[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 7 (Tuesday, January 14, 2025)]
[House]
[Page H118]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





                       FEDERAL TAKEOVER OF SPORTS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Massachusetts (Mrs. Trahan) for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. TRAHAN. Madam Speaker, House Republicans have a big vote planned 
for today. Now, I wish I was talking about a bill that will lower costs 
for hardworking families or help more Americans buy a home, the issues 
that so many people told us mattered most to them in the 2024 election.
  However, instead, in just their second week of power, House 
Republicans have chosen to vote on a Federal takeover of sports at all 
levels. To justify this power grab, my colleagues across the aisle are 
preying on the legitimate concerns that some people have about 
transgender athletes in women's sports.
  For the vast majority of those folks, many of them parents, their 
concerns don't come from a place of hate. They come from a place of 
worry about the safety of their daughters and the fairness of their 
sport.
  Now, as the only woman in Congress who played Division I sports in 
college, I know how critical it is that we ensure that sports are safe 
and fair above all else. That is all any athlete wants, to know that if 
they put in the hard work and the training necessary, they are going to 
have a fair shot on game day.
  As the mom of two young daughters, who I cheer on from the bleachers 
every weekend, I know that parents want their kids to be able to enjoy 
the game they love. After all, we know how important sports can be to 
children's development. They give the chance to build confidence, learn 
teamwork, and develop lifelong friendships.
  That is why, like parents and athletes across our country, I have 
long placed my trust in the governing bodies of sports, the experts who 
have dedicated their lives to these games, to create fair and 
responsible rules for participation.
  Despite what the authors of this legislation have said, many of those 
organizations have already updated their rules to ensure fairness and 
safety in their sports. That includes the international authorities 
overseeing track and field, boxing, cycling, swimming, and rugby, just 
to name a few. These organizations, many led by former athletes, worked 
with scientists, athletic federations, and human rights organizations 
to craft thoughtful, evidence-based rules, including those governing 
participation in the Paris Olympics last summer.
  Don't get me wrong, Madam Speaker. I recognize that there is more 
work to be done, but why in the world would we let insincere, 
attention-seeking politicians here in Washington, many of whom know 
little to nothing about competitive sports, take over? It doesn't make 
any sense.
  However, that is exactly what my Republican colleagues are going to 
do today, inject themselves into decisions they have no business 
making. In fact, if you listen to them, they would have you think that 
a transgender woman in college, who may have transitioned after puberty 
and may present physical advantages over her opponent, is the same as a 
10-year-old girl who just wants to play soccer on the weekends with her 
friends.
  However, those two situations aren't the same at all, and the 
consequences of that approach will be devastating: girls as young as 4 
years old being subjected to invasive lines of questioning about their 
bodies and even physical inspections by an adult, a stranger, a 
predator all because some creep accuses them of not being a girl. What 
parent would want to put their daughter through that? I know I 
wouldn't.
  Madam Speaker, we won't be able to find common ground on this issue 
today, but this debate has made one thing abundantly clear: Members of 
Congress are the last people who should decide who gets to play sports 
in America. That responsibility belongs where it always has, to the 
organizations whose mission it is to protect the fairness, the safety, 
and the integrity of their sports.

  I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on the GOP's child predator 
empowerment act.

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