Source: United States Senator for West Virginia Shelley Moore Capito
To watch Senator Capito’s remarks, click here or the image above.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Senate Commerce Committee voted to advance the Equal Pay for Team USA Act, legislation authored by U.S. Senators Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), to ensure equal pay for Americans who represent our country in global athletic competitions, like the Olympics, regardless of gender.
“Currently, men and women can be and are paid differently for representing Team USA in the same exact sport,” Senator Capito said. “The Equal Pay for Team USA Act will ensure that all Americans who represent our country in global athletic competition are paid equal and receive equal benefits. It’s that simple, equal pay for equal play. As a woman, a sports fan, and the mother of a female athlete myself, I’m proud to cosponsor and support this legislation, which Senator Cantwell and I have worked on for several years, and happy to see it advance today.”
Senators Capito and Cantwell introduced similar legislation in 2019 and renewed their bipartisan efforts in July 2021 by reintroducing the Equal Pay for Team USA Act.
The Equal Pay for Team USA Act of 2021 would require all athletes representing the United States in global athletic competitions receive equal compensation, benefits, medical care, travel, and reimbursement of expenses, regardless of gender.
The bill applies to 50 different sports’ national governing bodies, and it requires the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) to conduct oversight and report on compliance with the legislation.
Organizations supporting the Equal Pay for Team USA Act include:
- West Virginia University Women’s Soccer Team
- Alliance of Social Workers in Sports
- American Volleyball Coaches Association
- Athlete Ally
- Center for Sport, Peace & Society – University of Tennessee
- Champion Women
- Equality League
- Geena Davis Institute for Gender in Media
- National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association
- National Organization for Women
- National Women’s Law Center
- Sports Fans Coalition
- The Female Quotient
- The Tucker Center – University of Minnesota
- Trajectory Women
- UltraViolet
- UN Women
- US Squash
- USA Curling
- USA Volleyball
- USA Water Ski & Wake Sports
- Women Win
- Women’s Basketball Coaches’ Association
- Women’s Sports Foundation
- Wrestle Like a Girl
Text of the legislation can be found here.
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