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U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) speaks during a rally in front of the Capitol March 22, 2017 in Washington, DC. Sanders urged the U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) to reject President Donald Trump’s nomination of Jay Clayton to head the Securities and Exchange Commission.
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The USA Hockey Board of Directors meet today to vote on terms negotiated with the US Women’s National Team (USWNT) in an effort to end the players’ boycott of the Women’s World Championships.
A group of sixteen United States Senators came together to pen a letter to USA Hockey ‘reminding’ the organization not only of their ethical obligations to the USWNT but their legal obligations under the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act.
The Senators pull zero punches.
Here’s the text of the letter sent to USA Hockey Executive Director Dave Ogrean:
Dear Mr. Ogrean,
As Senators committed to gender equity in all realms of American life, we write to express our serious concern with allegations raised by members of the U.S. Women’s National Hockey Team regarding USA Hockey’s inequitable allocation of resources to the women’s hockey program and unjust treatment of national team members.
As you know, the women’s team has chosen to boycott the upcoming International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Championship games, citing faltering negotiations with USA Hockey regarding equitable pay and resources. Among other issues, the women note that USA Hockey expects female players to “train full time and compete throughout the year,” yet pays them only $6,000 every four years, an amount that would put them far below the poverty line. The women’s team is in the process of negotiating a four-year contract with USA Hockey that includes “appropriate compensation.”
As the National Governing Body for ice hockey in the United States, USA Hockey is required by the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act to “develop interest and participation throughout the United States” in ice hockey and “be responsible to the persons and amateur sports organizations it represents.” USA Hockey is also legally required to “provide equitable support and encouragement for participation by women where separate programs for male and female athletes are conducted on a national basis.”
We are disturbed by reports from the U.S. Women’s National Hockey Team suggesting that USA Hockey is not providing “equitable support” to female athletes. While USA Hockey provides its male athletes with a “seemingly endless” supply of hockey equipment, for example, female players are often expected to “buy their own.” This “inequitable support for equipment, staff, meals, travel expenses, transportation, and publicity” is apparent at younger levels of the sport as well: while USA Hockey spends $3.5 million to support male youth athletes in its National Team Development Program, there is no parallel development program for women.
The U.S. Women’s National Hockey Team has medaled in every Olympics since 1998, when Women’s Hockey was first added as an Olympic Sport. The team has won gold medals at the IIHF World Championships for the past three years in a row. As Megan (sic) Duggan, team captain, announced last week, the women’s team has “represented our country with dignity and deserves to be treated with fairness and respect.”
We urge you to resolve this dispute quickly to ensure that the USA Women’s National Hockey Team receives equitable resources. These elite athletes indeed deserve fairness and respect, and we hope you will be a leader on this issue as women continue to push for equality in athletics.
Sincerely,
Elizabeth Warren, Massachusetts
Patty Murray, Washington
Dianne Feinstein, California
Patrick Leahy, Vermont
Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut
Maggie Hassan, New Hampshire
Sherrod Brown, Ohio
Edward J. Markey, Massachusetts
Thomas Carper, Delaware
Tammy Baldwin, Wisconsin
Robert Menendez, New Jersey
Mazie K. Hirono, Hawaii
Cory Booker, New Jersey
Bob Casey, Pennsylvania
Kirsten Gillibrand, New York
Amy Klobuchar, Minnesota
UPDATE: The initial press release left off Senator Gillibrand and Senator Klobuchar. The complete release can be found on Senator Warren’s website.
In the immortal words of Mortal Kombat: FINISH HIM.
(If the Senator from where you’re registered to vote is on the list, give send them a ‘thank you’ on Twitter for taking a stand. Positive reinforcement!)
Need a reminder of what has happened over the last week and a half between USA Hockey and the USWNT? We’ve got you covered
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