Unanimous Consent Request--S. 4177

Floor Speech

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Mr. CRUZ. Mr. President, in a time of great division in our country, college sports are one of the last institutions in America that still bring people together.

But across the country, fans see that institution falling apart. Rosters are being rebuilt every year through an unrestricted transfer market. Schools are locked in an arms race of ever-increasing NIL spending. Coaches spend as much time recruiting their own players as they do preparing for opponents. Eligibility rules are no longer determined by clear standards, but instead by lawsuits, court orders, and last-minute injunctions.

Historic rivalries are disappearing. Athletes who have already competed professionally are seeking to return and play college sports instead.

The wealthiest conferences continue to consolidate power and resources, while many mid-major programs increasingly serve as feeder systems for the sport's biggest brands.

What makes college sports special is not simply the games themselves. It is the connection between schools, athletes, students, alumni, and communities. Yet without clear rules and a sustainable framework, the very tradition that generations of Americans have cherished is at risk of being lost.

I did not come looking to insert Congress into college sports. College sports came to Congress begging for Congress to act because changing the law is the only way to fix the legal chaos.

Congress, unfortunately, helped create the legal environment in which college sports operate now. Federal antitrust, broadcasting, and interstate commerce laws shape what schools, conferences, and governing bodies can do.

If college sports are not allowed to enforce basic rules because of laws that Congress has already written, then Congress has a responsibility to fix the problem.

We need Congress to act. If we do nothing, the current trajectory will concentrate more and more power in fewer and fewer hands and will widen the gap between the richest programs and everybody else.

In a few years, we will likely lose dozens of historic football and basketball programs, not to mention thousands of Olympic sports at colleges dependent on revenue from football and basketball.

Is that what our country wants, to allow Federal law to kill off everyone but the 30 to 40 universities with football programs that will basically become a mini NFL, and everyone else gets left behind?

To save college sports, we need a bipartisan solution that will be able to garner 60 votes here in the Senate and pass the House. Unfortunately, the bill from Senator Tuberville is not able to achieve 60 votes.

Senator Tuberville is a friend. He loves college sports. He cares about it deeply. He spent a lifetime inspiring, coaching, teaching young men and women athletes.

The provisions in his bill are, in significant respect, reflected in the bipartisan bill that Senator Cantwell and I have negotiated. The bipartisan bill we have negotiated limits, as a general rule, one transfer per athlete. It does create exceptions: if a coach leaves, a program is canceled, or a student-athlete is the victim of sexual assault or sexual harassment.

Likewise, Senator Tuberville's proposed 5 years of eligibility is in the bipartisan bill.

The difference is that there are no Democrats supporting Senator Tuberville's bill. We have just seen a leading Democrat, the ranking Democrat on the Commerce Committee, object to Senator Tuberville's bill.

The way the Senate operates, you have got to get 60 votes. If you can't get 60 votes, your bill can't pass. That means, even though I support many of the elements of Senator Tuberville's bill--and they are included in our bill--Senator Tuberville's bill is not going to become law.

The question then is: Do you want any Federal solution?

I will say, when Senator Cantwell and I rolled out a bipartisan bill, many observers were shocked. They didn't believe this place could operate. That was the result of 3 years of negotiation. The last several months Senator Cantwell and I sat in a conference room 6 to 8 hours a day negotiating provision by provision.

You know, many of the criticisms Senator Tuberville put of the bill, I agree with. It is not perfect. I had to make concessions that I didn't like making. And, you know what, Senator Cantwell made concessions that she didn't like making. And that is the only way to get a bipartisan bill that can actually pass this body and become law.

I will say the bipartisan bill that we filed has seen overwhelming support, virtually every conference in America has publicly supported the bill. The bill is supported by: the ACC, the Big 12, the American Conference, Conference USA, the Sun Belt Conference, the Missouri Valley Conference, the SWAC, the MAC, the Pac-12, the Patriot League, the MEAC, Big Sky, the Horizon League, the Ohio Valley Conference, the Western Athletic Conference, the Big West, Metro Atlantic Athletic, Summit League, the West Coast Conference, and the Mountain West all have endorsed this bill. The NFL, the National Football League, has endorsed this bill. The NFL Players Association has endorsed this bill. The NBA Players Association has endorsed this bill. The U.S. Olympic Committee has endorsed this bill.

Coach Nick Saban, probably the most legendary college football coach in America, has explicitly endorsed this bill. Coach John Calipari, one of the most legendary basketball coaches, has endorsed this bill. Coaches all across the country have endorsed this bill. The American Football Coaches Association has endorsed this bill.

Why have we seen such broad support? Because this bill is the only train that is leaving the station. Senator Tuberville said, and I wrote this down: College sports is facing a five-alarm fire.

I agree with him. It is. So the choice this body has--if it were up to me, I would happily pass Senator Tuberville's bill, but it is not up to me. To pass this body, you have to get at least 60 votes. And the only bill that has any prospect of passing into law and fixing the problem is the bipartisan bill that has been negotiated with Senator Cantwell and myself and also with Senator Schmitt, another Republican, and Senator Coons, another Democrat.

If it is a five-alarm fire, we are all faced with a choice: Do we do nothing or do we accept an imperfect solution, a compromise that nonetheless gives the certainty that the conferences, the commissioners, the coaches are desperately asking for?

Right now across America, there are more than 500,000 college athletes who compete. If we don't act, hundreds of thousands of those college athletes will lose scholarships and lose the opportunity to go to college. That would be tragic.

So I invite my friend Senator Tuberville, who, as I said, cares deeply and passionately about college sports, to join with us in trying to find a way that Congress can actually for once address and fix a problem.

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