{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.cantwell.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cantwell-joins-gonzagas-mark-few-current-college-athletes-and-other-coaches-speaking-in-support-of-protect-college-sports-act", "Cantwell Joins Gonzaga\u2019s Mark Few, Current College Athletes & Other Coaches Speaking in Support of Protect College Sports Act", "2026-09-14", "2026", "2026-09", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Maria Cantwell", "C000127", "www.cantwell.senate.gov", "cantwell", "https://www.cantwell.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Cantwell Joins Gonzaga\u2019s Mark Few, Current College Athletes & Other Coaches Speaking in Support of Protect College Sports Act\n\nCANTWELL: \u201cI'm asking my colleagues to join us in fixing what's wrong with college sports today.\u201d; FEW: \"We really, really need help, and we need it from Congress.\u201d; Cantwell\u2019s bipartisan Protect College Sports Act ensures federal rights and protections for athletes and secures the future of women\u2019s and Olympic sports; vote on legislation expected this week\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and a senior member of the Senate Finance Committee, joined Gonzaga University head men\u2019s basketball coach Mark Few, current college athletes, other coaches, and senators from both parties to speak in support of the Protect College Sports Act.\n\n\"[The Protect College Sports Act] is a first-time federal statute on the rights of students to earn NIL and revenue sharing. So, a historic recognition of both of those rights,\" said Sen. Cantwell.\n\n\"This is [also] about reining in the bad practices that are happening in college sports today, the runaway costs that are sending people to the state legislature, asking for bailouts from taxpayers to pay for sports ... because of the runaway arms race in sports spending,\" she added. \"I'm asking my colleagues to join us in fixing what's wrong with college sports today.\"\n\n\"We really, really need help, and we need it from Congress,\" said Coach Few. \"This bill might not be perfect, but it's far and far away the best thing we got out there right now.\"\n\n\"I'm so proud of both Senator Cantwell working with her over all these years, but just teaming with Senator Cruz,\" he added, \"it really, really gives you a great feeling and great encouragement of just how Washington does really work for all of us.\"\n\nSpeakers at today\u2019s press conference included current college athletes, current college coaches and bill cosponsors from both parties.\n\nCOLLEGE ATHLETES\n\nDiego Diaz, Fairleigh Dickinson University Men\u2019s Volleyball\n\nSophia Stylianos, University of Michigan Women\u2019s Rowing\n\nKedrick Green, Howard University Football\n\nSydney Wilson, Saint Mary\u2019s College Women\u2019s Tennis\n\nElla Brooks, Clemson University Track & Field\n\nCOLLEGE COACHES\n\nJohn Calipari, Head Coach, University of Arkansas Men\u2019s Basketball\n\nMark Few, Head Coach, Gonzaga University Men\u2019s Basketball\n\nCraig Bohl, former Head Coach, North Dakota State University / University of Wyoming Football\n\nKelvin Sampson, Head Coach, University of Houston Men\u2019s Basketball (and former Washington State University head coach)\n\nCraig Robinson, Executive Director, National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and former Head Coach, Brown University / Oregon State University Men\u2019s Basketball\n\nSENATORS\n\nCommerce Committee ranking member Maria Cantwell (D-WA)\n\nCommerce Committee chair Ted Crux (R-TX)\n\nSen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO)\n\nSen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV)\n\nSen. John Hickenlooper (D-CO)\n\nSen. John Hoeven (R-ND)\n\nSen. Cantwell is leading the effort to reform college sports and ensure tomorrow\u2019s athletes have the same opportunities as today\u2019s competitors. The Protect College Sports Act of 2026 sets new rules and provides new tools to stabilize college sports, including codifying athletes\u2019 rights to earn compensation for their NIL, enshrining scholarship and healthcare protections in law, reining in predatory agents, expanding revenue for all schools and preserving and protecting the future of women\u2019s and Olympic sports.\n\nIn June, at a landmark hearing on the bill, the Commerce Committee heard powerful testimony on the worsening crisis facing college athletics, including the future of women's and Olympic sports, athletes\u2019 rights, and the financial sustainability of the entire collegiate sports system.\n\nIn December of last year, she introduced the Helping Undergraduate Students Thrive with Long-Term Earnings (HUSTLE Act) with Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) so that college athletes earning NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) money can protect more of it for their post-playing lives. In October, Sen. Cantwell joined former college and professional athletes and Senators Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) in warning that the SCORE Act would roll-back hard fought NIL rights and health protections, leave athletes vulnerable to unscrupulous agents, short-change women\u2019s and Olympic sports, and shut the door on collective bargaining rights.\n\nLast September, Sen. Cantwell, joined by co-sponsors Sens. Booker and Blumenthal, introduced the Student Athlete Fairness and Enforcement (SAFE) Act to codify athletes\u2019 rights and protections in law, expand revenue for all schools, support women\u2019s and Olympic sports and bring much-needed stability to the college sports system.", 1, "2026-09-15T09:50:21Z", "2026-09-15T09:52:05Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.cantwell.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cantwell-joins-gonzagas-mark-few-current-college-athletes-and-other-coaches-speaking-in-support-of-protect-college-sports-act"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.049198839813471, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}