June 23 marked the 50th anniversary of Title IX, the landmark civil rights law that brought athletic opportunity to women across America. Passed in 1972, Title IX bans discrimination on the basis of sex in all schools, colleges, and universities that receive federal funds. These institutions are required to give men and women equal access to the programs they offer, including athletic opportunities.

Title IX has been a game-changer for women’s sports. At the time it was enacted, only 15 percent of college athletes were women, and in high school just seven percent of athletes were girls. Female athletes received two percent of college athletics budgets, and sports scholarships for women were almost non-existent. All that has changed because of Title IX. Today, 44 percent of college athletes are women, and 3.5 million girls participate in high school sports. Title IX was truly one of the greatest advances for women in our nation’s history.

Biden Puts Women's Sports in Danger

After such remarkable progress, it is troubling that President Biden is now putting women’s sports at risk. On the 50th anniversary of Title IX, Biden officials released new guidance that could require schools to allow transgender athletes who are biologically male to compete against women. This means that from California to Mississippi, middle school girls could find themselves having to compete with biological boys who identify as transgender. This is simply unacceptable and will meet stiff resistance across the country.

Many Americans are already alarmed that transgender athletes who are biologically male are competing against women. Some of these men have won titles that should have gone to women, causing some female athletes to miss out on scholarships. One recent victim is Riley Gaines, a swimmer from Tennessee. At the NCAA championships, she tied for fifth place with Lia Thomas, a 6’4” biological male who was allowed to compete as a woman. Thomas had previously ranked 400th among male swimmers, yet among women he found himself in contention for a national title. Ms. Gaines said her experience going up against Thomas was disheartening. “It’s just not fair,” she added. “It’s not right.”

Most Americans agree with Ms. Gaines. A recent survey found that roughly six in 10 Americans believe biological men should be barred from competing in collegiate women’s sports. Even FINA, the international governing body for swimming, is adopting this view and just days ago decided to ban most biological men from women’s swimming. As more people stand up to defend women’s sports, the President will find himself in shrinking company.

Republicans Work to Protect Women's Sports

As with so many of his policies, President Biden has clearly failed to consider the real-world impacts of his transgender proposal. Recently I joined my colleagues in pushing back on the President by cosponsoring the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act. This bill would clarify that “sex” in Title IX refers strictly to biology. It would also make it illegal for a recipient of federal funds to let males compete in female sports. In addition, as the lead Republican on the Commerce Committee, I have requested that the NCAA provide an update on how they are complying with Title IX.

Women athletes have come too far to have their opportunities taken away. Republicans will continue to stand up to the President and defend women’s sports. Our work will not be done until every woman and girl can compete freely, fairly, and safely.

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., and U.S. Representatives Steven Palazzo, R-Miss., and Michael Guest, R-Miss. joined more than 50 lawmakers asking the World Health Organization (WHO) to retract its recent far-reaching guidelines on abortion.

In a letter to WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the lawmakers expressed strong opposition to the agency’s updated Abortion Care Guideline, which advocates for abortion on demand, dismisses conscious objections of healthcare providers, and puts pressure on governments to adopt the recommended policies. The updated guidelines follow years of controversy regarding the role, allegiance, and effectiveness of the WHO, an arm of the United Nations.

U.S. Senator Mike Lee, R-Utah and U.S. Representative Doug Lamborn, R-Colo. spearheaded the effort.

“We, members of the U.S. Congress, write to you today with concerns about the World Health Organization’s (W.H.O.) dangerous new abortion guidelines. These extreme new guidelines aim to remove all legal and policy safeguards on abortion, impose restrictions on the conscience rights of health workers, and ignore the right to life and the safety of the mother and child,” the lawmakers wrote.

The lawmakers criticize the WHO for attempting to dehumanize preborn children, categorizing abortion as “self-care,” and demanding “the full decriminalization of abortion” without any gestational age limits.

“To categorize abortions as ‘self-care’ not only strips away the humanity and dignity of a preborn child but also contradicts international standards recognizing the preborn child as a rights-holding person,” the lawmakers continued.

The guidance, the lawmakers assert, also dismisses the rights of individuals and institutions that oppose abortions on ethical, moral, personal, or religious grounds.

