at birth or else be banned from 
receiving Federal funding.
  You know, it sounds absurd even to me to say, but, sadly, this 
legislation is now necessary to preserve title IX for current and 
future female athletes. It is really sad.
  I am thankful for those colleagues here in the Senate who have joined 
me in standing up for women's sports, and I hope that others will join 
our efforts in the future.
  We have to save title IX. We have to save young girls and women to be 
able to participate on the same level, with the same funding and access 
to coaches, as men. Millions of young girls and women are looking to us 
in this body and to the people across this country, looking to us to 
stand up for them and that starts with action to ensure that the 
playing field remains level for generations and generations to come.
  This Senate must take up this crucial legislation and help every 
young woman and young girl in this great country that we live in.

[[Page S648]]

  Madam President, I yield the floor.