Chairman Miller: New Report on College Sports Participation Shows Need for Stronger Enforcement of Title IX Laws

Thursday, July 12, 2007

WASHINGTON, DC -- In response to a new government report that shows that overall collegiate sports participation rates are still higher for men than women at most schools, U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), the chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, today said that Congress must strengthen and enforce the Title IX law to ensure equal athletic and educational opportunities for both men and women. The study, which was released today by the Government Accountability Office, found that the numbers of both male and female college athletes increased between 1991-1992 and 2004-2005.

"This report again underscores what other recent reports on trends in intercollegiate sports have found -- that men’s participation in college sports has risen in recent years, and in many cases, men still have greater opportunities to participate in college sports than women have. This report does show that important gains have been made to increase the number of women's college sports teams over the past decade. But the fact remains that women still face disparities and discrimination on our nation's athletic fields. Even worse, the advancement of women's rights has been slowed by the Bush administration, which has woefully failed to enforce the Title IX law in recent years -- weakening critical protections for female athletes.

"Today's report highlights the importance of Title IX, which over the past 35 years has made tremendous strides towards providing women equal rights and the opportunities to pursue their dreams. However, in order to ensure that the true intent of the law is fulfilled -- and to undo the damage caused by this administration -- Congress must strengthen and fully enforce Title IX. It is long past time to ensure that female students across the nation have the same opportunities as male students, whether in the classroom or on the athletic field."

Today's GAO report follows a report released last month by the National Women’s Law Center that found that female athletes continue to face discrimination and highlighted the Bush administration's efforts to weaken Title IX protections. Last month, expert witnesses urged the committee’s higher education subcommittee to build on the law’s progress and conduct better oversight and enforcement of Title IX. For more information, click here.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Tom Kiley / Rachel Racusen
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