UNANIMOUS CONSENT REQUEST--S. 4177

On 2026-06-16, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) delivered a floor speech titled "UNANIMOUS CONSENT REQUEST--S. 4177" in the Senate.

UNANIMOUS CONSENT REQUEST--S. 4177

Congressional Record, Volume 172 Issue 101 (Tuesday, June 16, 2026) [Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 101 (Tuesday, June 16, 2026)] [Senate] [Pages S2862-S2865] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] UNANIMOUS CONSENT REQUEST--S. 4177 Mr. TUBERVILLE. Mr. President, I want to bring up a subject today that is close and dear to my heart. You know, four things that made this country strong--make it the best country in the world--is God, family, military, and sports. You learn a lot of things out of those four. It makes us strong, and we have kept that pretty much in that order for a long, long time. But I would like to say today that I think most--even some of my colleagues in here today--college sports is in trouble, not just men but also women. Before I was elected, I spent 40 years coaching. I coached girls basketball. That was a thrill. I coached college football for a long time as assistant and head coach--best job I ever had. But it is not about championships or packed stadiums or television. It is the best job because you had an opportunity to help people--young people--get them on the right track. And that is what sports does. As a coach, you are just not calling plays on Saturday. That is just a small part of the job. You are helping young people prepare for life after the whistle. You are teaching discipline, accountability. You are teaching young men and women how to make a good decision under pressure, how to handle success and how to handle failure and how to keep their word when things get bad. But above all, you are helping them to succeed in the classroom. You are making sure that they go to class, stay academically eligible, and leave school with something more than a letter jacket. That is what college athletics is supposed to be about. It is supposed to give young people the opportunity to compete at the highest level and have an ultimate goal. But the ultimate goal that I always taught my players--and I think most coaches have--is not just the sports end of it but get a good education. College athletics should be a pathway to a degree, a meaningful career, and a better future long after the final whistle blows. The lessons learned through sports--discipline, accountability, teamwork, perseverance--they really matter. But they are the most valuable when paired with education that prepares young people for life beyond the playing field. This is why the term ``student-athlete,'' not ``athlete-student,'' is spoken in athletics in college sports. Athletics should support education, not replace it. Education must come first. I retired from coaching 10 years ago, in 2016. A few things have changed in the world of college sports since that time. A series of court decisions, State laws, NCAA rule changes have opened the door for student-athletes to profit from their name, image, and likeness--often called NIL. It has been a popular topic for now 10 years. And let me be clear about this. I think it is great that students can profit from their name, image, and likeness. I am all for it. I was for them making money when I was coaching. They should be able to benefit from the value that they create. For years, everyone around college sports made money--schools, conferences, television networks, sponsors, coaches--while the athletes were told they could not make any money. That needed to change, and it did. NIL is here to stay. No one should be trying to take money away from student-athletes. It is here. But NIL is only one part of what has changed. The transfer rules changed along with the NIL. Used the right way, the transfer portal is a good thing. It can help a young person find a better fit and a better opportunity and a fresh start. But without any real rules around the transfer portal, it has turned into something else entirely: constant, year-round roster turnover. The scale of the problem is hard to put into words. I have never seen anything like it. Last year, more than 10,500 college football players entered the transfer portal--10,500--1 year. More than 3,200 of those were in Division 1. Division 1 is the highest level of college football. There are only about 130 Division 1 football teams, and each program can offer up to 105 scholarships. So those 3,200 players are enough to empty out 30 complete programs of the 131. Think about that. It is amazing. That is like every football program in the ACC and the Big 12 losing its entire roster at the same time. And this is not just a football problem. In 2025, more than 1,500 men's college basketball players entered the transfer portal. A Division 1 basketball roster typically has 15 scholarship players. That means the number of Division 1 basketball players entering the portal in a single year is equivalent to more than 100 full basketball teams. On the women's side, more than 2,500 basketball players entered the portal, including more than 1,000 Division 1 players. That is not a few students looking for a fresh start. These numbers tell the story. What used to be rare has become routine. When I was coaching, you used to be able to develop a young person over a 4- or 5- year period and send them out in the real world as a man or woman with a degree, an education. And that is what it is about. I think we will all agree to that. When I was coaching, you used to be able to develop a young person and saw them grow up every day. Now, you are lucky to keep a player one season, and I think that is what we are all talking about today--the relationship between athletes, coaches and teammates and schools are becoming shorter and more transactional. Too often, short-term financial incentives are driving decisions that should be about education, personal development, and finding the right fit for a student-athlete's future. Coaches can't build a program when the whole roster turns over from one season to the next, and that is what we are seeing. Schools are now forced to spend more time and resources recruiting their own players than coaching them, developing them, or helping them succeed in the classroom. They are not getting degrees now because of the transfer portal. And the young people caught in the middle have no idea whether the team they just committed to will even resemble the team that they signed with. Young people are being treated like free agents instead of students. And while older players bounce from school to school chasing the next paycheck, it is the high school student-athletes--both young men and women--who are paying the price. In other words, these high school students aren't getting the scholarship offers like they used to. The transfer portal is squeezing high school athletes out of opportunities. We may not know the exact number, but the trend is clear: Thousands of roster spots are now being filled by older transfers instead of high school recruits. A scholarship that used to go to an 18-year-old with their whole future in front of them is now going to a fifth- or sixth- year senior who has already had his shot or her shot two or three times over. This system is hurting the very people college athletics is supposed to serve. It has created a culture that rewards chasing the next opportunity, instead of honoring commitments, persevering through adversity, and finishing what you started. That is what sports is about. It is not good for student-athletes; it is not good for schools; and it is certainly not good for college sports. [[Page S2863]] The NCAA spent years standing on the sidelines while these problems got worse, failing to provide leadership from the NCAA or meaningful reforms needed to protect student-athletes and preserve college sports. They stood around and watched. I saw it personally. As a result, Congress now is being asked to step in, and that is what we are here today for. But the Federal Government, if it gets involved, we need to be very clear what our role is and what our role is not. Congress should not run college sports. That is the first thing I want to say. We cannot run college sports. Congress should not manage television contracts, dictate conference alignments, or write department budgets. We can't do it. Congress should not decide how much money student-athletes can earn. That is not our job. Our role should be limited to setting clear rules for eligibility, transfers, and scholarships so student-athletes and families, coaches, and schools know what the rules are and can plan accordingly. That is where Congress can help, and that is where Congress should stop. Two weeks ago, a bunch of colleagues here rolled out a bipartisan bill that aimed to fix some of these problems. I respect the work that they put into it. I know it all too well. I know they are trying to solve a serious and very, very hard problem. It is almost impossible. But I think their bill goes too far. Trust me, if I thought it would work, I would support it. Unfortunately, it gets too deep into the business of universities, conferences, athletic departments, while doing far too little to give the student-athlete the stability and clarity that actually they need. It claims to address the transfer portal and eligibility, but it is riddled with loopholes and waivers that gut those rules before the ink is dry. Let me be clear, you cannot do waivers for eligibility and transfer. You can't do it. It opens the door for endless lawsuits, and they are coming by creating new avenues for student-athletes to sue schools, conferences, and the NCAA. It opens the door to student-athletes being classified as ``employees,'' which leads to unionization and the end of college sports as we know it. It does not do enough to protect women's sports, which is an issue I have come to this Senate floor to talk about many, many times before. It also sets a permanent cap on revenue sharing for student-athletes. And worst of all, this bill drags the Federal Government into decisions that should be made by schoo

Referenced legislation: S4177, S4177