{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/qanda-protecting-fairness-in-sports", "Q&A: Protecting Fairness in Sports", "2026-09-25", "2026", "2026-09", "Republican", "Senate", "IA", "Chuck Grassley", "G000386", "www.grassley.senate.gov", "grassley", "https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases", "scraper", "Q: Why did you hold a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on women\u2019s sports?\n\nA: Fifty-four years ago, Congress passed legislation to ensure schools provide fair and equitable treatment for male and female student-athletes. Title IX opened the door for women to participate in sports at educational institutions that receive federal money, from elementary schools through college. In the last five decades, the law has revolutionized athletic opportunities for females in gyms, courts, tracks, fields, pools and mats across America. Nine times as many girls are participating in high school sports today than when President Nixon signed the law in 1972. More than a quarter million women competed in college athletics in the 2024-2025 season. These statistics are just the tip of the iceberg. Millions of girls in communities across the country are empowered with self-confidence, teamwork, resilience, physical fitness and more by participating in clubs, recreational leagues and local teams.\n\nHowever, the equal footing launched in 1972 has one foot on a banana peel. Common sense and sound science have been thrown out the window by allowing men to compete in women\u2019s sports. What\u2019s worse, the practice is reckless and endangers opportunity, fairness and safety for female athletes. Simply put, allowing men to play in women\u2019s sports breaks the promise of Title IX.\n\nThe committee hearing I led gave female athletes a platform to tell their stories and inform policymakers about the impact of men competing in women\u2019s sports. Witnesses explained the damaging consequences of prioritizing men over women and called upon lawmakers to recognize how young female athletes are getting sidelined and harmed by allowing men to compete in women\u2019s sports. The Supreme Court ruling this summer allowed states to bar boys and men from competing in girls\u2019 sports. To date, 27 states have laws and policies in place to protect girls sports. At least 66% of American adults favor a law or policy that would require athletes to compete on teams that match their sex at birth. And yet, none of the Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee fully participated at the hearing. Not a single one asked a question or called witnesses to testify. It\u2019s pretty ironic that the political party claiming to support women and science is the political party not backing science or girls\u2019 aspirations to compete.\n\nTestimony from a former professional women\u2019s soccer player pinpointed what\u2019s at stake for daughters and granddaughters across the country, \u201cWe are training girls to suppress their correct instincts and feelings to cater to the desires of boys. We are failing female athletes as a society, and we are raising girls who are punished for standing up for what is right and obvious.\u201d Women should not be asked to cede their opportunities just to make men comfortable.\n\nQ: What is the Protect College Sports Act?\n\nA: Sports is woven into the social fabric of America. From a young age, athletes aspire to succeed and put in the work and sacrifice to reach their full potential. Many Iowans plan their calendars around sporting events to cheer for their favorite teams. Barbara and I are lifelong Panther fans for our alma mater, the University of Northern Iowa. In recent years, collegiate sports have experienced quite a bit of turbulence navigating the ecosystem of Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) compensation rights, billion-dollar media contracts and the uncertainty of the transfer portal. Consensus has grown among fans, student athletes, coaches, and leaders of colleges and universities across the country to bring stability to college sports. A broad coalition supports the bipartisan Protect College Sports Act. This legislation would help foster fair competition, promote transparency and bring certainty to the chaos that\u2019s disrupting collegiate sports in conferences across the country. It would establish a nationwide playbook so athletes, coaches, professional sports leagues and Olympic organizations are on the same page.\n\nHere\u2019s some key provisions in the bill:", 1, "2026-09-26T09:43:57Z", "2026-09-26T09:44:55Z"]], "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.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/qanda-protecting-fairness-in-sports"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.6359789296984673, "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"}