Loading video...
Source: Congress.gov
Summary
No summary available.
Participants
Transcript
All right, the committee will come to order. And the chair recognizes himself for an opening statement. And before I begin my opening statement, I'd like to welcome my good friends from Owensboro, Kentucky. The Chamber of Commerce from Owensboro is here today. We appreciate it. And some of you have been around a little bit. Well, Senator Wendell Ford and his grandson from Owensboro, Kentucky is with us, Clay Ford. So he was the Democrat whip in the Senate through 1998. I think it's when he left the Senate. So from the 70s to the 90s. So thank you. all for being here, and we appreciate it very much. So thanks for everybody else for being here as well today as we consider two important bipartisan bills. First, we'll continue our work to strengthen college athletics in the NIL environment for our student athletes through the SCORE Act. I especially want to thank Chairman Bilirakis and Congressman Frey for their hard work getting us to this full committee markup today. I also want to thank representatives Bynum and Figures for working across the aisle to help us improve this bill and find common ground. Complex legal, operational and policy questions have left student athletes and the universities they represent on unstable ground. And student athletes, programs and conferences have told us that a clear national standard would strengthen this uniquely American institution. Following the critical house settlement last month, it's clear that this is the moment to act and support the new era of college athletics. But our work at three house committees culminating in the SCORE Act didn't start last month. Since the beginning of this Congress, we have worked in a bipartisan way to develop a framework that codifies new NIL health and academic protections for players and provide stability for universities. In March, we held both a bipartisan roundtable and a subcommittee hearing with witnesses representing players, coaches, and athletic directors. Over a month and a half ago, we shared draft bill text with my friends across the aisle in search of common ground and compromise.
And in June, we publicly released a discussion draft while continuing good faith negotiations. Earlier this month, we negotiated a bipartisan deal and introduced the SCORE Act. And over the past week, we have continued to work with members to find a compromise that would garner more support from Democrat members of this committee. And in response to these conversations, we've made edits to improve student athlete representation and decision-making processes, narrowed preemption, clarified and narrowed the antitrust language, and added additional enforcement mechanisms. This has been a long and open process, which we have approached with an open mind. And I remain hopeful that we'll be able to continue growing this coalition and building more support for this common sense bill, but we cannot delay. And without this bill, student athletes will be left to fend for themselves against bad actors. Non-revenue generating sports could face devastating cuts, and legal uncertainty will continue to hang over all of college sports. The SCORE Act delivers exactly what is needed, student athlete benefits, stability, and transparency. Today, we're also considering H.R. 4273, the over-the-counter monograph drug user-free amendments, otherwise known as a MUFA, led by Representatives Latta and DeGette. This is the first reauthorization of a MUFA, and I look forward to our continuing bipartisan work to get this bill across the finish line by the September 30th expiration. Our FDA witness stated last week, without a timely reauthorization, certain FDA actions could be delayed by a decade or longer. I appreciate all the work that's gone into this bill and will continue to engage with stakeholders and Senate colleagues to work towards common-sense solutions that produce innovation and ensure patients have access to safe and effective products. I will yield back and will now recognize my friend from New Jersey, Representative Pallone, for five minutes for an opening statement.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Today, we're marking up two bills, legislation addressing college sports and a bill to reauthorize user fees for over-the-counter drugs. Now, we'll begin with the SCORE Act. This legislation is nothing more than a major giveaway to the National Collegiate Athletic Association, the NCAA, and conferences. It fails to offer meaningful protections to college athletes and completely ignores the true crisis facing colleges and universities. I continue to believe that Republicans are ignoring the real threat to our colleges and universities right now. President Trump continues to destroy America's higher education system with reduced federal research dollars, taxes on endowments, and cuts to federal student aid. I'd like to remind everyone that college sports cannot exist without colleges. So let's all be clear about what this bill does and does not do. The SCORE Act gives the NCAA and conferences nearly limitless and unchecked authority to govern how athletes get paid, if they can transfer schools, and how much time they can be required to spend training, traveling and competing. It does not provide meaningful, strong or enforceable protections for athletes with respect to their health and safety.
Sign up for free to see the full transcript
Accounts help us prevent bots from abusing our site. Accounts are free and will allow you to access the full transcript.