Washington, D.C. – The 2024 Summer Olympics are upon us, and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has boasted about its athletes’ participation. Yet the NCAA has still taken no steps to protect a critical portion of these athletes.
Several organizations—including the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and the Court of Arbitration for Sport—in addition to more than 20 states, have acted recently to protect women’s sports.
This week, I led 22 of my Republican colleagues in a letter urging NCAA President Charlie Baker to update their student-athlete policy to ensure only biologically female students can participate in women’s sports.
The very bedrock of sport is the exhibition of a commitment to excellence, grace under pressure, and fair play among competitors—all of which is threatened absent an even playing field.
Women deserve that even playing field and chance to compete, one that can only be achieved by ensuring that only females compete in women’s sports.
Weekly Rundown
When children are online, they are the product, and Big Tech is trying every method possible to keep them scrolling, clicking ads, and sharing every detail of their lives. As children head back to school in Tennessee, now is the perfect time for parents to study up on how they can keep kids safe online. My Parents’ Guide to Kids Online Safety covers key safety tips and offers resources.
The bipartisan Future of AI Innovation Act, which I introduced with my colleagues to encourage coordination between the U.S. government and industry to capitalize on the promise of AI to revolutionize our lives, passed the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee. The bill mobilizes the expertise of our National Laboratories, like Oak Ridge National Laboratory, to create testbeds to accelerate groundbreaking AI innovation to spur future economic growth and protect national security. These policies will help us use AI to find solutions for important issues facing Americans today, including detecting fentanyl and illicit contraband and improving border security.
In September 2023, it was revealed that $10.8 million in funding approved for critical skill incentive payments was instead used to give out bonuses to executives at the Department of Veterans Affairs. We must restore integrity and trust within the VA, which is why my U.S. Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee colleagues and I introduced the Stop Government Rewards Enriching Executives in the District (Stop GREED) Act to prohibit money approved to help veterans from being used to fund bonuses for VA executives.
Marsha’s Roundup
ICYMI
Congratulations to all of the Tennesseans competing in the Paris Olympic Games! To celebrate this impressive achievement I led a bipartisan group of my Senate colleagues in introducing a resolution expressing support for the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic teams competing in the summer games which passed in the Senate by Unanimous Consent.
