FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Sara Robertson (Sara.Robertson2@mail.house.gov)

Crawford Votes to Protect Women’s Sports 

4/20/2023

WASHINGTON—Today, Representative Rick Crawford (AR-01) voted for the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, which passed the House by a vote of 219-203. This bill clarifies that recipients of federal education dollars stand in violation of Title IX’s prohibition against sex discrimination if they allow biological males to participate in an athletic program or activity designated for women or girls. Recently, there has been an increase of biological men participating in women’s sports, which has endangered the safety and stolen the valor of female athletes in sports such as swimming, track, and volleyball.    

Congressman Crawford is also a cosponsor of this legislation.

“Congress passed Title IX half a century ago to give girls and women an equal opportunity to compete in school sports programs. It has been a big success. But this progress in under assault by extremist Democrats including President Joe Biden, who are demanding biological males be allowed to compete against female athletes on girls’ and women’s sports teams. This destroys the integrity of women’s and girls’ sports, as female athletes are being forced to compete against individuals who have biological physical advantages over them. It is heartbreaking to hear the stories of girls and women who trained their entire lives, only to be defeated by male opponents who have demonstrable and irreversible biological advantages. Congress has a duty to fight back against these attacks on Title IX, which has given girls and women opportunities to compete on a level playing field for multiple generations,” said Rep. Crawford.

To further protect women, Congressman Crawford with Senator Tom Cotton introduced the Preventing Violence Against Female Inmates Act. This bill would require the Bureau of Prisons to house federal inmates according to their biological sex, to protect women inmates from sexual and other violence by male prisoners and would withhold certain federal grants from states that fail to do the same.

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