“The W.H.O.’s radical stance reveals that it is all too willing to cave to pressure from the abortion industry and to force health care providers to choose between committing violence against an innocent baby and her mother, or being unemployed,” the lawmakers added.  “This stance also inevitably threatens patient access to health care in geographic areas that are primarily served by faith-based health care providers given that those who hold conscience objections would be deemed unfit for service.”

“Given the W.H.O.’s influence, this guidance will likely cause severe, irreversible harm, not only to U.S. citizens but to women and children worldwide,” the lawmakers concluded. “Such overreach and trampling of national sovereignty also further delegitimizes the W.H.O. and U.N. in the eyes of many people around the world.  For these reasons, we ask that the W.H.O. reverse course and retract the anti-life recommendations that it has promoted through the release of its 2022 abortion care guidelines.”

The full text of the letter can be found here.

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., today joined colleagues to introduce a resolution calling on the Biden administration to work with Congress to develop a plan to combat the rise in violent crime across the United States and address the crisis at the southern border.

The resolution, offered as the nation honors National Police Week, cited the record-setting rise in violent crime across the nation, including a 59 percent increase in murders of police officers in 2021. It also details the effect the ongoing border crisis on crime rates and illegal drug trafficking.

The resolution was led by U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D., R-La. In addition to Wicker and Hyde-Smith, cosponsors include Senators Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, John Barrasso, R-Wyo., Martha Blackburn, R-Tenn., Mike Braun, R-Ind., Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., John Cornyn, R-Texas, Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Steve Daines, R-Mont., Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., John Hoeven, R-N.D., Ron Johnson, R-Wis., James Lankford, R-Okla., Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., Roger Marshall, R-Kan., Rob Portman, R-Ohio, Jim Risch, R-Idaho, Marco Rubio, R-Fla., Rick Scott, R-Fla., Tim Scott, R-S.C., Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, Thom Tillis, R-N.C., Deb Fischer, R-Neb., Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., John Kennedy, R-La., and Todd Young, R-Ind.

Read the resolution here and below:

Whereas rising crime, especially violent crime, in the United States poses a threat to the national interest, as well as to the safety and security of individuals, communities, businesses, law enforcement officers, and the rule of law;

Whereas, for the purposes of the Uniform Crime Reporting Program of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, violent crimes consist of offenses that involve force or the threat of force, namely—

(1) murder and non-negligent manslaughter;

(2) forcible rape;

(3) robbery; and

(4) aggravated assault;

Whereas violent crimes are occurring every day in major cities across the United States in part due to progressive prosecutors declining to charge violent offenders and certain bail reform policies allowing dangerous criminals back into society;

Whereas released offenders go on to commit more violent crimes and inflict more terror and death on other individuals in the United States;

Whereas rising violent crime destroys families and should be combated by criminal justice systems that prosecute the offenders as offenders, and not as victims;

Whereas the murder rate in the United States rose 30 percent between 2019 and 2020, the largest single-year increase in more than a century;

Whereas there was a 59 percent increase in murders of police officers in 2021;

Whereas, as of April 1, 2022, 101 police officers had been shot this year, 17 of whom were killed by gunfire;

Whereas at least 16 cities in the United States set murder records in 2021;

Whereas organized retail crime threats in 2020 cost retailers an average of $720,000 for every $1,000,000,000 in sales, and 69 percent of retailers surveyed in 2021 had seen an increase in organized retail crime in 2021;

Whereas organized retail crime threatens the safety of retail workers as organized crime groups, gangs, and individuals use weapons other than guns, such as mace chemical spray and Taser stun guns, to rob and assault hard-working retail employees;

Whereas rising violent crime in the United States can be directly correlated to a surge in illegal immigration at the southern border of the United States and a surge in the sale, distribution, and consumption of illegal drugs;

Whereas, in December 2021, 178,840 illegal immigrants were apprehended attempting to cross the United States-Mexico border, the highest total for December in the history of the Department of Homeland Security, and a 142 percent increase from December 2020;

Whereas more than 2,500,000 illegal immigrants have been caught attempting to cross the United States-Mexico border since January 2021, with more apprehended in the 3-month period from November 2021 through January 2022 than in all of fiscal year 2020;

Whereas 461 pounds of fentanyl were seized at the southern border in December 2021 alone, enough to kill more than 30 percent of the United States population;

