Skip to main content

Pelosi Statement on 20th Anniversary of National Girls and Women in Sports Day

February 1, 2006

Pelosi Statement on 20th Anniversary of National Girls and Women in Sports Day

Wednesday, February 1, 2006

Contact: Brendan Daly/Jennifer Crider, 202-226-7616

Washington, D.C. â€" House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi released the following statement today in support of National Girls and Women in Sports Day.

â€Å"Today as we celebrate the 20th anniversary of National Girls and Women in Sports Day, we honor the achievements of female athletes and recognize the continuing struggle for equality and access for women in sports. We also wish our women athletes competing in the upcoming Olympic Winter Games in Italy the best of luck. I know they will make us proud.

â€Å"As we honor girls and women in sports, we must remember the champion who worked so hard to ensure equal opportunity in sports and all education, former Congresswoman Patsy Mink of Hawaii. As a member of the Education Committee in 1972, Patsy helped craft Title IX and worked tirelessly for its passage.

â€Å"For more than 33 years, Title IX has made a dramatic impact: young women's participation in athletics has increased 400 percent at the college level and 800 percent in high schools. But more importantly, because of Title IX, women and girls know that they can succeed not only on the soccer field and in the classroom, but also in the halls of power and corporate boardrooms. Title IX has empowered countless girls and women to be stronger and bolder through a simple message: your education is crucial and your future is limitless.

â€Å"The theme of our celebration today is fitting: ‘Count Me In.’ Just as Title IX has demanded that young women must have an equal opportunity to succeed, National Girls and Women in Sports Day reaffirms that women and girls must be included and refuse to be discounted.

â€Å"Unfortunately, the Bush Administration has issued a new ‘Clarification’ on Title IX that jeopardizes the number of athletic opportunities available to women and girls, and threatens to reverse the decades of progress that Title IX has made. Today as we celebrate the achievements of female athletes and recognize the continuing struggle for equality, I call on the Bush Administration to withdraw this damaging ‘Clarification’ and to work with Democrats to ensure that Title IX continues to open the doors of opportunity for today’s young women, and those for generations to come.”