Whereas drug cartels have overburdened Border Patrol resources by surging illegal immigrants into strategic locations so that the cartels can traffic narcotics and other contraband into the United States undetected;

Whereas violent crimes related to illegal immigration and the illegal drug trade must stop for the sake of the sovereignty of the United States and the safety of the people of the United States;

Whereas, with overdose deaths at an all-time high, every State is a border State, as the flow of illegal drugs from the United States-Mexico border puts all States at risk regardless of proximity to the border;

Whereas securing the southern border and ensuring the safety of citizens of the United States is one of the most important responsibilities of the Federal Government;

Whereas the current Administration’s alleged violent crime reduction strategy is actually a gun control strategy and wrongly puts lawful gun owners and dealers at the center of enforcement efforts instead of focusing on the criminals perpetuating violence, insecurity, and fear across the United States;

Whereas the same gun violence reduction strategy unfairly puts the blame for gun violence in major, Democrat-run cities and States on neighboring States with lower crime rates; and

Whereas violent crimes can only be combated if the Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security, other law enforcement agencies, and the private sector work together: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that the President should work with Congress to develop and execute a strategy, drawing on the multiple instruments of power and resources of the United States—

(1) to counter the rise in violent crime across the country by reinforcing strong criminal justice policies, by laying blame on the perpetrators of violent acts, and by securing the southern border; and

(2) to coordinate with Federal, State, and local agencies and authorities to—

(A) implement the strategy; and

(B) exhort all those agencies and authorities to strengthen their approaches to combat the violent crime epidemic within the country.

The U.S. Supreme Court came under unprecedented attack last week when a news outlet published an early draft of a majority opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, a Mississippi abortion case currently before the court. The leak of this confidential document – weeks ahead of the expected ruling – is a stunning betrayal of trust within the court’s chambers. The draft decision, if adopted by the court, would overturn Roe v. Wade, returning the issue of abortion to the people and their elected representatives. This news triggered a wave of hostile pressure against the justices ahead of their official ruling.

Chief Justice John Roberts confirmed that the leaked draft is authentic but said it does not represent a final decision by the court. He immediately ordered an investigation to find the leaker. Every American should be outraged that one person working at the court chose to short-circuit the judicial process in one of the most consequential cases in our lifetimes.

Biden, Democrats Use Leak for Political Purposes

Instead of condemning this leak, Democrats in Washington have chosen to exploit it for political purposes. Within hours of the news story, President Biden called the draft opinion “radical” and insisted there is a constitutional right to “abort a child.” His allies in Congress went even further. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called the draft “an abomination” and “one of the worst and most damaging decisions in modern history.” In a baseless slander, they accused the conservative justices of having “ripped up the Constitution” and “lied to the U.S. Senate.”

A few hours later, Senator Schumer vowed to hold a vote on legislation that would impose abortion-on-demand nationwide, even though this bill already failed in February. Predictably, some Democrats have renewed their push to end the Senate’s 60-vote threshold, hoping they will somehow find the votes to pass extreme abortion policies with a bare majority. This effort faces tough odds, however, as Democrats Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema have stood strong with Republicans to protect the filibuster.

The Leaker Must Be Found

Members of the Supreme Court rely on absolute trust and discretion to carry out their duties, often exchanging multiple drafts of opinions before they are announced. This leak will severely damage that trust, putting at risk the ability of our nation’s highest court to function. It will also set a disturbing precedent of inciting mob pressure to intimidate the justices before they issue a decision. For the sake of the court’s independence, this leaker must be found and punished. If it was a law clerk, he or she should be fired and disbarred for life. If it turns out that a Supreme Court justice in any way aided or knew of this leak and did nothing to stop it, they should be impeached by Congress.

Official Ruling Still to Come

Like many pro-life Americans, I was encouraged that the draft opinion indicated Roe v. Wade may soon be overturned. Pro-life advocates have fought for 50 years to achieve this outcome, and I was pleased to do my part last year by leading 228 members of Congress on an amicus brief supporting Mississippi’s case. But we should be careful not to get ahead of this decision. Until we see the court’s official ruling, we can only hope and pray for the end of Roe v. Wade and for unborn children to receive the full protection they deserve.